The controversial sale of a town house in Pilsen, the opposition drew attention to the unusual competition

The opposition pointed out that the city has rental income. According to her, the sale is disadvantageous for the city and the competition has non-standard rules that may question its regularity.

Already this year, the city management proposed selling the property directly and without competition to Autocentrum Pařížská for an estimated price of 18.5 million. The building in Pařížská street was originally leased by the company ProCeram, which is part of the New Living company of the influential businessman Pavel Basl. Autocentrum Pařížská is located at the same address as ProCeram and New Living in Jateční street and is managed by Dominik Basl.

The tenant of the house was already interested in buying the building in the past. However, the town hall has not yet seen a reason for the sale. The intention to sell the house directly fell through this year also because another interested party, the company UNNI Development, appeared at the last minute. Now the proposal to sell the house has returned to the meeting of representatives.

One-round competition by envelope method

Councilor Vlastimil Gola from ANO said that there are currently three candidates in the game. The third is UNNI Development éta. “It will be a one-round competition using the envelope method,” Councilor Gola explained. Those interested will have to pay 3.750 million crowns. The starting price is estimated to be 18.5 million. At the same time, the contestants will propose a fine that they would pay if they add additional floors for apartments to the building in the next ten years. The minimum amount of the fine is 10,000 crowns per square meter.

“The winner of the competition will be the highest offer of the sum of the price for the property and the amount of the fine,” said Gola. The aforementioned fine is intended to compensate the city for the fact that the future owner would increase the value of the building through the addition, and the price of the building would then be higher.

The opposition warned that with such conditions the sale of real estate has not yet been dealt with in the city, and warned of the risk that the city would receive less for the building than in the case of a standard procedure.

Do they want to favor an existing tenant?

The chairman of the control committee of the council, David Šlouf from the opposition ODS, said that the non-standard rules of the competition give the impression of an attempt to favor the existing tenant. On the other hand, councilor Gola said that the interest of two other companies with the same owners smacks of speculation. He also identified this fact as one of the reasons why the competition should be one-round. “If we do a two-round competition, it will inevitably result in the two companies speculating,” he stated.

Michal Vozobule from TOP 09 claims that in this case the town hall created a special construction of the competition. According to him, she could get more money if the competition was two-round. “You don’t offer the option of an auction at all,” he stated.

He pointed out that if the proposal for the amount of the fine for the extension is to play a significant role in the evaluation of the bids, it may have a major influence on the selection, and the city may never receive the money from the fine. According to Vozobule, the interested party can artificially inflate the part of the offer that concerns the fine. “And at the same time, he can offer a lower price for the property,” he said.

He believes that it is worthwhile for the interested party to offer the lowest possible amount for the building and a high amount for the fine, especially if he does not want to build. “It gives me the impression that it is tailor-made for the current tenant. If you want to sell it, then put the standard conditions there. Make the competition two-round and let companies compete,” he stated.

He emphasized that if the current tenant were to succeed, he would save eight million crowns, which he has to pay the city for rent until 2027.

Mayor Roman Zarzycký from ANO dismissed the doubts: “We are opening the space for everyone to apply. We don’t do anything else here. Let any entity apply,” he responded.

Lukáš Hegner from ODS asked for an explanation as to why Councilor Gola indicated that there could be complications during the competition. “That’s a strong suspicion,” he pointed out. According to Vlastimil Gola, it was based on the fact that companies with the same owner applied. “And I don’t understand that. If he wants to buy the object, he does not need another company that is exactly the same. So far, it is impossible to predict how they will behave. I was surprised that the same people submitted an offer through two companies,” said Gola.

The representatives of the coalition approved the plan to solve the sale by a special method despite the opposition’s reservations.