In the center of Plzeň, the first large parking garage will be built

Plzeň - The first PPP project is starting in Plzeň, which will connect public and private investments. The city aims to build an above-ground parking garage with 400 spaces and 1800 m2 of commercial space near the city center by autumn 2010. The city hall today opened envelopes containing bids from companies that will manage the PPP process for Plzeň. The investor of the construction should be known in January, and the construction will take eight months, said deputy mayor Petr Rund to ČTK.
    "The evaluation of the consulting firms' bids will take place next Tuesday. After that, there will be a fifteen-day period for appeals, and only then can we publish the number of applicants and the winner of the competition," he added.
    The company will collaborate with the city in finding an investor, will secure contracts, and will submit reports to the Ministry of Finance. At the end of September, a concession procedure will be announced for an investor, who should be known in January. However, the representatives of Plzeň may ultimately disagree with the winner and can "throw the PPP project off the table."
    Rund is not concerned about companies' lack of interest. "Given that the project is led by the PPP center, there is great interest. I hope that there will be plenty of investors and that the future commitment for the city will be as low as possible," he added.
    The parking garage, the first standalone one in Plzeň, is set to be built at Rychtářka, where there is currently only one larger catchment parking lot at the square with space for 130 cars. A private entity will build the garage, and the city hall will pay him a fixed amount for 20 years for renting parking spaces, from which the city will receive income. The investor will rent out the commercial spaces. The city payments and the construction cost of approximately a quarter of a billion CZK will be decided by a tender.
    The project is being completed by a local architectural office, which will apply for a zoning decision. Originally, the city hall planned for 800 parking spaces, but some of them will be occupied by commercial spaces. Plzeň also wants to have underground parking spaces in the city center near the future U Zvonu object and in the Sady Pětatřicátníků.