- City Tower (Prague)
-
City Tower 
City Tower in 2008, shortly before completionGeneral information Type office, shops Location Hvězdova 1716/2b, Prague, Czech Republic Coordinates 50°03′01″N 14°26′10″E / 50.05028°N 14.43611°ECoordinates: 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 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 1,850 m2 (19,900 sq ft) usable Elevator count 18 Design and construction Owner CITY TOWER, s.r.o. Architect Richard Meier & Partners, Architects LLP Developer ECM References [2][3] City Tower is a skyscraper in Prague (Pankrác district), the 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]
-
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. http://www.gng.cz/get_file.php?file=TOWER_brozura_en_72dpi_44.pdf&path=projectsfiles. 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". http://www.ecm.cz/cs/download/korporatni-dokumenty/konsolidovana-zaverka-ifrs.pdf. Retrieved 2008-06-13.
- ^ "ECM's CITY TOWER, the Tallest Builing in th [sic] Czech Republic, Receives Final Building Approval" (Press release). ECM. 2007-12-20. http://www.ecm.cz/en/press-releases.html/251_1463-ecm%b4s-city-tower--the-tallest-builing-in-th-czech-republic--receives-final-building-approval. Retrieved 2008-01-14.
- ^ "CITY Tower to House Raiffeisenbank’s Czech Headquarters" (Press release). ECM. 2008-03-11. http://www.ecm.cz/en/public-relations/press-releases.html/251_1505-city-tower-to-house-raiffeisenbank%e2%80%99-s-czech-headquarters. Retrieved 2008-06-12.
- ^ "Raiffeisenbank dokončila stěhování centrály do budovy City Tower" (Press release). Raiffeisenbank, a.s.. 2008-09-25. http://www.rb.cz/attachements/pdf/informacni-servis/media/tiskove-zpravy/tiskove-zpravy-2008/zari/centrala.doc. Retrieved 2008-10-10. (Czech)
- ^ E15: Největší realitní obchod loňska šel přes J&T (Czech)
External links
Categories:- Richard Meier buildings
- Buildings and structures in Prague
- Skyscrapers in the Czech Republic
- Buildings and structures completed in 2008
- Skyscrapers between 100 and 149 meters
- Czech building and structure stubs
-
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
