Prague is intending to buy the historic building of the freight station Žižkov and the adjacent land from Czech Railways, reports E15.cz. If the purchase is completed the capital is planning changes to the zoning plan in the entire extensive brownfield next year allowing other developers to build.
The purchase agreement will be put on the table by the councillors on Monday, ideally, it should then be confirmed by this Thursday at their last meeting of the year. According to information from e15, the city should pay approximately CZK 800 million for the historic station building, which is protected as a monument, and the adjacent land should cost another CZK 400 million (€31.9 million). Originally, the developer Sekyra Group had the right of pre-emption on these properties, however, the management of the metropolis concluded a cooperation agreement with Sekyra in recent weeks, where the developer waived the right in exchange for guarantees that it would be able to build on land near the station building.
Prague wants to build a multifunctional centre in a building as long as half of Wenceslas Square, including social spaces, restaurants, cafes, commercial spaces, apartments and other public amenities. Up to twenty thousand people could find housing in the new mainly residential district.
Žižkov freight station had been waiting for its transformation for more than twenty years when it ceased to serve its purpose and České dráhy started selling land around the track to several companies. A construction ban was issued on the entire area to prevent non-conceptual development, work has been underway to change the zoning plan since 2009. However, things moved only after 2020, all stakeholders agreed on the preservation and revitalisation of the historic building, and a concept for the development of the entire area was created. Prague then began to conclude planning contracts with developers (Central Group, Penta Real Estate, Finep, Geosan and others). These are crucial for the city since developers commit to financial and non-financial contributions to the city in value of almost CZK 2 billion (€80 million). The long-awaited changes to the spatial plan should occur just after the purchase of the station building by the capital, which will unblock the entire area after several decades.
