The University of West Bohemia (ZČU) in Plzeň has so far failed to sell the large former headquarters building of Škoda in Tylova Street near the city centre. The deadline for submitting offers to buy the building ended on Monday after 45 days, but the university has not received any relevant offers, announced ZČU spokeswoman Andrea Čandová. The university is ready to offer the building for sale again, but no deadline has been set yet.
The school’s former management bought the sprawling building in 2010. For several years it housed the Faculty of Health Studies and briefly the Faculty of Economics. As of 2017, the building is vacant and the university maintains it. Due to the current and expected student numbers, it is no longer of any meaningful use to the university, and the strategic plan does not envisage it. “The aim of the university management from the beginning was not to sell the building at any price, but to wait for an offer with a relevant price. This was estimated at CZK 174.6 million,” the spokesperson said.
It is not yet clear when and how the school will offer the building again. “At the moment, the university management is considering adjusting the method of sale, other ways to better disseminate information about the sale to potential buyers and, at the request of some interested parties, extending the period during which bids can be submitted,” Čandová added.
The building was sold by ZČU in a public tender for the highest possible amount. The building was first offered in 2022, when it received several interested parties. However, there were formal deficiencies in the documentation, which have now been removed.
The previous management of ZČU bought the building in 2010 with a plan to redevelop it and create facilities for selected faculties. At that time, ZČU had 19,000 students, now it has 12,000. Although ZČU expects the number of students to increase by several thousand in the future, it will not use the building. The university has also invested in other departments and built new facilities for faculties and research institutes on the campus.
The building is set in a terraced development, with four floors above ground and two underground. “Its attractiveness lies in its large premises with good amenities and very good accessibility to the centre,” Čandová said in April. The neighbouring industrial estate offered an interesting investment for light manufacturing, warehouse space or multifunctional use, she said. In addition, the adjacent Emil Škoda Square is going to be revitalised and turned into a full-fledged urban district with apartments, shops and offices.
Source: CTK
Photo: ZČU
