Investors in construction should contribute to infrastructure in Brno

Brno - Investors in commercial construction in Brno will now participate in the development of public infrastructure. They will either build it themselves or contribute financially. This is stated in the principles for cooperation with investors prepared by the city leadership representatives. The goal is to set transparent rules according to which developers, in addition to construction, will build, for example, a park or a kindergarten, or contribute 800 crowns per square meter to an investment fund. The document is to be discussed by the city council at the March meeting, said the city's mayor Markéta Vaňková (ODS) at a press conference today.

"It will significantly contribute to the development of Brno, and it is only a pity that it was not created earlier. The process that led to the definition of these principles took several months, and without the cooperation of investors and the effort to find a consensus, it could not have been created," said Vaňková.

The principles of cooperation will exclusively govern commercial construction plans in Brno. "They will not be binding for private construction, such as the building of family houses to meet personal housing needs, garages, sports facilities, or minor constructions, nor for production and storage buildings. The city of Brno, contribution organizations established by the city or its districts, or commercial companies in which the city or district has a majority stake, or so-called public contracting authorities are not considered investors," said Deputy Mayor Tomáš Koláčný (Pirates).

According to him, transparent rules will now be established for everyone. The city will coordinate cooperation with investors in case of city-wide interest, or individual city districts can determine themselves what needs to be built for a given project.

The investment contribution will be set at 800 crowns per square meter of net floor area of the construction project. "All contributions provided by individual builders will go to the newly created Developer Projects Fund. Expenses from the fund will primarily be directed to specific projects in the area of public infrastructure building, including their project preparation," added Deputy Mayor Robert Kerndl (ODS).

Members of the Association of Brno Architects and Builders agree with the principles. "We have been operating in Brno for several years and have always supplemented projects with civic amenities, but it was based on some agreements with the city or district. Everything, however, was developed without any concept. I believe that the principles will also speed up the realization of projects," said, for example, the Executive Director of IMOS development Hana Vyplelová.

Tomáš Kaláb, director of the construction company Kaláb, agrees with her. "For us investors, predictability is important, so when we are purchasing land, with a clearly defined contribution amount, we can easily calculate how much we need to allocate for civic amenities," he added. He also believes that the principles can lead to faster construction, thereby slowing the increase in real estate prices.

Similar principles are already in place in places like Říčany, Mnichovo Hradiště, Břeclav, or several districts of Prague. They were recently approved in Jihlava.