The city’s agreement with the owner of the International Hotel, the company HIB DEVELOPMENT, a. s., has been finalized. If it is completed, the construction of the Janáček Cultural Center (JKC) will not be a compromise, but the intention of having a top concert hall in Brno and at the same time obtaining a new high-quality public space in the historic center of the city will be fulfilled. Key and interconnected documents, i.e. the exchange contract, the contract for the purchase of an artwork and the cooperation contract, were recommended by the Brno City Council to the deputies for approval today.
“For 19 long years, Brno has been preparing the construction of a new concert hall in the form of the Janáček Cultural Center. And for about the same time, he has been trying to find an agreement with the neighboring International Hotel on the property settlement of the former substation and the shape of the square in front of the hall, which, at the suggestion of Milan Kundera, will bear the name of his father Ludvík. The proposed procedure will make it possible to build a concert hall without compromises and with world-class acoustics, the parameters of which were designed by the Japanese master Yasuhisa Toyota. And this is mainly thanks to the transfer of the technological center of the hall from the roof structure to the underground vestibule, which eliminates the transmission of noise and vibrations into the hall. In addition, the city will get a unique opportunity to build a new high-quality public space right in the historic center, which is of great urban and social importance,” explained the reasons that led to the search for an agreement, 2nd Deputy Mayor Tomáš Koláčný.
“An important factor is the agreement on the exchange of land and buildings. The city will replace the four-storey house Starobrněnská 20, including the courtyard, on the newly separated plot, while the passage to the Velký Špalíček passage will remain sufficiently wide, as well as the escape route from the properties that are part of the passage. If the exchange is approved, the tenancy right to the non-residential premises will pass to Starobrněnská for all 16 tenants on the day of the legal effects of the entry in the real estate register to the new owner. Most of them have contracts for an indefinite period with a notice period of 3 months, only one has a contract for a fixed period until June 30, 2033. In exchange, the city will receive two plots of land from HIB DEVELOPMENT, a. s. On one is the transformer station of the hotel, on the other is the staircase that provides the connection from Veselá to Husova, and the Hospitality statue, which will become part of the planned forecourt of the JKC,” said Róbert Čuma, council cabinet member responsible for property.
The proposed exchange is carried out with a surcharge for the difference in the exchanged values in favor of the city of Brno. HIB DEVELOPMENT, a. s., will pay an additional payment of 39.2 million crowns before signing the exchange contract and at the same time, a cooperation agreement will be concluded, which will deal with the procedure for the demolition of the substation, the new look of the JKC entrance hall, the construction of a staircase and the communication link between Husova and Veselá.
“An equally important document is the cooperation agreement, on the basis of which the coordination of steps in the construction of the JKC and the detailed cooperation of the city, Brno Communications as an investor in the JKC and the company HIB DEVELOPMENT, a.s. are negotiated. Its main elements include the withdrawal of the hotel owner’s appeal against the acquisition of legal force of the building authority Brno-střed, which authorized construction in its final and ideal form for the city. Furthermore, cooperation is being defined to solve the final form of the immediate surroundings of the new hall for Brno, including the planned extension of the hotel and its connection with the new staircase and access route. The last point is the city’s financial participation in the induced investments in International, the construction of a new transformer station and the transfer of connections, which will range in units of millions of crowns,” said the Brno City Mayor Markéta Vaňková.
“Over the past few weeks and days, very intensive negotiations have been conducted with the owner of the International Hotel, with the Property Department of the Brno Municipality and Brno Communications, the result of which is today’s approved agreement. I would like to thank all the actors for their cooperation. I am glad that open underground garages will also be part of the Janáček cultural center under construction. And thanks to the agreed solution, the entire originally planned capacity will be available to the people of Brno,” concluded the topic Petr Kratochvíl, Brno City Councilor for Transport.
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