The repeat electronic auction of Prague’s Broadway Palace will take place from 13 to 15 March. The Office for State Representation in Property Matters (ÚZSVM) announced this in a press release today. The starting price will be CZK 990 million, the minimum bid is CZK 200,000. The auction was supposed to take place in mid-February, but due to an administrative error it did not take place.
“The Broadway Palace complex is the most significant sale in the more than 20-year history of our office and, in particular, a unique investment opportunity. I believe that we will be able to find a definitive owner for this exceptional property in the centre of Prague as soon as possible who will be able to breathe new life into this cultural monument,” said Kateřina Arajmu, Director General of the ÚZSVM.
The planned auction is the fourth attempt to sell the Broadway Palace. The Property Office offered it in September 2021, last March and last August. One bidder posted the required deposit each time, but subsequently did not attend the auction. In the previous attempt last August, the asking price was CZK 1.05 billion.
The functionalist building designed by architects Bohumír Kozák and Antonín Černý from the 1930s is located between Celetná and Na Příkopě streets near náměstí Republiky. The building consists of three interconnected tracts. It is one of the largest functionalist new buildings in the historic centre of Prague. At first it served the needs of Italian insurance companies and part of the complex contained apartments. After 1980 the building was adapted for administrative purposes. In 1938, a cinema was opened in the basement of the building with the most modern projection and sound equipment of the time. Today the premises of the functionalist palace are used by the Broadway Theatre.
In accordance with the law, after taking over the building, the Ministry of the Interior offered it first to other state institutions. However, none of them showed interest in it. Therefore, the authority is looking for a new owner through an electronic auction.
So far, the highest amount of CZK 790 million has been raised by the state from the sale of the premises on náměstí Republiky in Prague and the sale of the Prague complex U Půjčovny, which sold for CZK 355.1 million after 100 bids.
Source: ÚZSVM and CTK
