Uncertain future

German based investor Metro AG has been trying to reach an agreement with Wilanów authorities for the last few years regarding their plans in this district of Warsaw. Nothing has happened on the 20 hectare site they have owned for 6 years, as authorities are wary of transforming the historical Wilanów Palace neighbourhood into a Janki type commercial area. Metro has been trying to raise awareness of its project in recent months; is this a ploy to try and pressure the district into making a decision?

At a press conference held last month at the Wilanów Palace, Karl-Josef Baum, Metro AG board member, announced that the company wants to build a complex comprising 6 office buildings, a 2-storey shopping gallery, car parks and several MSU including Real, Media Markt and Praktiker. ,We will certainly not build steel sheet complexes," he commented.

Offices
Exact information regarding the retail component was not given at the press conference, although details concerning the office part of the scheme were revealed. ,The office complex I designed will have an area of c. 24,000 sqm. It will encompass 4 storey buildings whose facades will be made of, amongst others, sandstone, which is a traditional kind of stone used in Warsaw," informed Stefan Kurylowicz of APA Kurylowicz & Associates, architects on the project. Metro AG are to use some of the office space as their Polish headquarters whilst the rest will be available to lease.

No retail, no progress
Although Metro AG has received Wzizt, outline planning permission, to start work on the office component of their project, it is still unclear if this investment will be carried out. ,Without the retail element, it is difficult to expect the project to be successful," Karl-Josef Baum replied when asked whether Metro would invest in Wilanów if the district did not grant permission for the retail areas. ,I think if this situation arose, we would withdraw from the investment," said Renata Juszkiewicz, director of Metro AG's representative office in Poland. 

What does the district want?
The idea of building a retail development on a site owned by Metro AG since 1996 was presented to Wilanów authorities two years ago. It obtained a positive reaction from the District Urban Development Committee. An Act outlining local government powers regarding the approval of plans for large-scale retail areas was not in force back then. ,We fulfilled the requirements set out by the authorities in relation to our project. We designed small buildings, we planned to build a multi-storey car park and we set aside 30 percent of the scheme as environmental areas. The retail component is to be built 170 metres from ul. Przyczólkowa, hidden behind the offices and green areas," stated Renata Juszkiewicz. 

Wilanów is not Piaseczno 
"Hypermarkets can be built in Piaseczno, but not in Wilanów. In Wilanów, Metro may build offices, but as far as the construction of a hypermarket is concerned, there is still a long way to go before approval is granted. The process of obtaining all permits has 9 stages, and Metro is on the 5th or 6th stage," the mayor of Wilanów, Michal Strulak, explained to us. "Metro prepared a report on this project which we are currently analysing. We will come to a decision, once we have finished."

When asked about the design submitted by Auchan in co-operation with INVI and Prokom Investment, on the neighbouring Miasteczko Wilanów development which seems to have the district's approval, Michal Strulak replied that the French company still has to considerably modify its proposal in order to obtain approval. "The district may organise a referendum in which the community will decide if it wants any hypermarkets to be built here."

Three retail schemes
Three investors are looking to build retail schemes in Wilanów: Metro AG, Auchan and Carrefour. The sites on which these developments could be built are about 2 km from each other. If (although this unlikely) all the 3 projects get the go ahead, they would need 3 mln customers per month to function profitably, which is the total number of inhabitants of the whole Mazowieckie region. It seems impossible that 3 retail centres so close to each other could survive. Metro AG hopes that its design will be the only one selected by Wilanów authorities.

Neighbours
Miasteczko Wilanów, located close to Metro's site, is set in a 170 hectare site and is to comprise a luxury housing estate and an Auchan retail complex. Guy Perry of INVI, designer of the Miasteczko concept, did not seem worried about potential competition from Metro. ,Metro's presence in Wilanów should not disturb us. We will have to find a way to persuade the inhabitants of Wilanów that 2 retail centres so close will not threaten them. Zbigniew Okonski, president of Prokom Investment (main investor at Miasteczko Wilanów) did not wish to make any comments regarding Metro's plans.