The history of Cracovia hotel is complicated and episodic. The developer purchased the structure about four years ago. Since then he has experienced a lot of troubles of legal nature which prevent him from starting construction works related to the property.
Cracovia hotel has been entered in the monument register several days after the purchase. The initial idea for using this property was establishment of a midtown shopping mall. Eventually, the local spatial development plan has been settled and it does not allow to establish a shopping mall in that place, only an office. According to a conducted legal document, we issued a building permit which is equivalent with building's demolition – says Wojciech Gepner, press secretary of Echo Investment. The voivodeship preservationist has started a process of entering the building in the monument register several days after submitting the application – adds.
The opinion about the entering of the structure in the monument register was issued by the National Heritage Board of Poland, however, it was ambiguous and it was not possible to make a registration on its base. The preservationist was given guidelines in order to make an expert report whether the building may be secured. Unfortunately, this process is long-lasting.
In result, the civic preservationist refused to discuss preposition about the building permit. In consequence, Echo Investment applied for suspension of the preposition and the company is currently waiting for results of conducted expert reports – explains Wojciech Gepner.
According to investor, Cracovia hotel is a kind of a building which cannot perform commercial functions.
The former Cracovia hotel is not suitable to develop due to a bad technical condition and its construction makes the adaptation to modern functions impossible. The building does not meet present usable norms as well as safety – the example is asbestos in walls. In result, a completely new structure is needed to fully use this place – points out Wojciech Gepner.