A plan to move the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes (ÚSTR) from its currrent Prague 3 headquarters to the Micron building in Modřany — along with the Security Services Archive (ABS) — has collapsed. Belgian developer Serge Borenstein, who owns the Karlín Real Estate Group, had hoped to obtain three apartment buildings as part of the deal.
“Originally, we wanted to exchange Micron for three state-owned buildings. We worked on it for several years,” Borenstein told Czech Position. “But every time the contract was to be signed the management of the institutions [ÚSTR and ABS] changed.”
Borenstein has completely abandoned the plan and instead wants to offer low-cost office spaces in Micron, mainly targetting start-ups businesses. A square meter should cost around €7–8, or roughly half the cost of the cheapest offices in Pragues. According to data of international real estate company King Sturge, monthly rent starts at the edge of town at €13 per sqm.
The Micron building first must undergo a reconstruction, in which teams of young architects, designers and graphic artists will participate. “I have requested them to create an office where they themselves would like to work,” Borenstein said. The reconstruction in Modřany should end by December 2011.
Controversial plan
Former ÚSTR management, led by Pavel Žáček, had pushed for the institution and the ABS to be housed at one location: the Micron building. The proposed swap concerned three state-owned buildings: on Siwiecova street (Prague 3), where ÚSTR is now headquartered; and two in Prague 1 (on Struze and Hybernská streets). The Ministry of Finance has the right to dispose of these properties.
However, the planned shift attracted criticism. The three properties are worth more than Borenstein’s Micron building in Modřany — which has not undergone renovation and did not meet all criteria for housing the archives. For example, it is in a flood zone, and some floors fail to meet the load requirements.
The intended exchange was on the agenda of the former caretaker government of Prime Minister Jan Fischer. But the point was eventually withdrawn from the agenda.
