Holešovice Market. The cleaned area brought about a change worth three billion
“We have already bought hall 13, where a repair shop or a ceramic workshop will be located. Since last year, Brýles optics and Papelote stationery have also been newly located in the market hall. We still maintain established tenants and businesses that people are used to and with which there is good cooperation, such as U Rotta hardware store, shoe repair shop, Trafo Gallery or Alza,” says Deputy Mayor for Budget Pavel Vyhnánek (Prague itself), who is in charge of the project .
The capital city started working on the transformation of the market in 2019, when the court ruled in his favor in a dispute with the former tenant of the area. But another dispute continues. The capital city is still unable to close the ShowPark in Hall 18, although it also won this dispute with the brothel operator, Eroc. According to councilor Vyhnánek, the operator has one more appeal option. If the decision is confirmed, the ShowPark should end by the end of the year at the latest.
The premises of hall 18 should then be partly occupied by the city police, partly reserved for startups. The other, currently empty halls are also waiting for a new filling. It is based on the one hand from the architectural-urban study of the studio CMC Architects, which includes a mapping of the state of the technical area, on the other hand from the economic study prepared by the consulting company JLL and the architectural studio 4ct.
“The validation economic study makes recommendations for the appropriate mix and distribution of activities in the area based on experience from the commercial real estate market. The architectural-urban study, on the other hand, organizes the operation of the area, hierarchizes the public space or proposes the use for tenants,” explains Vyhnánek.
Both studies also became the basis of the international architectural competition at the Meziprostory Holešovice Market. The winner was the Czech Studio Perspektiv, with whom the city is working to conclude a contract. In the spring, the architects should present the finished form of the study, discuss it with the city and then start work on the project for the zoning decision, which should be completed in 2024.
“Due to the size of the project, the entire process is divided into three stages. The start of the first is planned for 2025, and each is allocated two years of work on documentation for building permits and implementation. The campus should be completely finished in 2031,” marketing manager Kristýna Boková said on behalf of the architectural studio.
All the work on the restoration of the area should take ten to fifteen years, and Prague estimates the cost at two to three billion crowns. The city has separate estimates for the reconstruction of the stock exchange, which should cost approximately two hundred million crowns. At its end, there should be a modern market area with a mix of functions that will offer use throughout the day.
Look at the transformation of the market according to the study of the studio CMC Architects
The area of today’s market was originally completed in 1895 for the Central Slaughterhouse of the Royal City of Prague. Rather, they served their purpose until 1983, when they replaced the meat processing plants in Písnice and Čakovice. After the end of operation, the slaughterhouse was turned into a market, which was supposed to serve mainly wholesale trade. Even locals with small purchases gradually found their way. Since 1993, the site has been protected as a cultural monument.
In 1995, Prague leased the area for fifty years to the private company Delta Center, then still Delta Climatizer. However, she did not comply with the conditions, so the city prematurely terminated her contract. The main reason was the reduction of the rent through investments that the tenant did not realistically put into the area, so the market gradually fell into disrepair. The city demanded rent owed in the amount of almost a quarter of a billion crowns and requested the premises to be vacated.
The company Delta Center refused to recognize the notice and the claim, and therefore the city filed a lawsuit in 2012. The ten-year dispute was ended only by the court of the Czech Republic after the Supreme company rejected the judgment of the Municipal Court in Prague from 2019 and filed an appeal. This was rejected in its entirety, and the management of the market was thus returned to Prague.