A department store and hotel complex in the centre of Bratislava has been declared a national cultural monument, reports yimba.sk. This is potentially complicating the development plans of the hotel owner, Lordship.
The department store was owned for a long time by Tesco, and the hotel has been owned by developer Lordship since 2004. In 2011, it was finally closed due to unprofitability. The developer gradually introduced ideas for a new use of the space. The Slovak Heritage Office decided in 2013 that the multifunctional building, which consists of the Kyjev hotel with the Prior DS, would not be declared a national cultural monument. This happened despite great opposition from part of the public and architectural historians.
Over time, however, the developer's plans and the attitudes of conservationists changed. While the investor abandoned the idea of a large-scale reconstruction and instead opted for a more modest reconstruction, conservationists nevertheless considered the complex worthy of protection. In May 2023, the Slovak National Monuments Authority issued a decision to declare both buildings as NCMs.
This decision was not appreciated by the owners, both Lordship and the new owner of Prior, the company SIRS. According to the developer, it was a "change of rules during the game". They appealed the decision, and the dispute had to be decided by the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic, which is the appeals body. The decision in the case took two years to declare the buildings as national cultural monuments, and it can no longer be appealed.
Some time ago, Lordship presented a new concept for the reconstruction of the hotel, which was to preserve the material, architectural expression and some elements of the original solution. However, according to it, overly strict protection threatened the entire investment. For now, however, it says that it is not giving up the investment and refuses to sell the Hotel Kyjev.
CGI source: Lordship
