The largest brownfield site in Plzeň, the 32-hectare former Slovany barracks, is to be turned into a modern district with 1,000 flats within 15 years. The city councillors today approved a memorandum of cooperation on the revitalisation with the owner and investors. The district can accommodate up to 10,000 people. Roads, a park and a kindergarten will be built. According to deputy mayor Pav Bosák (Pirates), it is a commitment to continue negotiations until the conclusion of a cooperation agreement. The area has been abandoned since 1992.
The memorandum was concluded by the city with the owner of the barracks – the construction company APB – PLZEŇ a.s. and the companies Slovany pozemky s.r.o. and Slovany develop s.r.o. “I perceive the developer’s contribution as a significant benefit, as it will build technical and transport infrastructure there at its own expense. It also includes the zero stage of the water supply network,” Bosák said. According to him, it is a very advantageous agreement for the city. “We are not committing ourselves to anything, we are not giving a single crown, but we will get a large piece of land and infrastructure without any additional costs,” he said.
According to Budková, the city will get the right of first refusal on almost five hectares of land for residential construction, on which it can build several hundred apartments. It will buy the land for the kindergarten for a symbolic CZK 40 per square metre. Mayor Roman Zarzycký (ANO) said that the town has been communicating intensively with investors for several months. “After 25 years, an opportunity is opening up to revive a neglected zone that will serve the citizens of Pilsen,” he said.
The opposition thinks the project is prepared in an amateurish way. “We don’t know the value of the contrivances, you have not acquainted us with them,” said Lukáš Hegner of the ODS. He also wanted to know how the memorandum is binding and enforceable. According to the city’s lawyer Tomáš Tomšíček, it is not a worthless piece of paper; it includes a 35-page cooperation agreement. APB lawyer Martin Ovsik said it mainly says the parties will continue to negotiate. “The investor has owned the site for over 15 years. It is complete and ready for construction,” he said. Its handicap is the lack of water.
“We expect the first flats in three to four years. The zoning study is being amended now and will be refined by the end of the year. We want to start building in 2024, we will proceed street by street,” said APB co-owner Petr Březina. He confirmed that they will pay for the zero stage of the Ostrá Hůrka waterworks complex. “We will spend 200 to 220 million on it,” he said. It will also pay for roads worth CZK 1 billion. “We want to work with the city so that people live happily in the new area,” he added. Pilsen will pay for the next stages of the waterworks complex, which the city is already designing. According to Březina, the new district, which will take about 15 years to build, will take only about one-fifth of the water capacity, with the rest going on to Čechurovo and Stary Plzenec.
The coalition rejected the creation of a working group, consisting of city departments, representatives of political clubs and investors. Because of the size and importance of the project, it was proposed by former mayor and opposition councillor Pavel Šindelář (ODS). Thirty councillors voted in favour of the memorandum, while 11 opposition councillors from ODS and TOP 09 abstained.
The area of the Slovany barracks is about the same size as the Vinice housing estate in Plzeň.
