The RPG Real Estate Group wants to demolish the tallest building in Ostrava

Ostrava - The tallest building in Ostrava, known as the "věžák", could be leveled to the ground. The panel building with 21 floors is to be replaced by a high-rise building with up to thirty floors featuring residential apartments. The demolition is planned by the RPG Real Estate group (RPG), if the city of Ostrava sells the land with the building to them. RPG already owns the surrounding lands and the hotel building Jindřich, which they also want to demolish and replace with a complex of offices, shops, and a new hotel. The city will welcome the sale of the "věžák", which has been empty from the fifteenth floor due to a lack of fire protection, said Ostrava's mayor Petr Kajnar (ČSSD) to reporters today.
    "The city has not known what to do with the building so far. Its reconstruction would cost up to 200 million crowns, while demolition would be about 50 million. That is why we welcomed the interest from a private entity," said Kajnar.
    The sale of the "věžák" must be approved by the Ostrava city council in September. "If no other interested party appears, we are ready to negotiate the sale with RPG. At the beginning of next year, we will know the name of the new owner," estimated the mayor.
    The RPG RE group, controlled by the owners of the Ostrava-Karviná mines Zdeněk Bakala and his partners, hopes to build high-rise residential housing with shops and underground garages on the land. "The building has certain structural and technical problems. Since it is not located in the historical core or does not have architectural value, the logical option for its reconstruction is demolition," said the director of RPG RE Petr Skrla.
    RPG owns the surrounding lands and the hotel building Jindřich, which it also wants to demolish. A new high-rise building is set to rise in its place by the end of 2009, which will be part of a modern complex named Jindřich Plaza. "The new residential housing would also belong to the prestigious urban district that RPG wants to create between Nádražní, Sokolská, 30. dubna, and Zborovská streets," hinted the mayor.
    According to him, around 30 city hall officials work in the 14 floors of the tower building, and the city also rents out space to non-profit organizations. "We have revived a project for an attic conversion in the New Town Hall, where we could relocate our officials. We will help charitable organizations find other acceptable rental spaces. However, I do not think they will have a problem finding them in Ostrava," said Kajnar.
    The city has not yet set a sale price for the land and the tower building. Experts estimate that their value could range from 30 to 45 million crowns, specified deputy mayor Lukáš Ženatý (ODS).
    The RPG group based in Amsterdam was formed after the division of the company OKD last June, when the owners of OKD transferred most of their activities unrelated to coal mining to successor companies.