City Tower
City Tower in 2008, shortly before completion
General information
StatusCompleted
Typeoffice, shops
LocationHvězdova 1716/2b, Prague, Czech Republic
Coordinates50°03′01″N 14°26′10″E / 50.05028°N 14.43611°E / 50.05028; 14.43611
Construction started1985 (halted in 1993, then restarted in 2005)
Completed2008
Opened2008
OwnerCITY TOWER, s.r.o.
Height
Antenna spire116 m (381 ft)[1]
Roof109 m (358 ft)
Top floor109 m (358 ft)
Technical details
Floor count27
Floor area42,000 m2 (450,000 sq ft) usable
Lifts/elevators18
Design and construction
Architect(s)Richard Meier & Partners, Architects LLP
DeveloperECM
References
[2][3]

City Tower is the tallest skyscraper in Prague (Pankrác district) and in Bohemia, and the second tallest one in the Czech Republic standing on the Pankrác Plain with a height of 109 meters.[1]

History

Construction commenced in 1985 and the building was designated as the 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, began in 2005 and was completed 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]

Over 2300 tons of new steel structures were used for its reconstruction. The facade consists of 30,500 m2 of glass sheets. 800 parking spaces were built in the underground floors. There are 18 lifts in the building. Elevators reach speeds of up to 6 meters per second and the official web page claims they are the fastest lifts in the Czech Republic.[7] On the 27th floor is the highest restaurant in the Czech Republic, it has been since 2013 repeatedly awarded Michelin's Bib Gourmand award.[8]

In 2009 ECM sold City Tower for €130 millions to Czech company Marpona a.s. Transaction was backed up by J&T.[9] In 2012, the building was sold again, to company Consideratio which belongs under holding Proxy-Finance. The price was not published.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Topographic map of Czech Armed Forces
  2. ↑ "CITY TOWER Project Brochure". 2006. Retrieved 2008-06-13.
  3. ↑ 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). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 2008-06-13.
  4. ↑ "ECM's CITY TOWER, the Tallest Building in the Czech Republic, Receives Final Building Approval" (Press release). ECM. 2007-12-20. Retrieved 2008-01-14.
  5. ↑ "CITY Tower to House Raiffeisenbank's Czech Headquarters" (Press release). ECM. 2008-03-11. Retrieved 2008-06-12.
  6. ↑ "Raiffeisenbank dokončila stěhování centrály do budovy City Tower" (Press release) (in Czech). Raiffeisenbank, a.s. 2008-09-25. Archived from the original on 2011-05-22. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
  7. ↑ "Zajímavosti CITY TOWER". Citytower.cz (in Czech).
  8. ↑ "Dvě pražské restaurace uhájily hvězdu v prestižním průvodci Michelin". iDNES.cz. 14 March 2013.
  9. ↑ E15: Největší realitní obchod loňska šel přes J&T Archived 2012-04-01 at the Wayback Machine (in Czech)
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