Investor insists on the approved form of the Stromovka Palace

Prague - The investor of the administrative center Galerie Stromovka in Prague 7, the company Lordship, insists on the approved form of the project. They consider the city's latest proposal for significant changes to be unrealistic. This was stated today by company representatives at a meeting with journalists. The British company has invested over 800 million crowns in the project. They are seeking a statement from the city district for ČTK.
    "Prague 7 came up with its own study, which shocked us. Their project not only addresses our area but also encroaches on surrounding plots. It's completely out of sync in terms of timing, location, and economics. Their proposal is similar to the original form of the project from 2003, which did not pass and had to be revised into its current form. The city hall is thus going back 12 years and proposing something that will never be approved," said Lordship's executive director Václav Matoušek.
    The company has a building permit for the first part of the project, which involves underground garages. They are now waiting for a decision on the building permit for the remaining part of the construction. The permit is to be issued by the Prague City Hall, and the deadline for the decision has already expired. Within ten days, the company’s management will meet with the management of Prague 7 and present seven commitments they wish to fulfill.
    These include nighttime parking in a monitored underground facility for residents of Prague 7 for 20 crowns per night, providing space for a municipal police station, offering administrative space for the placement of the district city hall, cleaning the streets around the construction site, and building a memorial to Jewish victims of Nazi occupation.
    "We have had dozens of meetings with representatives of the city hall and exchanged hundreds of pages of documents. However, it leads nowhere. That’s why we decided to present these commitments. We want to propose at the meeting with the city hall's management that we finish this project. If we have the issued building permit, we are ready to complete the construction within 18 to 20 months. The Stromovka Palace could thus be completed as early as 2017," Matoušek said.
    Prague 7, which owns the land under the planned construction, has several objections to the project. In June of this year, the city district stated that the company continues to violate the terms of the lease agreement it has with the district. Prague 7, among other things, disagrees with the proposed form of the city hall, which, according to the project, would be accessed through a shopping center, stated councilor Lenka Burgerová at that time.
    The investor is also prepared for the possibility that the city district may terminate the lease agreement for the land where the construction is to take place. Local councilors urged the mayor of Prague 7, Jan Čižinský, to prepare a draft termination proposal at the end of last year. "In such a case, we would require compensation. The incurred costs already exceed 800 million crowns. The purchase of the project alone cost more than 300 million crowns," Matoušek stated. The investor would also seek additional hundreds of millions of crowns as lost profit. The company has previously indicated that it is prepared to claim this money from the Czech Republic, including through arbitration.
    Prague 7 signed a lease agreement for the land next to the Parkhotel in 2002 with the company SEN Development. In 2006, the British company Lordship purchased the project, just a few months after a valid zoning decision was issued for the construction. The lease agreement is for 75 years with the possibility of extending it twice by 15 years. Over 105 years, the investor will pay about one billion crowns in rent to the city district. The new management of the city hall rejects the approved form of the project.