Prague defended the Prague Market. The former tenant has to pay a quarter of a billion
“It is a great victory and satisfaction for all Praguers. And the chapter has already been definitively closed, “said Prague Deputy Minister Pavel Vyhnánek (Prague himself), according to whom his predecessors vs former councilor and current opposition representative Alexandra Udženijí (ODS) are among the deputies’ victories.
The dispute has been going on since 2012, when Prague terminated the lease of the complex to Delta Center due to non-compliance with contractual obligations. She got the market in 1995 for exactly fifty years. She did not agree with the premature termination of the lease and sued the city. Due to the protracted dispute, the market fell into disrepair and the city did not have the opportunity to renovate it. In 2019, the Municipal Court in Prague decided that Delta Center must vacate the market and pay the metropolis on outstanding rent and interest of 246 million crowns.
Great changes await Prague in the coming years
Although the company immediately appealed to the Supreme Court, the city began planning reconstruction two years ago. Gradually, the stalls from the main street of the market disappeared, two houses from the 1990s were demolished, repairs to individual historic buildings began, and the municipality commissioned a study of the market’s development. The city also won a lawsuit against the operator of the infamous brothel Showpark, which according to the verdict was to vacate the premises.
From July this year, he will take over the management of the market from the municipality of Výstaviště Praha, which takes care of the nearby Výstaviště complex. The company’s task will be to speed up the planned repairs, the nearest price will reach two to three billion crowns in fifteen years.
“Work has been done at the Exhibition Center in three years, for which the municipal department would not have the capacity. If we manage to put these people in the market, I am convinced that in a few years they will show up in speed, “said Vyhnánek.
The area of the former slaughterhouse is to be close to the modern market, which is being established in European cities, after the reconstruction. Culture, trade and gastronomy are to be combined there. Establish offices, new retail space and an observation tower. Reconstruction of outdoor spaces is also planned, and the form will emerge from the international architectural competition announced last year. The main goal is to get more green into the market. The long-term closed building of the former stock exchange, which is in a state of disrepair, will also be restored.
The Prague City Hall had similar plans with the Old Town Market in the city center between Rytířská and 28. října streets. The city originally wanted to repair the market for almost half a billion crowns on its own, as the councilor for Jan Chabr’s property (TOP 09). But the Coalition Pirates were against it.
Chabr then said that the municipality was considering opening the space with only minor modifications, which complicates the internal layout of the hall, which was insensitively modified under the previous regime. According to him, a better solution would be to find a private operator.