The Prague 3 City Council has approved two contracts with developers Penta and Finep to build on one of Prague's largest brownfield sites at the former Žižkov railway station. This may lead to a change in the zoning plan, which the developers have been waiting for. On the other hand, the city and the district itself will receive CZK 267 million (almost €11 million) in so-called contribs, which will go towards building public parks, reconstructing schools and building a new kindergarten, writes e15.cz.
The area of the former Žižkov railway station is one of the largest brownfield sites in Prague. Six different developers have parcelled out land here. However, the intended transformation of the area requires a significant change to the zoning plan. However, a condition for this change is that the Prague 3 municipality and the capital city enter into agreements with each of the land owners, specifying not only the form of construction but also the contributions, i.e. the developers' contributions to public amenities such as schools, kindergartens or parks.
The daily e15.cz reports that Penta wants to build 530 flats in Žižkov between 2025 and 2027 and, according to the approved agreement, will also contribute to public amenities worth nearly CZK 100 million (€4.09 million). Another part of the contributions consists of building nearly two hectares of public parks, which will be transferred to the municipal district or the capital city, securing 700 sqm of non-residential space for health services, restaurants or shops, as well as transferring some of the land needed to build roads," said Pavel Dobeš, deputy mayor of Prague 3, who is in charge of the development of the Žižkov freight station brownfield.
For the project's second stage, the developer needs a change in the zoning plan. The change must be approved by the Prague City Council. It is expected that the capital will later join the contract as a third party. "The contingency agreement allows us to start preparing residential development on the northeastern edge of the area in accordance with the current zoning plan. The city district will acquire approximately half of the land once the development is completed," says David Musil, Director of Residential Development at Penta Real Estate.
Finep wants to build about 1,200 flats in Žižkov. The total amount of the developer's share of the public amenities will exceed CZK 167 million (€6.826 million) and almost half will go towards the reconstruction of primary schools. In addition, the project also includes the construction of a new five-class kindergarten, the handover of part of the land needed for the construction of a municipal apartment building or the handover of land needed for the construction of infrastructure. "Most of the new apartments will be built to offer rental housing. In addition, the commercial ground floor of the buildings along the main streets will offer space not only for shops, restaurants or cafes but also for other non-residential uses. For example, for the location of health and social amenities, we want to put the emphasis on primary health care," adds the deputy mayor of the third district. Finep needs a zoning change for its entire project, which is why the capital is part of the agreement alongside the municipality. The latter is expected to approve the contract this week.
Negotiations and preparation of the two contracts with Penta and Finep began in April 2021, and the whole process has taken more than two years. A crucial part of these negotiations was the contributions to public amenities. These were already negotiated according to Prague's new methodology of contributions from January 2022.
