<p>There is no interest in land designated for apartment construction in Olomouc.</p>

Olomouc - There is no interest in the land in the Olomouc area of Pražská-východ designated for the construction of a new residential complex. The city hall, which owns the area, received not a single offer by the specified deadline. The lack of interest from investors is likely related to the global mortgage crisis and the decline in development activities due to the complicated situation in the interbank market. This was stated today by the city hall spokesman Ivan Rašťák.
    The city hall set the rules for the sale of land along the road to Mohelnice before the escalation of the global financial crisis and its impacts on the Czech economy. "At this moment, they may appear too stringent to investors. It is clear that the main factor in investors' decision-making in recent weeks has been the situation in the banking sector in terms of access to resources, and especially the difficult predictability of market developments in a turbulent environment," said Mayor Martin Novotný.
    The plots of land, covering almost 90,000 square meters in the city districts of Hejčín and Řepčín, were offered by the city at a price of 890 crowns per square meter. "The city council will have to evaluate the situation, including consultation with experts in the development and real estate market and the investors themselves, with regard to their current realistic possibilities. At the same time, we must answer the question of under what conditions the sale of land can still be considered acceptable in terms of its benefit for the city," said Novotný.
    According to his economic deputy Jiří Martinák, the city had counted on the income from the sale of land to be included in next year's budget. Economists expected that the city would collect at least 35 million crowns for them. "We were cautious because the crisis was already present when we were preparing the budget. Therefore, we counted on 35 million crowns instead of 80, with the understanding that if we received more, we would be happy. The amount of 35 million crowns is not fatal in terms of the total budget volume," said Martinák.
    According to today's Central Moravian Mladá fronta Dnes, property prices in Olomouc are falling, and recently several large constructions have been completed or are currently underway in the city, so there may not be interest in hundreds of additional apartments.
    The intention to sell the land in the Pražská-východ area was announced for the first time by the former city leadership in 2006. At that time, the city hall also selected the winner of the competition, but according to the councilors, the competition was not transparent, and the new city leadership canceled it. The case was also handled by the anti-corruption police, but it was shelved on the grounds that the city leadership did not violate the law.