The high-rise building with apartments in Pankrác has permission to begin construction

Prague - The planned high-rise building in Prague's Pankrác has the necessary permits to start construction. It is the Epoque residential building in the shape of a V designed by architect Radan Hubička. The construction was once close to realization, but two years ago, the court annulled the valid zoning decision in favor of objections from a civic association. The former project by the ECM company, which went bankrupt, is now being prepared for a new investor by PSJ Invest.
    "PSJ Invest entered the project 14 months ago and has since been intensively addressing the problems and comments for which the court annulled the original zoning decision - primarily because an environmental impact assessment was not carried out," said Jakub Jirka from PSJ Invest to ČTK today. According to him, the company conducted an environmental impact assessment "to a superior extent" before the new administrative proceedings.
    "This allowed the administrative bodies to properly deal with all the comments and, based on studies and measurements, to conclude that the project is feasible from the perspective of environmental impact assessment," Jirka stated. Additionally, the investor decided to replace the asphalt surface in the adjacent street with so-called quiet asphalt, which will significantly improve the noise conditions and thus the environment in the area compared to the original developer's plans. This step represents the new investor's approach to this project and the development of the area.
    The municipal building and zoning department issued the zoning decision at the end of November. In several points, it altered the previous decision of the Prague 4 building authority from 2008, while confirming the remaining parts of the decision. "The decision will come into legal force upon delivery and cannot be appealed," said Prague 4 spokesman Jiří Bigas to ČTK. "Epoque Pankrác - the residential building also has a valid certificate of construction issued by an authorized inspector, which is an alternative to a building permit," the spokesman added.
    The certification of the building by an authorized inspector as a possible path in the building permit process is now allowed by the building law. The introduction of the institute of an authorized inspector is intended to relieve building authorities from tasks that do not necessarily need to be performed by an administrative body and should accelerate the building permit process, lawyers say.
    Epoque Pankrác is expected to have 30 above-ground floors and a height of 104 meters, accommodating approximately 140 apartments. However, it will not be the highest skyscraper in the country; that title went to the AZ Tower in Brno this year, which stands at 111 meters tall. Epoque should be the tallest residential building in the country.
    The Pankrác Plain was planned to be built up with several tall buildings by the ECM company. They completed the skyscraper of the former Czechoslovak Radio (now City Tower) there, which they sold at the turn of 2009 and 2010. In May 2010, the company also sold other buildings and projects they owned in Pankrác - the former Motokov headquarters (now City Empiria). They also disposed of the planned City Court building.
    The other planned buildings - City Epoque and a neighboring building - were complicated by the aforementioned court in the summer of 2011. Last autumn, the projects were purchased by Aceur Investment, for which PSJ Invest, led by real estate entrepreneur Martin Jaroš, is managing the project. Jaroš has experience with the construction of the award-winning office center Main Point Karlin.
    The planned construction of high-rise buildings in Pankrác has previously provoked negative reactions not only from civic associations but also among heritage conservationists. The question of whether high-rise buildings can or cannot be built in Prague even drew attention from a UNESCO committee at the initiative of the Czech side. The historic center of Prague has been on its list since 1992.
    The Pankrác Plain is in a protective zone of the heritage reserve. Since the time when the Epoque building project was first supposed to be realized, Prague has stated that it wants to regulate the construction of high-rises. Jiří Skalický, the director of the city's heritage conservationists, recently told ČTK that the city is working on a manual that should establish rules for the placement of high-rise buildings in the capital. The preparation will take about a year. The material should later be part of the metropolitan zoning plan.