Ostrava wants to fill in some gaps in the city center

Ostrava - Ostrava wants to fill some gaps in the city center with new developments. The areas will again be offered in March at the MIPIM investment opportunities fair in Cannes. City representatives will go to France with specific conditions and expect strong interest from investors. Ostrava's mayor Tomáš Macura (ANO) told reporters today.

"In the past, industrial functions dominated, meaning we offered areas in industrial zones. This year, it will clearly be dominated by our offering of available land in the city for urban functions, such as residential, recreational, or for hotel construction, and so on," said Macura.

The city will offer several locations, mostly gaps, located, for example, in Karolina or near the central square. "We will already have spatial and height regulations prepared, including other requirements, so that we can provide potential investors with more specific guidance. Based on last year's fair, we recorded interest from both foreign and domestic investors in certain areas in the city center. I expect that this time interest will be even greater," said the mayor.

He stated that there is space in the city for one or two new hotels of medium capacity in the three and four-star category. According to the mayor, the city lacks such hotels. The deficit in hotel capacity is felt especially during large events, but the average hotel occupancy is generally increasing. "We are already registering two or three interested parties," said Macura.

According to him, the city wants to select investors based on multiple criteria. One of the most important will be the architectural value of the building. "I personally will advocate for one of the conditions for which the city would subsequently decide whether or not to sell a given parcel for a specific development to be the execution of an architectural competition," said the mayor.

At the fair, Ostrava will present itself for the second time together with Prague and Brno; the cities first tried this concept last year. "It has proven that this concept is successful and more attractive to investors. It also has a financial effect, as we then share the costs," said Macura.