Half of the destroyed Ostravice was purchased by an entrepreneur, who will convert it into a hotel

Ostrava – Half of the first republic department store Ostravica-Textilia in the center of Ostrava, which has been in a poor state for several years, has been sold. Two of the four buildings in the complex were purchased by the Liberec entrepreneur Michalis Dzikos, who plans to convert them into a hotel. The owner of the other half of the complex, Daniel Zeman, wants to offer his part of the Ostravica site to young people for cultural use. The buildings could be opened to the public by the end of next year.

Dzikos specializes in the restoration of architectural monuments from the first republic and has renovated, for example, the Mandelík villa near Kolín into the Chateau Kotěra hotel. In Brno, he converted the former bank at Zelný trh into the Hotel Grandezz and is currently renovating the Barrandov terraces in Prague.

"I sold him buildings C and D," said the current owner of Ostravica, Zeman, who took over the devastated complex of buildings in 2014. He kept buildings A and B for himself, which he will renovate for public purposes. "My part will belong to young people and culture," he added. Buildings A and B could be opened to the public by the end of next year.

In the spring, two interested parties applied for Ostravica. One for the mentioned half, the other wanted to use the entire complex for student housing. The latter was introduced to Zeman by the mayor of Ostrava, Tomáš Macura, after it became clear that the city could not use the old building for its needs. Macura told the newspaper that it was a solid investor, but the businessmen did not reach an agreement. "I have also met with an investor who wants to turn half of Ostravica into a hotel. He also seemed solid to me," Macura mentioned.

Zeman took over Ostravica devastated and was close to extinction. "The roofing was missing, five-meter trees were growing from the roof. It was damp and moldy everywhere. I waded through water in the basement," Zeman described the situation from 2014 to the newspaper. The building is statically sound, many preservation works are now completed, and others are ongoing. Zeman's media representative, Jindřich Vaněk, told MfD that Dzikos would like to add another building with an underground parking lot to the existing buildings, in the gap that was created during the war between the buildings and the Hotel Imperial.

The department store operated since 1930 and was among the most luxurious in the republic. However, in 2000, during an unauthorized renovation, the ceilings collapsed, and it has been deteriorating ever since. At that time, it was owned by the Opava entrepreneur Kamil Kolek. In 2007, the historical properties were acquired by the firm Amádeus Real, which intended to make them part of a multifunctional commercial complex. However, after disputes with the district and the city, the buildings were sold. None of the owners has managed to restore the building's former glory.