May 31, 2022 - After the citizens had the opportunity to get acquainted with the real intentions to build a hotel in the former quarry at Valkane, as well as its appearance, the results of a survey conducted by the market research and public opinion agency IPSOS showed that, after hearing all relevant information, the majority of Pula residents, 58.3% support the construction of hotels, while 34.4% are against, and 7.3% of citizens are without answers.

It is interesting to note that 56.6% of citizens believe that demanding a referendum on building a hotel Valkane is a political game and collecting political points, only 30.9% believe that it is a real concern for citizens, while 12.5% ​​do not know.

 - In order for democracy to function, it is necessary to inform the decision-maker and we really try to communicate our every step publicly. We believed that, after getting acquainted with the project, a larger number of citizens will have a positive opinion of the project, which has now proved to be true. Regardless of what we do exclusively according to laws and valid plans, we care that citizens understand all segments of the project. Unfortunately, we have become the subject of political battles in which we do not want to participate. Opponents of the hotel conducted the research before the project was presented to the public and during a negative campaign marked by untruths and intimidation of citizens, and this has nothing to do with democratic decision-making based on true information. Unfortunately, these days they continue with the same rhetoric and we will be forced to seek legal protection from such untruths, but we are glad that more and more citizens support a project that will never bring a beautiful hotel, landscaped forest park, and public park and 250 year-round jobs, Hotel Valkane company said.

The same survey showed that 11.7% of citizens have not heard of this project so far, and of those who have, 37.3% know a lot about it, 38.3% do not know enough, while 12.7% have heard of the project, but they know nothing about it.

When we talk about the current situation in the area of ​​the former quarry at Valkane, 19.9% ​​of citizens believe that the situation in that location is good and that nothing needs to change, while 47.9% of them disagree and think that the location is insecure and ugly and urgent remediation and conversion is needed. 24.1% of them do not know and have not been there for a long time, 3% of citizens do not know where it is, and 5.1% do not know.

Almost two thirds of respondents agree that Pula needs five-star hotels, such as those built in Rovinj, of which 30.9% think it is very important, and 30.4% think they need it, but not very important. 24.7% of them believe that such hotels in Pula should not be built, but they would not mind, while only 12% of citizens would mind building such content, and 2% of them are unanswered, the results of this study showed.

- We continue to inform citizens about all the details and activities and about each phase of the project in the coming months, from the preparatory works, permits and finally the construction and opening of the hotel, concluded the company Hotel Valkane.

The survey of citizens' attitudes for Hotel Valkane was conducted by the IPSOS agency from 23 to 27 May 2022, on a representative sample of 600 respondents over the age of 18 residing in the City of Pula.

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May the 16th, 2022 - The announced construction of the five-star Hotel Valkane, with the investor being a Serbian media mogul, has caused quite the reaction among locals in Pula, with the local self-government unit there now torn between giving it the green light and saying a resounding no.

As Morski writes, the construction of a 5-star, 7-storey hotel on a popular promenade by the sea has raised a real storm in Pula and shaken up the city government. Does the city need another huge hotel or not, and is the lungomare (the city's promenade) really the right location for that? The reactions are as strong as they are mixed.

Hotel Valkane's investor, otherwise a Serbian billionaire and media mogul, wants to build the aforementioned hotel which would be worth half a billion kuna. The mayor has given the idea a thumbs up, but Pula locals are allegedly less than thrilled about the idea.

''We sincerely hope that Hotel Valkane will be completed within the next three to four years. There's no talk of deforestation, causing damage to the promenade or anything of high value. On the contrary, the ''hole'' that was once used should be returned to function,'' said Zoran Kostic, the project manager of "Hotel Valkane".

Pula's city councilors are generally not opposed to the idea of the construction of Hotel Valkane, except for those from the political party Mozemo (We Can!)

''Mozemo! has already initiated the third changes to the urban development plan of the promande, which can remove the hotel or reduce its size,'' the president of the Pula City Council Dusica Radojcic told HRT.

Most of Pula's local residents are allegedly not happy at all about the construction of this massive hotel

''It's not that it shouldn't be built, but maybe not in this place, maybe we'd rather build a sports centre or something like that here, use it a little better, build a better stadium, than build another hotel here. It's just a little too big, that hotel, in my opinion the two floors above should not protrude over everything as they would do,'' are just some of the comments of Pula's residents.

Despite the apparent dissatisfaction of the local residents he represents, Pula's mayor sees no issue...

