The building of the Palmovka Center will be completed by Prague, which has taken it over along with the land

Prague – The building of the Palmovka Center in Prague 8 will be completed by the municipality, which took it over, including the land, from the eighth city district. The capital city also forgave the district's debt when it did not return the grant for the completion of the building. In exchange for the building and the land, Prague 8 will receive a grant of 550 million crowns from the city. The change and financial settlement were approved today by Prague's councilors. Prague 8 will also pay approximately 142 million CZK to the construction company Metrostav Alfa as per the agreement. The project for the building was approved in 2010 and is still not completed.

Counselors approved a memorandum today between the municipality, Prague 8, and the construction company, which will withdraw its lawsuits against the district. "For the capital city, it is crucial that when it acquires real estate, it is without legal burdens and risks associated precisely with the building of New Palmovka," said councilor Jan Chabr (TOP 09).

A few years ago, the city gave the district a loan of 300 million crowns for completion. Since the construction was not completed, the city wanted the money back. However, the district returned only part of the money. The municipality has now forgiven the debt of 244.84 million to Prague 8. "If the city had insisted on the return of the grant, we would undoubtedly have faced the insolvency of the city district, which would have catastrophic impacts on the residents of Prague 8. This is an unprecedented situation that we are currently dealing with, and I hope it will not happen again," said Deputy Mayor Pavel Vyhnánek (Praha Sobě).

The city district will receive a grant of 550 million crowns from the municipality between 2022 and 2026. The money will be used for investments in transportation, greenery, the construction and reconstruction of sports facilities, or for property repairs.

The construction of the building, which was to house the new district office and include commercial spaces, was approved by the previous leadership of the city district in 2010. The costs were estimated at over a billion. The previous leadership of Prague 8 halted the construction and subsequently litigated over its ownership.

Today, the councilors argued during the meeting about who is responsible for the situation. "This building is a monument to the chaos in management under ODS and ANO. What was wrong in this story? Everything," said councilor Pavel Zelenka (Praha Sobě). Opposition councilor Radomír Nepil (ANO) rejected the criticism and said that Zelenka does not tell the whole story of Palmovka. "The contractor bears the greatest responsibility for this project," he stated. According to him, the district office led by ANO and ČSSD wanted a list of works from the builder, which he did not provide, and therefore the office did not want to pay for the work. The builder subsequently halted construction.

In the future, the Palmovka Center should be part of the transformation of the entire locale, where new buildings will arise, and the current bus station will disappear. The current Bohumil Hrabal Square will also undergo transformation, with greenery, benches, or a café added. What will specifically be in the building of the Palmovka Center is still unclear. According to an earlier statement by Deputy Mayor Petr Hlaváček (TOP 09), it should be administrative spaces, and apartments will be built around the building.