Senovážné náměstí could be changed by a hotel and underground garages

Prague - The appearance of Senovážné Square in the center of Prague could change significantly in the near future. By 2009, the owner wants to convert the building currently housing ČSOB into a hotel of a higher price category. The adjacent plot, which also belongs to him, may also undergo changes. Instead of the current parking lot for twenty cars, there could be a park with underground garages for approximately 300 vehicles, said councilor and chairman of the Prague 1 urban development committee Filip Dvořák to reporters today.
According to the councilor, Prague 1 clearly supports the construction of the garages, and the capital city agrees as well. The landowner is also counting on it. The study is already complete. The costs for the modifications of the land and the construction of the garages are estimated at 350 million crowns. Dvořák anticipates that the city and the future operator of the garages would participate in the costs.
What is now most important is to expedite the preparation of the building permit so that the construction of the garages is timed to coincide with the conversion of the building into a hotel, the councilor emphasized. According to him, the capital city should promptly continue preparing the documentation for the construction of the garages so that it is completed at the same time as the hotel. The landowner would likely find it difficult to accept that the garages would be built shortly after the hotel opens, he added.
"The city considers the construction of underground garages to be a good project and will support it, but it cannot be the investor on land it does not own. Such an intention must be presented by a private investor," said Deputy Mayor Jan Bürgermeister to ČTK.
The palace of the sugar factory association, which is to be converted into a hotel with 175 rooms, was built between 1912 and 1913 and is a cultural monument. The neo-baroque building with cubist-neoclassical elements and the parking lot belong to Real Estate Administration. The company stated that it plans only minimal alterations to the external appearance of the building. It claims it will also proceed sensitively with modifications to the interior.
Discussions about underground garages at Senovážné Square have been ongoing since 1994. The capital city's zoning plan also provides for them. A total of 20 locations are being considered in the metropolis, of which five are in Prague 1. In addition to Senovážné Square, garages are also planned for the upper and lower parts of Wenceslas Square, in Revoluční Street, and at Klárov.

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