Prague approved the purchase of a building from Komerční banka, which will cost approximately 3.5 billion crowns

Prague - Prague will buy the company VN 42 from Komerční banka (KB) for approximately 3.5 billion crowns, which owns the office building on the corner of Wenceslas Square and Štěpánská Street. This was approved today by the city council. The city plans to move officials from the Škodův palace on Jungmannova Street, where it is rented until the end of March 2028, into the building.

According to the approved document, the purchase price consists of two parts. The value of the building itself is 3.32 billion crowns, and the remaining amount consists of other assets of the purchased company. This is preliminarily valued at approximately 222.2 million crowns, with the exact amount to be determined by an expert assessment. The transaction is to be completed by July 1 of this year. According to the document, the bank will remain in the building as a tenant until the end of 2026.

KB invited offers for the purchase of the building, i.e., the company through which it is owned, on March 12 this year. Several interested parties, including the capital city, applied, whose council approved an offer of up to 3.65 billion crowns in March. Subsequently, the bank's management decided that it would negotiate only with Prague. In the coming years, the city must solve the problem of where to place about 1,200 officials who currently work in the rented Škodův palace.

The five-story neoclassical building at the corner of Wenceslas Square and Štěpánská, built in the 1920s, meets the city's needs in terms of capacity, which is about a third larger than in the Škodův palace. According to the city leadership, the location in the city center at the intersection of all three metro lines is also suitable. The building has been protected as a monument since 1958.

The officials were moved to Jungmannova Street by the leadership of Prague under former mayor Pavel Bém (ODS). The situation regarding the rental was addressed by Prague for several years afterward, and a lawsuit was filed unsuccessfully against the original owner of the palace, Copa retail, regarding the amount of rent. The former city leadership, led by mayor Adriana Krnáčová (ANO), agreed on a modification of the lease. The twenty-year lease was to cost the city 4.4 billion crowns, but it will ultimately pay 860 million less. In 2017, the palace was purchased by the investment company GLL Real Estate Partners based in Munich.

In the past, the capital city also considered other places to relocate officials. In the last year, the leadership of Prague discussed the purchase of the main post office building on Jindřišská Street, but did not reach an agreement with Czech Post. Earlier, there was also a plan to build a new building at Na Knížecí, but that was also abandoned. The city hall is located in the New Town Hall building on Mariánské náměstí, which the city owns.