The property developer Penta Real Estate has bought long-unused land in Florence, in the vicinity of the Prague main road, from České dráhy for almost CZK 244 million. The amount may increase depending on the outcome of the zoning plan change currently under discussion. On the land, Penta will continue to build a new district around its newly opened Masaryčka office building. The company announced this in a press release. At the end of October this year, Penta also bought ČSAD Praha Holding, which owns the Florenc bus station and adjacent land.
“We have recently completed the first phase of construction in the Masarycka area. We would like to build further towards Florenc in the context of the 2021 urban planning competition, thus connecting the city centre with Karlín. Thanks to the purchase of the land, we can now complete negotiations with the city on the change of the zoning plan for this location and also negotiations on the contingencies,” said Pavel Streblov, commercial development director at Penta Real Estate. He added that a large part of the purchased land will become the property of the city after the streets and public spaces are built.
The purchase price that Penta will pay to ČD depends on the proposed change to the zoning plan. Penta will immediately pay ČD a price corresponding to the maximum buildability of the area according to the current zoning plan. Depending on its final form, it will be obliged to increase the price according to any increase in the buildability of the area. The price should thus better reflect the possible future yield of the land. ČD will receive a substantial part of the price, i.e. CZK 244 million, regardless of how the negotiations on the land use plan develop.
Michal Krapinec, the Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of ČD, considers the negotiated conditions to be favourable. According to him, ČD will not have to pay the costs of land improvements related to, for example, the Florenc metro station or archaeological surveys of the site. These will be provided by Penta.
Negotiations on the change of the zoning plan have been going on for several years. The Prague City Council has previously agreed with Penta that at least 40 percent of the new development will be flats, which have been in short supply in the city for a long time. The aim is to turn the impenetrable closed area into a lively urban district connecting Florenc, Karlín and Žižkov. The discussion of the zoning change is expected to be completed in 2024.
Petr Hlaváček (STAN), Prague’s deputy mayor for territorial development, has previously said that he welcomes the purchase of the Florenc bus station and adjacent land by the Penta group. According to him, the city will find it easier to develop the area further by negotiating with one landowner instead of two.
The construction of a new district in the Florence locality is envisaged by the Prague administration as well as the Prague 1 and Prague 8 municipal districts. In 2021, an international urban planning competition was held to outline the future shape of the area. The winning proposal was discussed and approved by the City Council in spring 2022.
Source: CTK
