MMR overturned the positive stance of the municipality regarding the modifications around the Intercontinental

Prague – The Ministry of Regional Development (MMR) overturned the positive binding opinion originally issued by the Prague City Hall regarding the planned modifications around the Intercontinental Hotel on Pařížská Street. According to the ministry, the proposal is not in line with the zoning plan, and therefore it cannot be approved. The modifications prepared by the hotel owners include a new building on the adjacent piazza, which faces criticism and is the subject of appeals based on which MMR decided. According to the owners' representative Jakub Dyba, the decision is evidently unlawful and completely confusing.

The project received a non-final zoning decision last year, against which a number of appeals were filed. The Prague City Hall also appealed. The planned glass commercial building at the corner of Pařížská and Bílkovy streets, known as the Brand Store, became the main target of criticism. Part of the objections stated that the city planning department incorrectly classified the square as a transformation area in its positive opinion, thus justifying the permissibility of construction.

MMR agreed with these objections and changed the original positive opinion to a negative one. Without a positive binding opinion, the investor, which is the R2G fund of entrepreneurs Oldřich Šlemr, Eduard Kučera, and Pavel Baudiš, cannot obtain a zoning decision. The ministry also stated that the planned building, given its size and function, cannot be considered "a minor commercial facility and services serving the operation and maintenance of public spaces."

According to Dyba, the decision represents a step backward. "The MMR opinion, which points to an inconsistent methodology in assessing types of land, is evidently unlawful and completely confusing. It is a step backward and effectively prolongs the period during which the area at the end of Pařížská Street will remain in a lamentable state," he stated. He added that the project of modifications arose from an international architectural competition, will bring jobs, economic revival, and has the support of experts.

The redesigned Miloš Forman Square is to be, according to Dyba, a pleasant public space with mature trees, unlike the current state, and the new building will occupy only 8.5 percent of its area. "We strongly reject the freezing of the entire project anticipated by the ministry's decision. Significant damage will occur in the city's economy, social life, tourism, and to us as the project's investors," he concluded. The owners began reconstructing the hotel last year, which is set to reopen under the Fairmont brand at the end of next year.

The R2G fund has owned the hotel since 2019, and in the same year, the owners presented their modification plans arising 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 all the way to Dvořák's Embankment. In addition to the building on the piazza, further constructions are planned in front of the hotel on Pařížská Street. There is also a plan to build an underpass to the waterfront and a pedestrian bridge to Curieových Square.

The InterContinental Hotel was built in 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 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 the architecturally protected buildings last year.