Due to the city's approach, Amádeus terminated the giant house project in Plzeň

Plzeň - The company Amádeus Real has decided to terminate the Corso Americká project in Plzeň. The shopping center valued at 2.5 billion crowns, which was being prepared for four years, rejected a referendum a year ago. The reason for the termination of the project is uncertainty in the city's approach and constantly changing attitudes towards the investment, which have currently resulted in the halting of the zoning process, said legal representative Jan Petřík today to ČTK. Amádeus will coordinate the next steps with the foreign co-investor. It is likely that it will demand hundreds of millions from the city, which it invested in the project.
    The city has not been informed about the termination of the project and is surprised by it. According to the results of the referendum, it must take all steps to prevent the construction of the building on the site of the demolished cultural house. The investor has put hundreds of millions of crowns into the project, which it will demand from the city according to previous statements, along with part of the lost profits and compensation for the thwarted investment. The sale of the 2.4-hectare plot owned by Amádeus is also on the table. The city can offer up to 270 million crowns for it, while the investor suggested 500 million last year.
    "Given the investor's opinion reversals, it rightfully doubts that the city will stop thwarting the project if Amádeus makes adjustments to it," said Petřík. He stated that the reasons for terminating the project include not only the accumulating opinion shifts of the city but also the unstable political situation. "The city's approach is not only destroying the Corso Americká project but is also creating a negative environment for any investment in the city," he said.
    "We expressed a negative stance on the zoning process a month after the referendum results. It was our duty to accept its conclusions. Further discussions proceeded at the level of state administration (building office), which we could not influence. Amádeus must accept the referendum, but we do not want to thwart the project. We recommended that it be revised, respecting the regulatory conditions approved two years ago," said Deputy Mayor and city negotiator Martin Zrzavecký (ČSSD).
    He added that the city wanted to initiate a meeting about adjustments to the project. He is waiting until January 30, when the councilors will discuss the next steps. "Then we are ready to negotiate and collaborate with the investor," he said. The opinion on the development of the area will be determined by an architectural competition that the city will announce in February. If the city receives a letter from Amádeus stating that it is terminating the project, it will invite it to talks.
    Petřík mentioned some of the city's opinion shifts over the past year. "In the summer of 2012, it provided consent to the zoning process for the Corso project, but by October it disagreed with the project. In the summer of 2013, the city claimed that the lease agreement for the land had expired, but at the beginning of 2014, city representatives suddenly wanted to withdraw from it. In January 2013, the city asserted that the outcome of the referendum did not allow for any businesses in the area, but in the autumn of 2013, according to a new legal opinion, it stated that businesses were now possible," he said.
    He further stated that in March 2013, the mayor claimed to be biased during the zoning process, but by September, according to his new resolution, he was no longer biased. Last year, the city claimed for several months that it had made an offer to the investor to purchase the land for 270 million, but this January it acknowledged that it was not binding because it lacked the council's consent. In autumn 2012, the city confirmed that the investor had fulfilled the regulatory conditions, but after the referendum, it claimed that they had not been met. In the court case with the investor regarding the eviction of the land, the city stated that it wanted a quick decision but then asked the court for several months' postponement. "After the referendum, the city stated that it did not want to harm the investor with its actions, and subsequently, in a letter dated October 30, it stated that it would do everything possible to thwart the project," he added.
    Amádeus and its foreign co-investor have decided that the project cannot be realized in Plzeň even in a smaller or modified form. According to them, Plzeň is not a good place for strategic investments of this type, as there are no guarantees for the completion of the project, and the shifts in opinion from the city and activists create almost zero certainty needed for their realization. "With its approach, the city is on the best path for the void left by the cultural house to remain one of the dominant features of Americká Street for a long time," added Petřík.