Debrecen4U June 3, 2025

The former headquarters of daily newspaper “Napló” will be converted into a hotel

For nearly seventy years, the headquarters of Napló was the Wolff Palace on Dósa nádor Square. The daily newspaper’s editorial office moved last year, and Cívis Ház Zrt. became the new owner of the building. The CEO of the municipal real estate management company, Edit Erdei, said at a press event last week that in 2024, for the first time in a long time, a property of strategic importance was purchased, and with the acquisition of the Wolff Palace, Cívis Ház Zrt. is facing a development on a historic scale. As stated, the 121-year-old building on Dósa nádor Square would be converted into a hotel.

Cívis Ház has now announced the design competition for the transformation. The call for proposals published in the Official Journal of the European Union states that “The aim is to preserve, exploit, and further develop the location, unique atmosphere, and turn-of-the-century architecture of the building to create an intimate commercial accommodation service with a unique atmosphere, which offers a high-quality additional location and alternative for hotel chains and hotel operators that have settled in the city or are planning to develop here.”

There are no plans to add another floor to the three-storey building (basement, ground floor, first floor) with a useful floor area of ​​1,193 square metres, but the designers must examine the possibility of expanding it. The idea is to create separate commercial/catering spaces on the ground floor of the hotel.

Design offices can submit their entries until 12 August. A net amount of HUF 5.9 million is available for the award and purchase of entries, with the first-place winner receiving HUF 2.5 million.

The chairman of the jury will be Mayor László Papp, and the co-chairman will be the Ybl-Miklós Award-winning architect and designer, Szalay Tihamér. The members of the jury are Deputy Secretary of State for Monument Protection, Krisztina Deák, CEO of Cívis Ház Edit Erdei, Chief City Architect István Gábor, President of the Hajdú-Bihar County Chamber of Engineers András Liska, and architect Beáta Szászné Ökrös.

The results are scheduled to be announced in mid-September.

Source: dehir.hu |Photo credit: Facebook Debrecen városa

Source: dehir.hu |Photo credit: Facebook Debrecen városa