The Prague City Council has received three offers from builders to reconstruct and remodel the unfinished Nová Palmovka skyscraper into the headquarters for the European Union’s Space Programme Agency, Euspa. In line with the city’s expectations, these offers range between two and three billion crowns.
However, the city council cannot sign a contract due to a notification from one of the companies to the Office for the Protection of Competition. “At this point, I can say that the offers are in the expected two to three billion volume,” says Deputy Mayor Petr Hlaváček.
Every company that participated in the so-called market dialogue stated that it’s possible to complete the building within 24 months from the start of work. The Euspa currently resides in a building previously occupied by the Czech Consolidation Bank in Prague 7, with a lease expiring in 2026. It was expected that the agency could move to Palmovka.
The city is under a tight schedule and does not want to delay the process. “We will select a supplier, announce it to the Office for the Protection of Competition, and wait for a decision,” adds Hlaváček.
A valid building permit has been issued for the main building. The original project needs to be revised for the remaining part, where a public interaction center will be required. “The main construction object can be done immediately,” Hlaváček adds.
Prague 8 started building the skyscraper at Palmovka in 2014, which would be the city hall supplemented by a shopping center. The project cost around 1.2 billion crowns. However, a year later, construction was halted, and it has not been resumed since.
Long-standing disputes ensued, with the building’s shell finally going to Prague. Completing the building will be at least twice as expensive as the original calculations ten years ago.