Prague wants to join the change in the spatial plan about roofing at the main railway station

The Prague Institute of Planning and Development (IPR) wants to join the initiative to change the spatial plan, which was submitted by the owners of the land around the main station, and which is supposed to enable the roofing of the track and the construction of houses. This was said by the participants of Wednesday’s meeting of the Committee for Territorial Development of the Prague Council, which recommended starting to make the change. The deputies will finally vote on it in the plenary session. The implementation of the change is also supported by the management of Prague 2.

The request for change was submitted by the CR-City company, in which České dráhy and Penta, which came up with this plan a few years ago, are represented, among others. The plan is to cover the platform, on an area of ​​about 135,000 square meters, residential or administrative buildings are to be built in the vicinity. According to the earlier statement of Penta’s spokesman Martin Lánský, one of the possibilities is also the construction of a new National Library building.

The exact form of the project is not yet clear, according to representatives of the municipality, the scope of the development should also be specified when the zoning change is made. Competitions are to be announced for the overall urban concept as well as the form of individual houses.

“We have decided to join the initiative as a co-applicant,” said IPR deputy director Marek Zděradička at the committee meeting. Prague 2 Deputy Mayor Jan Recman (ODS) then said that the town hall management wanted to approve the submission of its own initiative for change at the upcoming council meeting , but he did not rule out a connection to the one already filed.

“We want all important issues of urbanism and coordination of all functions to be given space in the discussion; including environmental protection, urban planning, monument protection and others. We want the debate to be as open and transparent as possible,” Lánský commented on Wednesday’s committee recommendation for Penta. He added that the location of the main station is one of the last in the city center where a large public building can be built.

The procedure of the Prague 2 town hall was previously criticized by the opposition Pirates, according to which the initiative planned by the city district was not discussed with the municipality, preservationists or the IPR. They therefore do not agree with “this non-transparent and hastily tailored procedure” and demand participation with the public. Any similarly fundamental change must be preceded by professional and public discussion with all actors, they stated in their statement.

The Club for Old Prague also criticizes the plan. “The proposal to change the zoning plan does not result from the conclusions of the public discussion or the real needs of the city, but is based on the idea of ​​the investor, the essence of which is the intensive commercial development of the vacant spaces between Nový Město and Vinohrady,” the club said in its statement.

The Penta company is currently building houses in the vicinity of the nearby Masaryková railway station. Here stands, for example, a house according to the design of the architectural studio of the architect Zaha Hadidová, and during the reconstruction of Masaryk Station, Penta will build a platform above it, which will bridge the tracks. It will allow people to go from Florence to Hybernská street and from Masarykov to the main station.