Fixing a hole in the city centre

A zoning plan has finally been passed for the best undeveloped site in Warsaw – perhaps in the whole of Poland. The plan covers an area of 29-ha within pl. Defilad in the very heart of the capital, which lies between the streets of ul. Marszałkowska, ul. Świętokrzyska, ul. Emili Plater and Al. Jerozolimskie. It is now possible to develop up to 600,000 sqm of buildings in the area, which is in the direct vicinity of the Palace of Culture and Science (PKiN). According to the plan, most of the site will be taken up by commercial space – mainly offices and retail. It will also be possible to build cultural facilities and residential units, which could be located on the top floors of buildings – and these are likely to be very high indeed. On both sides of the palace along  ul. Emilii Plater it is now possible to erect skyscrapers  up to heights of 220m and 245m. Another two buildings  can be constructed south of the palace (245m and 140m), as well as a 90m retail building, together with avenues  and green areas with fountains. “It could become a popular meeting place. An orangery is also to be built in the area of pl. Defilad, which is to serve a number of functions. There will also be sports facilities such as a cycle park and a shower block.  A basketball court is to open every summer to add to the existing ice rink which opens in the winter. We will announce a tender for the architectural design of the orangery as soon as in  Q1 2011,” reveals Marek Mikos, the director of the architecture and spatial planning department of Warsaw city council. The Warsaw Museum of Modern Art is also to be built in the area according to a concept by Swiss architect Christian Kerez. However, one difficulty with the development of the site is that it lies above the hub of the new second underground line and the first line.
Expensive, not easy and not soon
“The land around pl. Defilad is to be sold at market prices. The current price of a square metre of the land amounts to PLN 10,000,” claims Marcin Bajko, acting director of the real estate management office of Warsaw city council. However, it will not be easy to find buyers for these plots or to sell them. The basic problem with regard to pl. Defilad lies with the legal claims to the land. Before the Second World War the area was one of very dense development on small plots of land, which was eventually razed in order to build the Palace of Culture and Science. “Currently around 10 pct of the land on the square is subject to restitution claims. Unfortunately, they are scattered in such a way that they are located on virtually every plot on the square,” adds Marcin Bajko.  It has now been 66 years since the land was expropriated and resolving such legal claims is no easy task. However, since  2010 the city has allocated a special budget for the repurchase of these plots and is expecting that the first areas will have new owners by mid-2011. “Eventually, additional office space will be needed in such a place as pl. Defilad. Investment on this site, however, is not very realistic at this point. The city could have a problem finding investors for the land because of the current state of the market and the difficulty in obtaining financing. The next hurdle consists in claims on the estate with regard to the land around the palace. Investors are reluctant to deal with projects that come with complicated legal issues,” explains Łukasz Kałędkiewicz, director of the office department at CB Richard Ellis. Only a 6,000 sqm plot located close to Metro Centrum (the area of the former KDT indoor market) is not subject to such claims. However, it will be difficult to carry out a project on this plot due to it being above an underground car park. It would also be very expensive to do so and might cost up to around PLN 200 mln, according to the city’s estimates. “At the moment it is not possible to say precisely when the development of the area around the Palace of Culture and Science will be completed. But we are looking at at least ten years,” says Marcin Bajko.

Zuzanna Wiak