Prague wants to buy the Žižkov Freight Station building

Prague - Prague will start negotiations with Czech Railways about the acquisition of the Žižkov Freight Station building. This was approved by the city council today. The purchase will be financed by the municipality from a budget reserve intended for real estate acquisitions. According to councilor Matěj Stropnický (Greens/Trojkoalice), the city would like to complete the purchase by autumn. According to long-term plans, a cultural and educational center is to be established in the heritage-protected building of the station.

"I believe that Czech Railways, which no longer needs the facility, will find no reason to refuse the transfer of the building to the city. If everything goes well, the purchase could take place in autumn," stated Stropnický, who came up with the idea of the purchase.

The capital city has the legal option to request the purchase of the building from the state without a public tender, provided that the future use will be of public benefit. According to a plan commissioned by Prague 3's town hall two years ago, the purchase of the station and its transformation into a social and cultural center would cost approximately two billion crowns. The transformation itself would amount to 1.1 to 1.7 billion crowns excluding VAT.

The future of the first-republic functionalist building has been debated in Prague 3 for years. Originally, it was supposed to give way to the construction of the Zižkov Station Development company, which was established from the merger of Czech Railways and Sekyra Group, but the demolition was eventually canceled. The building has been a cultural monument since 2013. In April 2014, representatives of Czech Railways, the developer, and the Prague 3 town hall signed a memorandum stating that a cultural and social center is to be created in the building. Since then, the situation has not significantly progressed. In the past, the National Film Archive expressed interest in the building.

The Zižkov town hall agrees with the purchase of the building. According to the mayor of Prague 3, Vladislava Hujová (TOP 09), the city should also seek to acquire adjacent plots currently owned by Zižkov Station Development. "By changing the zoning plan to designate the plots for construction and subsequently selling them, Prague could offset the billion-crown costs of renovating the building," Hujová stated.

Zižkov Station Development plans to build a new city district in the area. The station is to become its center. The city is now having a change to the zoning plan processed, without which it is not possible to build around the facility since the plots are still classified as railway land. It should be ready in two years. At the same time, there is a building ban on the plots, which the city intends to lift based on the currently prepared zoning study.

In the northern part of the station, Central Group is planning residential construction on the building plots, which acquired the project from the British Discovery Group last year and is currently redesigning it.

The construction of the freight station from the 1930s is considered by experts to be among the most modern of its kind in Europe, both in terms of technology and architecture.