POLAND Echo reveals plans to transform Kabaty

The project is situated on the site of the existing Tesco hypermarket and shopping gallery in an area bounded by al. KEN, ul. Wąwozowa and ul. Sępa Sarzyńskiego, close to both the Kabaty metro station and the Las Kabackie forest.

A public park is to be created on the escarpment that gently rises east-to-west across the site, on the east side of which (nearer to ul. Zaruby) pillar-mounted residential buildings are to be constructed. This ‘garden on the slope’ (Ogród na Skarpa) will provide more space for greenery and some cover for the buildings. The garden will connect with an existing square on ul. Sępa Sarzyńskiego. On the opposite corner of the site, near the metro station and the junction of al. KEN and ul. Wąwozowa, the proposal of the designers is to build a public plaza – pl. Kabacki, with open-air cafés, restaurants, greenery and fountains. At the heart of the development there will also be a restaurant complex called 'Oranżeria' (The Orangery).

The project in Kabaty fits into our philosophy of creating places that are attractive to people, what have become known as ‘destinations’ – city-forming, multifunctional quarters. It draws on both the characteristics of the location and its context. Kabaty is family-friendly, friendly and green, so we have included all these features in our concept. We want it to be a local meeting centre, a friendly city space, for local and new residents of Kabaty district.
Marcin Materny, a member of the management board of Echo Investment

The existing first generation shopping centre on the site was opened by Hit in 1999, before the Polish supermarket chain was taken over by Tesco in 2002. Tesco had been planning a multifunctional development of its own to replace the aging centre, but subsequently opted to scale down its Polish operations before the plans could progress any further and has since decided to pull out of the market altogether. Echo Investment bought the entire property from Tesco in Q3 2019.