The Office for State Representation in Property Matters (ÚZSVM) has cancelled an electronic auction in which it wanted to sell Prague’s Broadway Palace. None of the bidders paid the 20 million euro auction deposit, the authority said on the internet. The auction was due to start at noon today, with a starting price of CZK 990 million. It was the fourth attempt by the Office of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to sell the Broadway Palace.
The Property Office offered Broadway Palace for sale 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
