On the town hall in Ostrava, models of the Karolina development are displayed

Ostrava - Models of the urban development in the area of the former Karolina coke plant in the city center have been on display at the Ostrava New Town Hall since today. Five companies that entered the developer competition announced by the city of Ostrava are presenting their proposals for the future appearance of this lucrative area.
The mayor of Ostrava, Aleš Zedník (ČSSD), told ČTK that he originally expected there to be six interested parties. "These are the strongest partners who have approached us over the years and in recent months, expressing their interest. This is probably the strongest five that could come together," Zedník believes.
Citizens can also vote for the best proposal directly at the exhibition. The mayor asserts that he wants to take their choice into account personally. "It is quite important for me what people will like," added Zedník. However, he stated that it is also important to evaluate whether the company will be able to realize everything it presents in the model. Therefore, the city will include penalties in the future contract, which may include the possible loss of land. The city aims to decide on the winner of the developer competition by mid this year, with construction potentially starting in 2007.
The mayor mentioned that he has not seen the models yet, as he wants to examine them calmly. The best solutions should be chosen by councilors in working meetings, by process of elimination leading to the best proposal. Zedník would consider it a success if at least 40 out of 55 councilors could agree on one solution.
Opposition councilor Miroslav Svozil (ODS) told ČTK that he believes it is possible to agree on a winner among all political parties. "At first glance, all the models are beautiful, and each of them, if realized, would represent a huge breakthrough in establishing a new center for the city of Ostrava," noted Svozil.
Ludmila Sedlářová from the civic association Za starou Ostravu, which previously protested against the announced developer competition, told ČTK that they need to thoroughly study the models first. "We will need some time to conduct an analysis and be able to express our opinions on individual proposals," stated Sedlářová.
The city intends to sell the land in Karolina at a fixed price of about 1300 crowns per square meter. The total area is approximately 36 hectares, with about 30 hectares unbuilt. From the sale of the land, the city could potentially gain around 200 million crowns. After Prague, Karolina is the second-largest undeveloped area in the city center in the Czech Republic.
Projects from Sekyra Group, a consortium of companies Orco Property Group and TriGránit Czech Republic, Multi Development, a consortium of ECE Projektmanagement Praha and Passerinvest Group, and ING Real Estate Development were accepted into the competition.
Karolina has been the subject of a long-standing dispute between the city and a group of Polish architects who won an international architectural competition years ago. However, the city ultimately decided not to follow their proposal and to announce a developer competition instead. The Czech Chamber of Architects, however, labeled this competition as irregular.