Investor: Plzeň will pay a billion if construction in the center is prevented

Plzeň - Plzeň would have to pay over one billion crowns in compensation for the devaluation of land if the city changed the zoning plan in the center for the area where a giant multifunctional building worth 2.5 billion crowns is to be built. Its investor is the Czech developer Amádeus. All seven owners of ten hectares of land under and around the demolished cultural center would be entitled to compensation, said Jan Petřík from Amádeus to ČTK.
According to him, this argument has not yet been presented in connection with the referendum sought by civic associations, which have already gained the support of more than 17,000 adult residents of Plzeň, significantly more than the required ten percent of voters. The public vote is to take place in Plzeň concurrently with the regional elections on October 12 and 13. Mayor Martin Baxa (ODS) wants to present his proposal for the referendum to the city council on Thursday, despite the fact that the city hall has not yet decided whether the activists' proposal is valid or not. Civic associations are demanding a change in the zoning plan from commercial and residential to green space.
"I don't want to comment on the investor's information, but the councilors will receive a calculation of the costs that a successful referendum would bring tomorrow," Baxa told ČTK. He confirmed that he would propose its announcement with the regional elections. "But only for question number one; the second is, according to the Ministry of the Interior's opinion, not subject to voting," he stated. Activists insist on both questions, to which people have committed themselves with their signatures. "Otherwise, all 17,000 people could challenge it with an administrative lawsuit. The mayor's haste indicates that he wants to bury the referendum," said referendum representative Martin Marek. Activists have legal opinions on the questions from two lawyers. They, like the opposition, propose that a special council meeting for the referendum be held on September 17. The first question of the plebiscite is general - whether the city of Plzeň should immediately take all steps to prevent the construction of a commercial facility. The second concerns support for changing the zoning plan from mixed-use to urban green space.
The land currently has a value of about 20,000 CZK/m² according to Petřík, and at least five hectares can be built on. After the zoning change to a park, the owners would not build anything there before the next referendum, and the land's value would, according to Petřík, drop to zero. Amádeus owns a quarter of the area, with other owners including Tesco, a German and an Italian company, and a private polyclinic. Amádeus, like Tesco and the new owner of the polyclinic, also has plans to expand its department store, but according to Petřík, they do not want to go to court or seek compensation; they want to build something there.
According to Marek, although claiming damages with a zoning plan change under the building law is allowable, no investor has utilized it yet, and there are reportedly disputes on whether it can be obtained. "Moreover, it would actually be a pledge that the investor would have to return in full to the city immediately after a new change in the zoning plan," he added. Activists do not want the park to remain there permanently but demand regulation of the area so that large stores over 1,000 m² cannot be established there.
"Citizens have also not heard that even if the referendum were to reject the construction of new buildings, and green space was created there, it is a utopia that the city would have leverage to force private owners to build a park there. It would only lead to the preservation of the current state," Petřík stated. Thus, only the area left from the demolished cultural center would remain, and Amádeus would also demand investments for its demolition. "So far, we have invested well over 300 million CZK in the site," he added. Overall, according to Petřík, Amádeus should be entitled to more than 800 million crowns. According to Marek, Amádeus is not entitled to compensation of over 300 million CZK because it does not have a legally binding zoning decision. Furthermore, the price of the land, where construction is not allowed, is not zero; it can, for example, be leased for farmers' markets, he added.
The investor perceives the referendum "as purely a political battle before the regional elections, which it does not want to or cannot participate in." "We have modified the project as experts in real estate investments more than ten times and adapted it to the citizens' expectations and the municipality's requirements," Petřík stated. The investor will present a new architectural design and appearance of the Corso Americká building this month, which will break the original controversial monolithic block into three completely different structures, which is the main requirement of the municipality. "We applied for the zoning decision during the summer," he added.