Prague will leave the state land in Letňany, wants to be paid for the circuit

Prague - The capital city will provide the state with land in Prague-Letňany for the construction of a complex for 10,000 state officials, where the Ministry of Regional Development and dozens of other state agencies will relocate. A new hospital and apartments are also planned for the site. In exchange, Prague wants to pay for the completion of the city ring road for 60 billion crowns, sell the barracks in Karlín, and transfer the buildings of the Bulovka Hospital, from which it aims to build apartments. Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) and representatives of the metropolis said this to journalists today. The government will send the city a specific offer within 14 days.

It is currently unclear how exactly the exchange will be carried out. According to Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates), the city hasn’t even received a list of properties that would be affected by the relocation of officials. The head of the Office for State Representation in Property Affairs (ÚZSVM), Kateřina Arajmu, stated that the transaction will involve a total of 115 buildings, of which 90 are to be vacated and employees from other offices will move into the remaining ones. Historically valuable buildings, such as the Nostitz Palace, will be retained by the state, and the rest will be sold.

The magistrate insists that a two-round architectural competition will be announced for the construction of the new district. According to the first Deputy Mayor Petr Hlaváček (for United Forces for Prague), both offices and apartments and hospitals will fit comfortably on the parcels. A potential issue could be transportation accessibility, which is also why the city is demanding payment for the ring road from the state.

According to Babiš, the overall exchange is disadvantageous from the state's perspective, but the relocation of 42 state agencies to the new complex will pay off within five years. In addition to the entire Ministry of Regional Development, parts of the Ministry of the Environment, the Interior, Education, Social Affairs, Transport, Industry and Trade, and Culture are expected to move to Letňany.

Whether the state will agree to Prague's conditions will only be clear after specific documents are sent, based on expert estimates. Mayor Hřib stated today that the city will insist on payment for the entire remaining inner ring road with the working title Vlasta and will not settle for co-financing. "I think it is in the interest of the entire country for Prague to have adequate transportation accessibility," he said. He added that this is not yet a definitive agreement and negotiations will continue.

In the past, the City Institute of Planning and Development (IPR) stated that Letňany is not suitable for the construction of a complex for officials and that if one were to be created, it should be on the brownfield site Bubny-Zátory. However, the state refuses this. "This location is absolutely unacceptable for us," Arajmu stated. According to her, the properties are complicated in terms of ownership, and the zoning plan would have to be changed for the construction of administrative spaces.

The magistrate also expressed interest in purchasing the Karlín barracks, which the state previously unsuccessfully tried to sell and are now mostly unused. The magistrate also wants to acquire the remainder of the Bulovka Hospital complex, where it owns two-thirds of the properties. The facility is supposed to be replaced by a new modern hospital in Letňany, which, however, has been critically addressed by the Central Bohemian Region. According to its governor Jaroslava Pokorná Jermanová (ANO), it would threaten the operations of hospitals operated by the region financially.

Babiš has been advocating for the creation of an administrative district for a long time; he believes that state offices across the metropolis are unnecessarily scattered, and the state is also paying nearly half a billion annually in office rents. Hřib previously labeled the idea as an "administrative ghetto." He now stated that the site should become a multi-functional district that includes state officials as well. However, the state must meet the conditions set by Prague.