Developer ECM wants to sell the high-rise building project in Pankrác

City Epoque - photo: ecm.cz

Prague - The indebted development company ECM Real Estate Investments (ECM) wants to sell the project for the construction of a high-rise residential building called City Epoque in Prague's Pankrác. The company has asked the creditors' committee to approve the initiation of preparatory work for the tender process. This information was found by ČTK from documents in the Insolvency Register. ECM has been in bankruptcy since last year with billions in debt.
    "The chairman of the creditors' committee noted that the preparatory work could be approved by the creditors' committee, but that the actual sale is, in his opinion, unrealistic before a decision is made on how to resolve the bankruptcy, and therefore the discussion on this matter is only preliminary," states the latest published minutes from the creditors' committee meeting.
    The preparation of the project for the construction of a V-shaped high-rise building was already complicated last year by a court, which annulled the valid zoning decision, thus siding with the objections of a civic association. The court's decision also concerned the plan for the construction of the neighboring office building City Epoque Office.
    However, REA International, which is one of the advisors to the insolvency administrator of ECM Iva Hal, considers the sale of the residential part of the project to be realistic. "The representative of REA pointed out that according to his information, it is possible to find more than one interested party for the City Epoque Residence project," states the minutes from the creditors' committee meeting.
    One of the interested parties in ECM's assets is the CPI group of billionaire Radovan Vítek. "Our interest remains, but everything obviously depends on how the situation around ECM develops," said CPI spokesperson Michaela Winkler to ČTK.
    At the beginning of February, the creditors' committee voted with the majority of votes to recommend resolving ECM's bankruptcy through insolvency proceedings. However, some creditors and ECM management propose reorganization.
    ECM has been in bankruptcy since July 2011, but last October the court annulled the bankruptcy decision due to procedural errors. A repeated creditors' meeting in November did not decide on the method of resolving the developer's bankruptcy, and since then a court decision has been awaited. There is no deadline for the court's decision. The creditors' committee has now urged the court to decide on ECM as soon as possible.