Something old, something new

Like other commercial properties, Galeria Kazimierz is emerging where two worlds meet. In the first, workers are ensuring that the on-site cavity walls prevent Vistula River water seeping through, that the foundation plate is evenly laid and that the Galeria Kazimierz is ready by the end of 2004. This world is ruled by Rafał Elżanowski, construction project manager of Globe Trade Centre. A voice heard in the construction site asks what is to be done with foil delivered by the general contractor but which is faulty and does not fit previous sheets. The reply is - dump them and don't let them tell me it's not their fault - a reply almost as short as the time the busy project manager can spend with Warsaw journalist. The second world is that of negotiations on space letting, under way in Warsaw and Kraków offices. That is the world of Mariusz Kozłowski, GTC Marketing Director and Cushman & Wakefield H&B and Jones Lang LaSalle agents, whose job is leasing the space in the Galeria Kazimierz. Precisely one year before the centre is opened (March 2005), 30 percent of the space has already been pre-let. Mariusz Kozłowski adds: "We've won all principal tenants. The time has now come to sign contracts with smaller retailers" The five, small, brick houses which line the road to the main entrance are an unusual and distinguishing element of the Galeria Kazimierz. They are the administration buildings of the slaughterhouse works which previously stood on the place of today's gallery. Restaurants and boutiques are to be furbished in the existing interiors. These facilities may be open to customers longer than other gallery shops due to their location outside the main building. The Kraków authorities probably became unpopular with the developer when they firmly told that the previous buildings must be preserved. Even so, the entire project has gained much in visual appearance as a result.