České dráhy (ČD) sold the remaining part of the land at the Smíchov railway station in Prague for just under CZK 2 billion (€82 million). Over 126,000 sqm of land will be bought by the Sekyra Group. According to the Czech news agency (ČTK) Czech Railways said that it had received a total of CZK 2.4 billion (almost €98.6 million) for the Smíchov land. A new district of Smíchov City is to be built on the land.
According to ČTK, ČD said that the price of the land was the result of an agreement. The Sekyra Group had the right to buy the land for a lower price, which was determined by expert opinions in the past. ČD had a new appraisal drawn up and invited the buyer to negotiate a new price, thus obtaining CZK 300 million more (€12.3 million). Sekyra Group CEO Leoš Anderle said that the agreement was an attempt by the parties concerned to avoid litigation.
The project on the ČD land at the Smíchov railway station was created in 2004. The first stage of the project by Sekyra Group began with the purchase of part of the land in 2019 on the basis of a Framework Agreement, where the price for all the land was CZK 300 million lower. According to Anderle, the sale of the Smíchov land to ČD is the highest historical income from the sale of real estate to a private entity. "Although two newly acquired reports from renowned international consulting companies Deloitte Advisory and PricewaterhouseCoopers Czech Republic stated that the purchase price set in the 2019 contract was market, we agreed to a higher price. The reason for this commercial agreement was the desire of the parties concerned to avoid litigation, which would undoubtedly have led to a substantial time delay that would have complicated the project," Anderle said, adding that the purchase price was the intersection they had reached.
The first phase of Smíchov City was launched by Sekyra Group in September 2020 at a cost of CZK 3.5 billion (€143 million), with a total investment of CZK 20 billion (€821.45 million). The district, which will have 400,000 sqm of residential, office, retail and public space, is expected to be completed in 2032. More than 12,000 people are expected to work and live in the new Smíchov City district. The Smíchov railway station is also due for reconstruction.
