The skyscraper in Pankrác has changed owners, it could be the deal of the year

Prague - The tallest office building in the Czech Republic, City Tower in Prague's Pankrác, has a new owner. The company Marpona sold the property to Consideratio, which belongs to the Proxy-Finance holding through Fintop. The information about the transaction was confirmed to ČTK by the group's representative, Stanislav Zeman. The company did not disclose the transaction value. However, the real estate consulting firm DTZ estimates that it could be the real estate deal of the year.
"The sale of the City Tower is likely to be the largest transaction this year," said Ryan Wray, head of the investment department at DTZ, to ČTK.
Marpona acquired the building from the development company ECM in 2009, paying 130 million euros for the skyscraper, which is approximately 3.3 billion crowns at the current exchange rate. At that time, it was also the largest real estate transaction of the year. The J&T group acted as a broker in the previous transaction.
"We do not plan to invest in other properties by the end of this year; however, this cannot be ruled out if a unique investment opportunity arises," Zeman from Proxy-Finance told ČTK. DTZ expects that by the end of 2012, the Czech Republic will experience a similar deal with commercial properties worth over 100 million euros (around 2.5 billion crowns).
The prominent figures of the Proxy-Finance holding are financiers Peter Vajda and Václav Foglar. The group includes, for example, the brokerage company BH Securities. Currently, the group is also active in the solar energy business and participated in the restructuring of Kordárna, a debt-ridden producer of technical fabrics from Velká nad Veličkou in the Hodonín region. Proxy-Finance was among the minority shareholders of the bankrupt Investment and Postal Bank.
City Tower offers around 44,000 square meters of office space and other areas for lease. The largest tenant of the high-rise building is Raiffeisenbank.
The building in Prague's Pankrác was originally intended to be the new headquarters of Czech Radio. The authorities issued a construction permit for it back in 1983; however, just ten years ago, it was only an incomplete and abandoned shell. The object was purchased by ECM in 2000, and after significant reconstruction, it was completed in 2007.
The building has 27 above-ground floors and measures 109 meters. It is still the tallest building in the Czech Republic. However, the currently under-construction AZ Tower in Brno is set to surpass this height. Even higher, reaching up to 139 meters, are the planned office towers that the PPF group wants to build in Prague's Chodov area.