Plzeň plans to build up to 700 new flats and a school on the site of the former Slovany barracks near the exit to Strakonice. The city will be able to do so thanks to a contract with the private owner of the cleared area, where Plzeň will get 5.4 hectares of land at a discounted price, more than one-seventh of the area of the former barracks, the largest development area in Plzeň. The right to buy the land is the biggest benefit for the city from the contract with the APB – PLZEN joint-stock company, said Deputy Mayor Pavel Bosák (Pirates).
The developer, which will invest CZK 15 to 20 billion, will build a modern district with 3,230 flats for 10,000 inhabitants, a two-hectare central park, shops and offices, where about 2,300 people will work. More than a third of the area will be green space. APB will start building the first homes within two years, with a water line from the city’s water treatment plant as early as next spring. “Since the extension of the water pipeline is planned for later, the city will save a lot of money (CZK 150 to 200 million) thanks to this commitment by the investor,” Bosák said. APB will still pay for the water pipeline project, which the city had prepared.
“The cooperation agreement allows us to have a major influence on how the future district will look like, it contains an agreement on the binding nature of the planning study. It can’t happen that the investor would build apartment blocks instead of lower buildings,” the deputy said. The functions of the site, the percentage of development, green space and more are defined, he said. The central park is an essential element, from which the city will build its 700 flats towards U seřadiště Street.
The water pipelines, roads, sidewalks and the park, costing about CZK 1 billion, will be handed over by APB to the city for a symbolic price upon completion. This eliminates the possibility of private neighbourhoods without access to the general public, which has happened in some parts of the country in the past, according to the deputy minister. In the eastern part, near the planned connection to Koterovská Street, a P+R parking lot will be built, which should significantly calm traffic in the centre of Pilsen.
APB started designing the houses immediately after the contract with the city was approved. “We would like to build the first flats next year. However, a large area is subject to an EIA (environmental impact assessment), so we will see how long the permitting processes will take,” said Petr Březina, deputy chairman of the board of directors. APB will pay about 30 percent of the costs of the new district from its own resources, 70 percent from loans from two banks.
The barracks area has been abandoned since 1992, awaiting re-development and construction. The old army buildings were leveled in 2007, and Březina said the area is cleared, free of environmental burdens, and ready for reseeding.
Source: CTK
