The relocation of defense officials will now cost a billion. Even last year it could have been significantly less

The whole move, which the defense has been planning for almost ten years, is accompanied by controversies. Last year, Defense Minister Jana Černochová (ODS) ignominiously terminated negotiations with Tokov’s owner, billionaire Radovan Vítek’s CPI Property Group, due to criticism that the planned rent for 66 million crowns per year is overpriced.

Therefore, the minister had a selection procedure announced. But only two applicants applied for the competition, and in the end only the owner of Tokova submitted an offer.

“The reason why only one applicant applied is probably that there is no other such extensive building in Prague, and we also wanted a building with one entrance or a complex of buildings for security reasons,” said Marta Kopecká, director of the property section of the Ministry of Defense.

On Wednesday, the ministry signed a contract with the company Marrisa West, which manages the building and which belongs to the Vítkova holding.

According to the defense, the company is now demanding an average annual payment of 103 million crowns for a seven-year lease. In addition, the ministry expects that 311 million crowns will cost the rebuilding of the building according to the security and capacity requirements of the defense.

According to Kopecka, the price increase compared to last year can be explained by the fact that office rental prices have increased due to inflation and also that instead of 12.5 thousand square meters, the defense will eventually rent 15.6 thousand square meters. “Furthermore, the price of 66 million crowns was a price to be negotiated and was not based on specific requirements for the deployment of officials within the building to individual offices. That didn’t happen then and it was only done now,” added Kopecká.

The relocation of officials should take place in 2026, when the Tokova building should be rebuilt to be suitable for working with classified information or for secure meetings. The ministry should invest 311 million crowns in the reconstruction and the owner of the building 71 million crowns.

“The price for the reconstruction includes, for example, the construction finishing of the floors due to the safes. On one whole floor, there will be file rooms and regime areas, which will be equipped with safes. And the main part of the money will go towards the creation of counters for offices and meeting rooms,” said Kopecká. She added that all open rooms in the building, the so-called open space, they will not rebuild into individual offices, but the armaments section, personnel and legal departments need separate rooms. Around a hundred officials who need greater security measures have been moved by the defense to their buildings on Ruzyna.

The choice of the Tokovo building became the target of criticism last fall after the Seznam Zprávy server reported that the ministry was to pay 66 million in rent per year, while the previous tenant, the Supreme Audit Office (NKÚ), paid around 18 million crowns in rent per year.

According to Kopecka, the comparison was very unfair, because the SAO rented only nine thousand square meters and the rent was negotiated by the office with the owner of the building in 2013. “At that time, the SAO only negotiated a lease extension and was already occupied in the building. Moreover, it was at a time when the office was criticized for paying too high a rent and when it was considered that a cheaper building could be found for the SAO,” commented Kopecká. She added that if you compare the prices from 2006, when the control office moved to Tokovo, the SAO paid 387 crowns per month for a meter of office, and the defense will now pay 380 crowns.

According to Kopecka, they compared the price with the rents of other state authorities and found that they do not deviate in any way from the normal price, and this was allegedly confirmed by an expert from the Czech Technical University. He came to the conclusion that it is a market rent, excluding the price for the parking fee, but according to Kopecka, after negotiations with the owner, he managed to reduce it to the usual market rent in the place.

Zdenka Klapalová, director of the real estate consulting company Knight Frank, confirmed that there are not enough office buildings in Prague that can offer almost 16,000 square meters. “There are not enough offices in Prague, and especially for those who have such big requirements. That’s why I’m not surprised that there weren’t many interested people,” Klapalová told Novinkám. He also agrees that the price of 380 crowns per square meter per month is acceptable in Prague.

According to Kopecka, the reconstruction of the building in Bubenč, which has been serving as a Ministry of Defense building for a hundred years, should begin in 2028. The Ministry has already selected the company that will prepare the project documentation. According to Ministry of Defense spokesman Karel Čapek, the competition was won by the Best Army Designers association, which is demanding 143 million crowns.