The station in Ústí nad Orlicí was not bought at auction, the partners are in dispute

Ústí nad Orlicí – No one showed interest today in the heritage-protected station building at the Ústí nad Orlicí railway station during the electronic auction. There were several interested parties, but none registered for the auction. Pavel Prchal from the company Oustecké nádraží told ČTK. The starting price was 2.96 million crowns.

The company offering the building for sale has three owners, two proposed the sale, while the third is against it. The story of the Orlicko-Ústecké station building began in 2008 when activists sought to save it, as its demolition was proposed due to the corridor repairs and the construction of a new station building. The most visible media figure was Martin Kadrman.

In 2010, the activists managed to achieve heritage protection for the building, and in 2016, the company Oustecké nádraží became its owner. It was purchased from České dráhy for just under 1.5 million crowns. The directors are Kadrman, Prchal, and Ladislav Růžička. Documentarist Olga Sommerová held a small share, which she sold after about two years.

"We have been unable to agree with Mr. Kadrman for several years now, there is no reasonable discussion about what we should do with the building, nor does he listen to us about buying our shares or selling his share," Prchal told ČTK.

The two partners are therefore trying to terminate cooperation with Kadrman and have put the building up for auction. Since it was not sold, Prchal and Růžička want to continue negotiations with Správa železnic, which would repair it and use it for railway purposes.

"We couldn't sell the building directly to Správa železnic without an auction because there would be no assessed market price. Mr. Kadrman could take us to court because we sold his property below value," Prchal said.

Správa železnic dealt with the owner of the building, confirmed the organization’s spokesperson Nela Friebová. The state organization can acquire real estate only at a price determined by an expert opinion. Another obstacle, according to her, is the fact that the property is encumbered by a lien, which at the end of October amounted to 2.1 million crowns, the spokesperson stated.

Kadrman does not wish for the building to be sold to a state organization. "We parted on human terms. With my lawyers, I want to convince the state not to buy the building; the danger is that the building would be left unused, then heritage protection would be lifted, and it would then be demolished, closing the story," Kadrman told ČTK today.

If SŽ does not buy the building, Kadrman wants to return to the negotiating table and negotiate the payment of the co-owners. "I never had an interest in selling my share," Kadrman said.

"Správa železnic is interested in the safe operation of the railway transportation route. Given the location of the historic station building in the middle of the railway corridor tracks and its significance, we are closely monitoring the entire situation and will analyze the impacts that a potential change of ownership would bring. Due to the current situation, Správa železnic does not have a specific project that should be implemented in the historic station building," Friebová said.

The original idea of the owners was that the building would serve the public, with apartments, refreshments, or other services, which so far has not been very successful. The café was gradually operated by two tenants, but they did not have significant earnings. In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic hit, and the café is closed. Part of the building is rented out as a warehouse, an artist’s studio, and there is one rental apartment. "The income is small, which only covers the operational costs; the property tax is 24,000 crowns a year," Prchal said.

The neoclassical station building from 1874 was designed by architect Rudolf Frey. It has an H-shaped floor plan, stone cornices, and is built of blonde brick. The upper floors are made of less common half-timbered construction. The building is interesting, among other things, because it stands in the middle of the tracks and is passable.