Prague will not buy the main headquarters of Czech Post on Jindřišská Street

Prague - Prague will not ultimately buy the main building of Czech Post located on Jindřišská Street. According to the city, there is not enough space for the municipality's needs, and the modernization of the property would be too costly. The Prague City Hall stated this in a press release today. Through the sale of properties, the post office is trying to stabilize its finances. In an earlier tender for the purchase of the main building on Jindřišská Street, with a starting price of 1.538 billion crowns, no interested party appeared by the end of last year. Czech Post spokesman Matyáš Vitík told ČTK today that the post office still plans to sell the main building and is currently analyzing options.

Interested parties were supposed to register for the tender to purchase the post office building on Jindřišská Street by December 20, otherwise they could not submit envelopes with offers. At the beginning of January, the post office announced that no one had applied. The leadership of Prague, which had previously expressed interest in several offered buildings of the post office, had the opportunity to match the highest bid in the selection process for the post office's headquarters in the city center. However, the city announced today that it cannot pursue the building any further.

"The reason is primarily the lack of space for the office while maintaining a branch of Czech Post in the building, as well as the unsatisfactory layout or the fact that all safety requirements for the building are not met," stated city hall spokesman Vít Hofman.

According to him, the total floor area of the building on Jindřišská Street is comparable to the current office space, but after deducting the area needed for the post office branch, the remaining part of the building is insufficient for the city hall. After a detailed review of the tender documentation, shortcomings in the building's layout for the needs of the city hall also became apparent, according to the city spokesman. The extent of modifications necessary for modernization and the related costs exceed the original estimates. The layout of the building, according to Hofman, also does not allow for the prevention of the overlap of individual operations and essential safety measures cannot be ensured.

Despite the current failures, Czech Post still plans to sell its current main building and believes that other interested parties will come forward. "Our intention to sell the entire property still stands. We are analyzing some other options for how to sell the building," said post spokesman Vitík. "This is not something we need to rush. As far as finances are concerned, we are not dependent on whether we sell this building or not in the short term," he added.

In 2022, Czech Post finished its operations with a loss of 1.7 billion crowns and a decline in business is expected for last year as well. Within two years, the company is to be transformed into an operator of branches and a commercial parcel service.