Prague wants to build on its own. Four thousand new flats are planned in Palmovka and Nové Dvůr
Two large territories, two holes on the map of Prague. An eight-hectare brownfield on Palmovka and thirty hectares around the future Nové Dvory metro station awaits a new future. Prague plans to build a modern district there, which means a total of more than four thousand apartments.
“The diversity of Western European cities that we admire is that they build not only private developers, but also cities, cooperatives, churches or schools. Our goal is to enhance urban land and create a cultivated urban environment with housing for supported professions or fragile parts of society, such as single people and seniors, “says Deputy Mayor for Territorial Development Petr Hlaváček.
The preparation of projects for the city is provided by the Prague Development Company, ie contributory cities, which aims to expand the organization of the city’s housing stock. On more than sixty hectares of land, which are located throughout the city and which are owned by Prague, it envisages the construction of up to eight thousand flats over a period of fifteen years.
In the case of the new city district in Palmovka, its center should be the problematic Nová Palmovka building. So far, it is only a torso under construction, which was originally supposed to be the town hall of Prague 8 and then also the seat of the ambulance, but due to various problems and disputes, all plans came to an end. After the building was taken over by the capital, solutions began to be discussed.
It is now clear that the building will have its new headquarters, the European Union Agency for the Space Program (EUSPA), which will move from a lack of capacity on Captain Jaroš’s embankment. “The purpose is to give the district some impetus, to have an organization with a European dimension in it, which already generates several billion,” says Hlaváček.
At the same time, given that the space agency is dealing with, part of Nová Palmovka will have to be protected and thus closed to ordinary passers-by.
“We would like to balance this and try to do something for the public, where, for example, young people can get acquainted with the universe, so that they can supplement science with the public in an interactive space,” Hlaváček informs.
In addition to the headquarters, there will be 2,200 city apartments in Palmovka, as well as approximately 50,000 square meters of space, which can be used for administration, retail and other services. Prague plans to begin construction in the next five years, with the new district being completed in 2033, building on development on neighboring Rohan Island.
According to Hlaváček, Palmovka is comparable to Anděl in its size, industrial past and development potential. “While in Smíchov the reconstruction of brownfields is being driven by private investors, in Palmovka it is being initiated by the city thanks to its continuous ownership. Our ambition is to turn Palmovka into a vibrant new district, which will have the same gravitational force for the right bank of the Vltava as Anděl has for the left, ”adds Hlaváček.
The city management sees a similar strategic place in Nové Dvůr. There, Prague owns about fifteen hectares of land that surrounds the future metro station of line D Nové Dvory, and a city district with affordable rental housing and complete civic amenities is to be established there as well.
After the change of the zoning plan, it will be possible to build up to two thousand flats in Nové Dvůr around the future metro station. “The construction of the entire district will take place in stages and will take ten years,” says Deputy Hlaváček. In addition to apartments, there are also areas for administration, restaurants, cafes, shops and services, which brings up to five thousand new jobs.
“The preparation of the new district is taking place in parallel with the preparation of the construction of a new metro station and the extension of the tram line from Modřany, which will end at the metro. We assume that the unit could be completed within ten to fifteen years, “specifies Petr Urbánek, director of the Prague Development Company.
However, the question is who will actually build the new neighborhoods. So far, as in the case of financing, Prague does not have a clear plan, but there is speculation that, for example, a third of the flats would be built by the city itself, another third would fall under cooperative construction and the rest could be built by development companies. But the idea is that Prague would build the projects completely.
According to voices from the industry, however, the city is building such large projects, or it does not have the capacity to do so. “I am afraid that the Prague development company will border the territory, plan construction and possibly even change the zoning plan, but it will no longer be able to allow the big projects and mainly build them,” thinks David Musil, head of Penta Real Estate for residential construction. .
According to him, some form of joint venture between the city and a private developer would be ideal. “The city would define what it wants to build there and what it wants to have, then it will compete with a partner, leave some space for the developer to complete its own, and the developer will then do the dirty work. He will extend the project through the permitting process, build it and hand it over, “Musil describes.
In total, the Prague Company is working on the preparation of housing projects in twelve Prague localities, on which there should be eight thousand city rental apartments in the future. In addition to the two mentioned new districts, the city wants to build, for example, on the southern edge of the Černý Most housing estate, in Kyje, in Smíchov or next to the Vršovická Bohemka football stadium.