City Tower (Prague)
| City Tower | |
|---|---|
 City Tower in 2008, shortly before completion | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Status | Completed |
| Type | office, shops |
| Location | Hvězdova 1716/2b, Prague, Czech Republic |
| Coordinates | 50°03′01″N 14°26′10″E / 50.05028°N 14.43611°E |
| Construction started | 1985 (halted in 1993, then restarted in 2005) |
| Completed | 2008 |
| Opening | 2008 |
| Owner | CITY TOWER, s.r.o. |
| Height | |
| Antenna spire | 116 m (381 ft)[1] |
| Roof | 109 m (358 ft) |
| Top floor | 109 m (358 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 27 |
| Floor area | 42,000 m2 (450,000 sq ft) usable |
| Lifts/elevators | 18 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Richard Meier & Partners, Architects LLP |
| Developer | ECM |
| References | |
| [2][3] | |
City Tower is the tallest skyscraper in Prague (Pankrác district) and in Bohemia, the second tallest one in the Czech Republic with 109 m in height.[1]
Construction started in 1985 and the building was designated as a headquarters of Československý rozhlas (now Český rozhlas; a Czech public radio broadcaster). In 1993 the building was nearly completed, but appeared to be oversized for Český rozhlas (which split from Československý rozhlas after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia), technically obsolete and full of dangerous asbestos.
In later years Český rozhlas tried to sell the uncompleted building. In 1996, an agreement was signed with the company NIKO to sell the building for 1 billion CZK, but subsequently failed to pay the agreed amount. A similar scenario happened one year later with the Singaporean company Wells Holding and an agreed selling price of 550 million CZK. Finally the building was sold in 1999 to the company ECM for just 285 million CZK.
After a long planning process and legislative planning steps the radical reconstruction of the building, designed by Richard Meier, started in 2005 and finished in 2008. On 20 December 2007 the building obtained final building approval. The first tenants started to move into the building at the beginning of 2008.[4] The largest renter is Raiffeisenbank, a.s. which occupies 10 floors of the building with about 1200 employees.[5][6]
In 2009 ECM sold City Tower for €130 millions to unknown investor (according speculations it is Slovak investor). Transaction was backed up by J&T.[7]
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Prague skyscrapers, City Tower on right (year 2005, before reconstruction) -
City Tower in centre (year 2006, during reconstruction)
References
- ^ a b Topographic map of Czech Armed Forces
- ^ "CITY TOWER Project Brochure". 2006. Retrieved 2008-06-13.
- ^ Rogerová, Diana (2006-06-30). "ECM REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTS A.G. CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS IN ACCORDANCE WITH IFRS AND INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT AS OF 30 JUNE 2006" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-06-13.
- ^ "ECM's CITY TOWER, the Tallest Building in th [sic] Czech Republic, Receives Final Building Approval" (Press release). ECM. 2007-12-20. Retrieved 2008-01-14.
- ^ "CITY Tower to House Raiffeisenbank's Czech Headquarters" (Press release). ECM. 2008-03-11. Retrieved 2008-06-12.
- ^ "Raiffeisenbank dokončila stěhování centrály do budovy City Tower" (Press release) (in Czech). Raiffeisenbank, a.s. 2008-09-25. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
- ^ E15: Největší realitní obchod loňska šel přes J&T Template:Cs icon
External links
