The Directorate of the Chief State Architect of the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property rejected the appeal of the Nikšić-based company "Roaming Montenegro" as unfounded, and confirmed the decision of the Chief City Architect of the Municipality of Budva from June 2020, which refused to issue approval for the conceptual design of a future nine-story hotel 50 meters from the Old Town, on the site of a former business center.
This is stated in the decision signed by the minister. Slaven Radunović, which was previously prepared by the expert service of that government department.
As a reminder, the company "Roaminig Montenegro" has been fighting to obtain a permit for the implementation of this project since the beginning, and in the meantime, in October 2023, it sold an attractive property, a one-story office building across from the "Mogren" hotel, which was renovated last summer, to the company "Montenegro Assets Management" owned by Nikšić businessman Veselin Pejović.
As a reminder, the chief architect of Budva refused to give consent in June 2020, explaining that the proposed conceptual design differs from the surroundings in terms of design through its volumetry and finishing of the facades, and that the access to the building goes through a plot owned by the Municipality and that there is no consent from the owner of the neighboring cadastral plot, which is part of one urban plot.
"Roaming Montenegro" filed an appeal to the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Tourism against that decision due to an incorrectly established factual situation, because the designed facility fully complied with the guidelines from the Detailed Urban Plan "Budva Center" and complied with all parameters.
Ministry, which was then coordinated by the then prime minister Dusko Markovic, accepted the appeal and approved the conceptual solution, giving the green light to build a hotel in the very heart of Budva.
However, they did not want to accept this in the Municipality, so the Secretariat for Property Protection folded the plate and filed a lawsuit in the Administrative Court contesting the Ministry's decision.
In early March 2022, the Administrative Court accepted the lawsuit and annulled the decision granting consent.
After such a court decision was made, as stated in the ruling, the Ministry and the Directorate of the Chief State Architect reviewed the case files in early April of that year and decided not to approve the conceptual design, thereby preventing construction.
In mid-2021, the Secretariat for Property Protection of the Municipality of Budva sent an urgent message to the then Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapić and the then Minister of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism Ratko Mitrović for that government department to act according to the ruling of the Administrative Court and in a new procedure to make a decision to postpone the decision on giving consent to the conceptual design of the future nine-story luxury hotel with five stars, which the company from Nikšić intends to build across the street from the "Mogren" hotel.
"Roaming Montenegro" continued its legal battle.
The latest decision of the government department, dated October 8, emphasizes that the Administrative Court, at the beginning of June this year, annulled the second-instance decision of the former Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism, thus ordering the government department to decide again on the appeal of "Roaming Montenegro".
"Acting on the verdict, the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property, as the second instance, considered the appeal and the entire case file, and rejected the appeal as unfounded. Namely, on the part of the urban plots in the DUP "Budva Center" area for which a request for approval was submitted, there is no access in the sense of a road. It is concluded that the location for which the conceptual design was developed does not have secured road access from the city road or public road, and that therefore the missing part of the urban plot affects the functionality and access to the facility, which is why in this case all legally standardized imperatives, conditions for the possibility of construction on part of the urban plots, have not been met," the decision of the department headed by Radunović reads.
As a reminder, there is a parking lot in front of the business center, which is owned by the Municipality. The President of the Municipality of Budva Nikola Jovanović, as Vijesti previously reported, is interested in buying a plot of land next to the parking lot owned by HG "Budvanske rivijera", right next to the "Avala" hotel, where the local government would build a large underground garage that would also include the current parking lot in front of the business center, now owned by Pejović's company.
According to the conceptual design, as previously reported by "Vijesti", the five-star hotel would have a gross construction area of 5.782 square meters and a floor area of 2Basement + Ground Floor + 9 (two basement floors, ground floor and nine floors).
"The architectural solution of the building is rational in terms of function and design, in a modern style and in a way that fits into the existing environment. The hotel has 32 one-bedroom apartments, one two-bedroom and two three-bedroom apartments. The total number of apartments is 35, while the total number of beds is 80," the conceptual design says, among other things.
The ninth floor is, as stated, significantly set back in relation to the dimensions of the building, which gives the impression that the building has eight floors with a ground floor, and not nine, so that its dominant height does not disturb the existing ambience.
Since October 2023, the company "Montenegro Assets Management" has been registered as the owner of a business facility that includes three non-commercial business buildings, with a yard of 250 square meters. The first building has a business space of 127 square meters in the basement, a duplex business space of 132 square meters (ground floor and first floor), business spaces of 67 and 108 square meters on the ground floor with an 84 square meter terrace, and business spaces of 125 and 108 square meters on the first floor. Pejović also bought two ground-floor buildings that have business spaces of 43 and 9 square meters.
The business building was completely renovated last summer.
With five floors - can
Before the business center, businessman Veselin Pejović's company "Montenegro Assets Management" traded a house in the neighborhood itself, located on the promenade, literally in front of the Old Town.
The company has been given the green light to build a five-story, five-star hotel.
Former Acting Chief State Architect Siniša Minić gave his approval to the conceptual design of the future hotel submitted by Pejović's company.
"Consent is granted to 'Montenegro Assets Management' for the conceptual design of an architectural hospitality facility for tourist accommodation - a five-star hotel with a gross construction area of underground and above-ground floors of 3.035 square meters - basement, ground floor and five floors," the decision read.
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