The building of the closed branch of the Czech Post in Liberec – Vesec is going up for auction again. The auction will be held electronically again on Tuesday 23 January, the price has remained at CZK 8.7 million, according to the Czech Post website. The house in Česká Street was auctioned for this amount at the beginning of last December, but no bidder was found. The Liberec City Hall was not interested either, as the price seemed too high for the regional city’s management. Those interested in joining the auction can apply until 15 January.
The house in Vesec in Liberec is the first of 13 closed branches in the Liberec Region that the Czech Post has put up for sale. The house is located on the main road next to the primary school near the bus stop. On the plot with a total area of 524 sqm there is a small garden in addition to the house. In addition to the now vacant premises of the post office, there are two rented apartments 1+1 and 3+1 on the first floor. The building is approximately 125 years old, has a basement and an attic. According to the expert, its condition is well preserved. “The starting price was determined on the basis of an expert opinion,” Ivo Vysoudil, spokesman for the Czech Post, said earlier.
Although the Liberec City Council decided that the city would seek the buildings of the closed branches in Vesec and also in Švermova Street in Františkov and near Vápenka, it did not participate in the auction. “In our judgement, it is expensive,” said Deputy Mayor Adam Lenert (ANO), who said the corresponding price would have been a third to a half lower. For comparison, he said the town hall gave CZK 12.5 million for a residential building with six flats in Na Žižkově Street to a private owner a quarter of a year ago, making the Vesec branch disproportionately expensive in the town hall’s view.
Since July last year, the Czech Post has closed almost 300 branches in the country due to austerity measures, leaving 2,900 and laying off about 1,500 people. The post office argued that interest in traditional postal services was declining and wanted to mitigate its losses by reducing the number of branches and laying off some staff. In the Liberec region, 13 branches closed at the beginning of the holiday season, most of them in the regional capital, where the post office closed six, including the second largest in the Globus shopping centre. Three post offices were lost in Česká Lípa, two in Jablonec nad Nisou and one each in Turnov and Rokytnice nad Jizerou. No other branch is for sale yet.
Source: Czech Post and CTK