''This is an excellent development project, the first five-star hotel that will be environmentally sustainable, one that won't touch any of the trees in the forest and has all the predispositions to be a new development point in the City of Pula and preserve the space we're in,'' said Mayor Filip Zoricic.

Mozemo is currently insisting on a referendum on building Hotel Valkane. They've warned that the entire part of the Pula coast has been privatised in a murky way and are as such calling on state institutions to do their jobs and investigate this matter more deeply.

With Pula's residents and Mozemo apparently vehemently against the hotel's construction, but with the mayor and the city government willing to give it a green light, will a referendum be held in which Pula's citizens might say no to the hotel, or will the investor get a location and construction permit and start building it? Time will tell for Hotel Valkane's fate.

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Press Release on April 21, 2022 - A presentation of the conceptual design of the future hotel Valkane was held in the Pula Cinestar in the Max City center.

The conceptual solution was made by the renowned architectural studio 3LHD, which in its portfolio, among numerous projects such as the Infobip Campus in Zagreb and the Rimac Campus in Sveta Nedelja, which is under construction last week, has a number of hotels of the highest category. like the Grand Park Hotel in Rovinj, successfully realized in Istria. The project of the Valkane Hotel was presented by 3LHD's author team, in the presence of investor representatives, to the media and tourism, public, economic and other stakeholders for whom this investment is of interest and importance.

Hotel Valkane will be the first high-class hotel in the wider Pula area. It will be located inside the former quarry, and its construction will rehabilitate an area that has been neglected since 1965. In the conceptual design, a maximum of two underground and a maximum of seven above-ground floors with a total of 180 rooms are planned. It also includes 183 underground parking spaces that will fully meet the needs of the hotel, and no new parking spaces will be built on the surface of the plot. Access to the hotel will be exclusively on the existing road from the east, or rear, and will not affect the Lungo mare belt. The planned value of the project is over 500 million kuna + VAT, and the city will collect a utility contribution of approximately 10 million kuna, a water contribution of 2 million kuna and 1.2 million kuna in utility fees per year.

"In creating this conceptual solution, we were guided by the historical context of the location, as well as its natural environment, forest, coast and stone. The requirement of modern architecture is to be maximally connected and integrated with the natural landscape and to respect the environment, and this was our modus operandi on this as well as on other projects. From something that was a huge hole and a completely inaccessible space created by stone exploitation, in such a beautiful and emotionally valuable location for the people of Pula, we tried to create a project that is merged with the context and volume, values ​​the environment and leaves the park forest accessible to the public. and so far. I’m thanking the clients for their trust and for showing an extremely high level of understanding and acceptance of our architectural expression ", said Silvije Novak from 3LHD.

The total area of ​​the plot on which the hotel and hotel facilities will be located is 27,329 m2, while the area of ​​the plot for the construction of the hotel is half of the total area, ie 13,189 m2, and the construction area itself is 6964 m2. Hotel Valkane will occupy only 2.38% of the total coverage of the UPU Lungo mare, and for comparison, it will be three times less than the amount of material exploited from the old quarry (270,000 m3). It is important to mention that the outer edge of the hotel is 160 meters from the sea and that the project does not provide for any intervention in the coastal zone.

"We believe that after this presentation it is clear that the investor does not intend to build an isolated resort, concrete the coast, touch the promenade that is maritime and managed by the city or build elevators to the beach as previously heard in public space. None of these claims are true. The goal is to combine private investment with the improvement of public space as much as possible, and accordingly, a four-meter-high fence will be removed from private tennis courts and a park accessible to citizens will be opened within the hotel. What we also want to mention is that the realization of the project requires the planting of 150-200 new trees, which will further enrich the entire space. We are very pleased with the conceptual solution because we believe that it respects the environment, and combines the requirements of this beautiful area and hotel and we are proud to continue with new large investments in Pula, after the Max City center which was successfully completed on time. I hope that we will soon start the realization of the project for the benefit of all ", said the project manager Zoran Kostić on behalf of the investor, the company Hotel Valkane.

The day before, a presentation of the project was held to representatives of the city administration and councilors of the City Council, and according to investors, the visuals of the new hotel will soon be available on the site next to tennis courts so that all interested citizens can see them live.

With this hotel, Pula will significantly gain in the offer and quality of accommodation, which is very important when it is known that it is a city that realizes only 7 percent of all overnight stays in Istria and has only 190,000 overnight stays in hotels, four times less than apartments. Equally important, the hotel will have 250 employees all year round.

You can read additional information at: https://rexgroup.biz/portfolios/valkane/ 

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