Investor will file a lawsuit against the rejection of modifications to the surroundings of the Intercontinental hotel.

Prague - The R2G fund, which owns the Intercontinental hotel in Prague, will file a lawsuit against the decision of the Building Code Department of the Prague City Hall, which revoked the zoning decision for the planned modifications around the hotel, including a new building in Miloš Forman Square. Jakub Dyba, a representative of the fund, informed ČTK. He added that the owners do not plan to remove the criticized construction from the project and believe that the authority's decision is confusing and unlawful. The decision of the City Hall was noted by the newspaper Právo.

The City Hall's department revoked the zoning decision following a prior decision by the Ministry of Regional Development (MMR). Last June, it reversed the positive stance of the City Hall's Department of Spatial Development, according to which the planned changes were in accordance with the zoning plan. Dyba stated that after this decision, it was clear that the authority could not decide otherwise than it has now decided.

The hotel owners, including billionaires Oldřich Šlemr, Eduard Kučera, and Pavel Baudiš through their fund, plan to defend themselves against the decision in court. The fund had previously submitted a request for review to the Minister of Regional Development Ivan Bartoš (Pirates), who, according to Dyba, refused to deal with the matter.

"We will do everything we can to complete the project and will use all legal means for that," said Dyba. He added that the project functions as a whole, including the new building on the piazza next to the hotel, which cannot be separated from it. Considering the emergency condition of some infrastructure elements, reconstruction of the area named after Miloš Forman is unavoidable, according to him.

The planned building known as the Brand Store has become the target of criticism, which ultimately led to the revocation of the zoning decision for the project. In addition to new buildings, the project includes a comprehensive modification of the surrounding area of the hotel, including new public spaces. Due to resistance against the construction in the square, a number of appeals were filed after the issuance of the preliminary zoning decision, submitted by neighbors of the planned construction as well as the city itself. MMR sided with the objections and changed the original positive stance regarding the compatibility of the intention with the zoning plan to negative, effectively making it impossible to issue a valid zoning decision.

The R2G fund has owned the Intercontinental hotel since 2019; in the same year, the owners presented their modification plans resulting from an architectural competition. The Czech office TaK Architects, led by architect Marek Tichý, succeeded in that competition. The modifications include the construction of a space that will connect Bílková Street to Dvořák's Embankment. In addition to the building on the piazza, further structures are planned in front of the hotel on Paris Street. There are also plans for a pedestrian underpass to the waterfront and a footbridge at Curieových Square.

The owners have already begun the renovation of the hotel itself, which was built in a brutalist style between 1968 and 1974 in collaboration with three architectural collectives led by Karel Filsak. It was the first international five-star hotel in the former Czechoslovakia and is among the architecturally significant new buildings in the city center. However, the Ministry of Culture did not approve its inclusion among monument-protected buildings two years ago.