The city of Prague’s lease of the Skoda Palace has been a festering problem almost since the time it moved its headquarters to the building in 2006. But the issue has come to a head, now that the city council has decided to formally sue the current owner, claiming the rent is simply too high.
Denik.cz reports that the city paid CZK 200m in rent in 2012, and that the latest offer from the owner, Copa Retail, would see the city end up paying CZK 6.5bn in rent over the course of a 35 year lease. Critics of the deal charge that the city could have bought the building originally for just CZK 1.5bn. Former mayor Pavel Bem argues that the city made the decision on the basis of a transparent tender, and that it made its decision on rational economic grounds.
