Praha 5, associations and Metrostav agreed on the development near Klamovka

Prague - The Prague 5 municipality, the city council, local civic associations, and the company Metrostav have negotiated a compromise regarding the planned construction next to Klamovka Park. Locals have been fighting against the development for some time. The agreement stipulates that the company will build one less house and reduce three residential buildings by one floor. The proposed option for the municipality to purchase the land has been dropped. Today, Ilja Mráček from the Association for the Rescue of Klamovka and the spokesperson for Prague 5, Jakub Večerka, confirmed the signing of the agreement to ČTK. As part of the agreement, the locals will withdraw the appeal they filed against the zoning decision.

On the land east of the park, Metrostav Development wanted to build nine buildings. Four residential buildings were supposed to have seven floors. Based on the agreement, the developer will build one less residential building, and the buildings will have six floors. The plot where construction will ultimately not take place will be sold by Metrostav to Prague 5, which will build a kindergarten there.

The agreement also includes that the municipality will apply for a change in the zoning plan to a lower building coefficient so that no additional buildings can be constructed later. The company has committed not to block the change. The project has an issued zoning decision, against which local residents filed an appeal last year. Based on the agreement, the associations have withdrawn the appeal.

According to Mráček from the Association for the Rescue of Klamovka, the local associations managed to secure support from all representative clubs for the purchase of the land by the municipality. However, councilor Karel Grabein Procházka (ANO), who is responsible for the area of property, did not present the proposal to the representatives. Therefore, locals had no choice but to come to terms with the compromised plan for reduced construction.

According to Procházka, a potential purchase would be uneconomical for the capital city, as the developer would include lost profit and project preparation costs in the land price. The councilor told ČTK that this could raise the price to as much as 400 million crowns. At the same time, it would set a precedent for other companies that could then approach the municipality with their partially prepared projects and demand compensation, Procházka believes.

The mayor of Prague 5, Pavel Richter (TOP 09), appreciated the developer's approach. "According to our information, the discussion on the appeal against the project is heading towards the issuance of a valid zoning decision. Nevertheless, at the request of the city district and its citizens, representatives of the company came to the negotiating table and made many concessions," he stated.