The Asset Office will try for the third time to sell the Prague Broadway Palace at auction

Prague - The Office for the Representation of the State in Property Affairs (ÚZSVM) will attempt to sell the Prague Broadway Palace for the third time. Today, it announced an electronic auction, which will take place from August 8 to 10. The minimum price remains the same as in the previous two auctions, at 1.05 billion crowns. The palace did not sell last March or last September, and the current tenant did not exercise their preemptive right and did not submit a purchase offer within the stipulated period. Therefore, the Office has announced another auction.

The starting price of 1.05 billion crowns is the highest minimum price since the establishment of the office. "I believe that we will be able to find a definitive owner for this exceptional property, who will breathe new life into it," stated the General Director of ÚZSVM, Kateřina Arajmu.

Currently, the spaces of the functionalist building of the palace are used by the Broadway Theatre. The owner of the Broadway Theatre is Oldřich Lichtenberg, who stated after the March auction that he would not want to buy the palace due to the contract burdening it, which would not generate income for the owner for several decades. According to him, this is also the reason why the palace has repeatedly failed to sell at auction.

His words are confirmed by the fact that there was no interest in the palace during the first two electronic auctions. One interested party always paid a deposit but did not place any bids during the auction (minimum of 200,000 crowns). In the third round, interested parties must pay a deposit of 20 million crowns by midnight on August 5.

The functionalist building, located between Na Příkopě and Celetná streets, consists of three interconnected wings and dates back to the 1930s. The building is one of the largest functionalist new constructions in the historical core of Prague. Initially, it served the needs of Italian insurance companies, and there were apartments in part of the complex. After 1980, the building was adapted for administrative purposes. A cinema with then the most modern projection and sound equipment was opened in the building's basement in 1938.

ÚZSVM took over the complex in 2016 from the then Administration of Railways and Transport. In accordance with the law, ÚZSVM first offered the property to other state institutions, but none showed interest. Therefore, the office is seeking a new owner through electronic auction. The highest amount to date, 790 million crowns, was obtained by the state from the sale of the complex at Republic Square in Prague and from the sale of the Prague complex U Půjčovny, which sold for 355.1 million crowns after 100 bids.