Praha, in cooperation with the state, will prepare a land study in Letňany

Prague - The Prague city hall plans to create a study of municipal and state land near the Letňany metro station in cooperation with the Office for the Representation of the State in Property Matters (ÚZSVM). Based on it, a decision will be made regarding what type of development should take place there in the future, and it can serve as a basis for potential land exchanges. CTK was informed by Deputy Mayor Petr Hlaváček (for TOP 09). The city hall and the state have been in dispute over the land, as Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) wants to build a complex for officials there.

Hlaváček stated that the state and municipal lands in Letňany together constitute the largest collection of public parcels in the metropolis. Currently, several changes to the zoning plan are being prepared to ensure that a district with a mix of residential, administrative, public facilities, sports, and recreation will emerge there.

The development area of Letňany - Kbely also includes private land, where PPF, owned by the richest Czech Petr Kellner, plans to build a new district on the site of the current sports airport, and the Avia Letňany complex is also expected to undergo transformation. According to the deputy, preliminary background studies concerning the city and state land should be created within a few months. ÚZSVM spokesman Radek Ležatka confirmed that the agency's director Kateřina Arajmu agreed with Hlaváček to collaborate on addressing the future use of the land during a meeting in early June.

The city hall also wants to discuss the issue of the Bulovka Hospital with the state, where the city owns 20 percent of the land and most of the buildings, which it leases to the Ministry of Health. Therefore, the possibility of property transfers or another solution to the long-term problematic situation, which complicates necessary investments in the buildings, is on the table. "However, a specific scenario that would address the entire complex in this way and on which there is general agreement is not yet on the table," stated the deputy.

In the past, Prime Minister Babiš urged the city hall leadership to transfer its land in Letňany to the state for the construction of a complex for thousands of state officials. The city, led by Mayor Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates), is resisting this; Hřib rejected the idea of an "administrative ghetto" and conditions the transfer of land to the state on several requirements, such as a financial contribution for the completion of the city bypass. According to the city leadership, administrative buildings are possible in the area but as part of a district with housing and other functions. At the same time, the city hall would like a hospital to be established there, which could replace the Bulovka Hospital.