The Manhattan Mall, built in 2004, is to disappear from the neighborhood's landscape. The building's owner has filed a demolition application with the government and plans apartments and services. The trouble is that between the city and residents and the investor - there is still no compromise on what the new development should be.
Another shopping mall in Poland is to be demolished. This time it is about the shopping center built in 2004. Manhattan shopping center in Gdansk. In early September, the building's owner filed a demolition applicationwith the City Council. Designed by Wojciech Targowski, Antoni Taraszkiewicz and Piotr Mazur, the block is regarded as one of the most architecturally successful shopping malls in the Tri-City.
In 2021, the building fell into the hands of the Hungarian fund Futureal. It quickly became apparent that the new owner wanted to replace the mall with a residential and commercial development, and much controversy arose over the height of the planned development. In 2024, however, Gdansk officials assured that, in accordance with the recommendations that resulted from the Grunwaldzka Avenue Strip Study, the city allows buildings here with a maximum height of 30 meters.
city sets its sights on new local plan
There is no local plan for the area, and in March the developer applied for Development Conditions. He proposed heights ranging from 30 meters from Grunwaldzka Avenue to a maximum of 55 meters - that's the height of the neighboring Dolarowiec, built in 1969, and the criticized Quattro Towers, completed in 2011. The city listened to residents' voices to enact a local zoning plan for the area. In March of this year, councilors proceeded to develop a new plan for the area of Grunwaldzka Avenue and Partyzantów and Jaskowa Dolina streets. Such action stopped the investor's application from proceeding.
Criticized Quattro Towers, on the right: a fragment of Dolarowiec
Ewa Karendys
The plan is intended to protect the representative area between Grunwaldzka Avenue and Partyzantów Street, which is an important public space for residents, from uncontrolled spatial development. Work on the document is in its initial stage, spatial analyses are underway, reportsJoanna Bieganowska of the Gdansk City Hall.
As Edyta Damszel-Turek, director of the Gdansk Development Office, told AiB, the planners are just getting started, so "it's too early to talk about the proposed parameters."
In a statement sent to the editor, Futureal Investment Partners stressed that Manhattan's retail and commercial function has been declining for years.
The reason is primarily due to growing online sales and the high competition from surrounding shopping centers. The building also deviates from current technical standards, especially in terms of ecology and energy consumption, and the high costs of its operation significantly add to the owner's losses, the company points out.
Futureal: New housing, services social functions
Futureal says it has been in talks with residents and the Gdansk authorities for some time regarding the future of the building.
We feel that we are bouncing around from making a clear decision on the direction of redevelopment. We are considering various possibilities, including preserving and rebuilding the underground parking lot so that it meets the requirements of an emergency shelter, serving both the residents of the development and the neighbors, the developer explains.
And he declares that the demolition should be carried out as quickly as possible to minimize nuisances.
- We held meetings with the projects' neighbors, where we tried to listen to their needs. The preliminary concept calls for revitalizing the fountain area and the park on the side of Grunwaldzka Street, maintaining the city library and the retail and service function on the first floor, as well as creating social spaces - a community center for young people and a meeting place, the announcement reads.
Referring to the controversy over the height of the planned development, Futureal reports that the average height of the proposed development is about 30 meters, and "in the rear part it refers to the neighboring buildings in a stepped manner, up to a maximum of 55 meters."
The developer has applied for the demolition of Manhattan
Ewa Karendys
Building above this height was never our goal, nor is it economically viable," the company stresses.
- 55 meters is too much, believes Maciej Jacaszek, owner of Restudio studio, an architect who became involved in the residents' objection. - In the public discussion there was even a cursory argument that such a height would obscure the criticized Quattro Towers, located next door. This is absurd; that development there permanently distorted the landscape of that part of the district. Exposure from the frontage of Jaskowa Dolina, the intersection of Jaskowa Dolina and Grunwaldzka Avenue or the neighborhood of low and medium residential buildings is for me an obvious reason why the height of 30 meters should not be exceeded. Fortunately, this view was shared by Vice Mayor Piotr Grzelak at one of his meetings with residents.
"A socially sensitive topic"
The residential function, according to the developer's assumptions, would account for 70-80 percent of the total project. The owner of the site says it will design two- and up to four-bedroom apartments for sale to private individuals.
Futureal: - After meeting with Manhattan's neighbors, we agreed that we would like to write in the sale deeds that these are not apartments for so-called short-term rentals.
Prof. Piotr Lorens, Architect of the City of Gdansk, believes that on the side of Grunwaldzka Avenue the height of the buildings should not exceed 30 meters.
- The service function should also be preserved in this part. At the back, it is possible to talk about a slight increase, while residents who took part in the consultations on the Grunwaldzka Avenue strip clearly stressed that they want to maintain the current scale," Prof. Piotr Lorens explains in an interview with AiB. - It is also important to preserve social functions - Manhattan has a library, among others. Residential housing? Only as a complementary function. This is a socially sensitive topic - and it will not be easy to reconcile the expectations of residents with the appetite of the investor.
Maciej Jacaszek is a realist. He points out that even a height limitation of 30 meters is not necessarily an indicator of good architecture.
- Among other things, the intensity of the development and the massing of the block will also be important. I believe that an architecturally successful existing building, determines the quality of architecture to which we should aspire. In my opinion, the parameters of the planned development should not deviate from the Manhattan building, which is well integrated into the landscape of Wrzeszcz," says the architect.
