The company V Invest has a building permit for the former "marshmallow"

Prague – The company V Invest has obtained a final building permit for the construction of the residential building U Milosrdných in Prague's Old Town, previously nicknamed marshmallow. The city council, as the appellate authority, rejected the appeal made against the building permit by a local association. The company's director Jaroslav Vondřička informed ČTK that construction should begin after the archaeological survey is completed. The company is also negotiating with the city regarding the land under the project.

In the building, the company plans to have 30 apartments, half of which will be a layout of 2+kk, and 11 will have three rooms. Of the remaining apartments, three will be of size 4+kk and one 5+kk. According to previous information, the company plans to rent the apartments, and there will be commercial spaces on the ground floor. The archaeological survey has already begun, and according to Vondřička, construction should start as soon as possible.

The provisional building permit was issued by the building authority of Prague 1 last December, and the city council rejected the appeal from the association U Milosrdných last week. According to the authority, the appeal mainly referred to the building permission from the heritage conservationists, which the association claimed was incorrect. However, the decision of the city’s heritage conservationists was also confirmed by the Ministry of Culture. "From the perspective of heritage protection, there is no room for anything other than a positive assessment of the plan," states the document.

The company is negotiating with the city council about the land under the building, half of which is owned by the city. The company has a preemptive agreement for them, according to which it can purchase the land only after the building is approved for use. Currently, negotiations are ongoing for an earlier transfer; according to Vondřička, no agreement has yet been reached. This was confirmed to ČTK by city councilor Jan Chabr (TOP 09), who stated that the proposal for the agreement should go to the city council in the fall. In exchange for the land, Prague is expected to receive apartments in other V Invest projects outside the historical center.

The residential building on U Milosrdných street has been planned for more than 20 years. The original Italian investor Francesco Augusto Razetto previously proposed a design, the visualization of which featured a facade in white and pink colors. Based on that, the project earned the nickname marshmallow and faced a wave of criticism. After taking over the project, V Invest came up with a new version of the building, created by the author of the original design, architect Zdeněk Fránek.