Thirteen applicants want to do business in the Cubist house

Prague - A total of 13 applicants submitted bids for the selection process announced by the Ministry of Culture for the lease of space in the cubist House at the Black Mother of God. "We have not yet opened the envelopes. The selection will take place next week," said the Ministry of Culture spokesperson Marcela Žižková to ČTK.
    The ministry would like the new tenant to operate in the house starting from July 1. For several years, a bookstore was located in the building, and its operator requested the termination of the lease, citing excessively high rent as the reason.
    Approximately 300 square meters are available for lease, with 85 on the ground floor and 216 in the basement. The current tenant paid 826 crowns per square meter monthly, amounting to around 250,000 crowns. The price is not set in the selection process; offers will be evaluated primarily based on the proposed rent amount. The state will enter into a lease agreement for a maximum of eight years.
    Since the building is a cultural monument, the operation on the ground floor should also reflect this fact. The ministry claims it can ensure that no commercial establishment of dubious quality, such as a souvenir shop, arises in a building that is architecturally highly valued, as is significantly the case in the surrounding area.
    "One of the conditions of the selection process is a quality business plan that aligns with the cultural value of this property, to ensure that the leased space does not become a shop of questionable quality," stated Žižková.
    The building on the corner of Celetná Street and Fruit Market was completed by architect Josef Gočár in 1912. He designed it as a department store, and after World War II, it housed the Exhibition company. After reconstruction, the Czech Museum of Fine Arts operated there from 1994. Since the end of 2003, there has been a new permanent exhibition on Czech cubism, prepared by the National Gallery in Prague (NG), which largely overlaps with the previous one. Two years ago, a replica of the original Orient café, also designed by Gočár, was opened in the building.
    The entire cubist house belongs to the State Culture Fund and the Ministry of Finance - it intended to lease it commercially, as the fund still owes the state millions of crowns received to cover losses from the Czech lottery. The Ministry of Culture halted the cubist house along with the Palace U Hybernů due to the lottery's launch. However, the idea of commercial leasing was ultimately abandoned by officials.
    The NG contemplated acquiring the entire building, financing the operation from the rent of stores on the ground floor. However, the government did not authorize the transfer of the building to the Ministry of Culture. The NG created the exhibition on commission and for the funds of the fund. The gallery is neither in the building nor in lease; the museum only operates it and hands over the profit to the fund. The fund also signed a five-year lease agreement with the company Baba, which built and operates the café replica.