hot around new construction
Block housing, murals, recreation areas - Zaspa is a neighborhood with a certain identity, so it's no wonder that new developments are stirring up discussions. Such is the case with the southern part of the runway, which has never had any luck with investors. In the 1990s, the Treasury sold the five-hectare site to German retail group Edeka. Despite many announcements, work never began, and the site was developed only temporarily. For many years a market with ugly shopping pavilions and a parking lot operated here. The plot lay fallow, a vast concrete area cut through the neighborhood. Such a state of affairs did not please Gdansk city officials, but they only spread their hands, explaining that they could not force action on a private investor.
Construction on the site of the former airport
photo: Ewa Karendys
The investment stalemate was only broken in 2015, when the plot was bought by Budimex Nieruchomości for a net price of PLN 46.4 million. The developer announced that it would start construction within a year. That didn't happen, as a local association that opposed the development plans stood in the way, among other things.
The design for the district development, which doesn't happen often, was chosen in an architectural competition. The winning studio was Studio Kwadrat from Gdynia (cooperation: Wolski Architekci), known, among other things, for the extremely successful body of the World War II Museum.
Budimex obtained a legally binding building permit for the first stage of the project after months of battles waged with a protesting group of residents. Among other things, the local association questioned the decision of the mayor of Gdansk, who in January 2017 decided that an environmental impact report for the investment was not necessary. Earlier, it was critical of the intensity of the development, arguing that the project was oversized.
Visualization of the project by Studio Kwadrat and Wolski Architekci; stage currently under construction
© Budimex Nieruchomości
Budimex is currently erecting two 55-meter towers on the side of the railroad tracks. Their construction is in line with the current development plan. However, this is only a fraction of what the developer would like to erect. The competition design calls for up to a dozen buildings up to eight stories high and another eighteen-story building to be built on the entire strip. But the future of this part of the site is in question, because a change in the local plan is needed. The current plan allows extensive commercial development to be built. In practice: an extensive shopping center could be built here.
