Zlote Tarasy another step towards rising Warsaw property values

Urban gentrification continues in Poland this month with the official opening of the Zlote Tarasy retail complex in Warsaw city centre. Zlote Tarasy which translates to Golden Terraces is a multi-use project jointly designed and developed by ING Real Estate, Jerde Partnership and the City of Warsaw.

Speaking at the opening ceremony George Jautze, of this iconic building, ING Real Estate’s chairman commented,

“Firstly, we wanted fascinating architecture. Warsaw is a major European capital but landmarks are few. The city deserved something spectacular. Secondly, the city centre needed a large scale mixed-use centre. Over 170,000 people pass by here everyday. Thirdly, we wanted to create a centre with a pleasant atmosphere, spectacular but not intimidating. Zlote Tarasy should make people feel good and want to stay and enjoy the experience. It had to be the choice destination for shopping and meeting friends over a drink or dinner, and going to a movie. I believe the Jerde Partnership have done a magnificent job in combining all of these elements.”

Located next to the central train station in the heart of Warsaw, Zlote Tarasy hopes to reconnect and revitalise the city’s urban landscape blending award-winning architecture with approximately 63,500 sq m of retail and leisure space to create an urban public space with both form and function. Conceived back in 1995, construction began in 2002 and has been completed at a cost of EUR 500,000,000. The building’s principal feature is a glass dome made up of 4,780 panels to create the ambience of an external shopping centre. It’s shape was inspired by the idea of a cloth draped over a series of spheres and its steel construction rests upon tree-like pillars with central trunks and thin branches and has earned the project ‘Best in Show’ and ‘Best Large Scheme Retail Development’ at the Retail Future Awards in Cannes in November 2005 and was recently awarded the 2006 Architectural Review MIPIM Future Project Award in the Retail and Leisure category.

The retail centre features over 200 stores and service units which have already fully let to world class shopping brand tenants that include Marks & Spencer, Zara, Intersport, H&M, Hard Rock Café, and Hugo Boss to name a selection. The 4,500 square metres of lettable floor space houses food and beverage outlets making this the largest concentration of restaurants, cafés and bars in the City of Warsaw. The 1 million people who live within 20 minutes of the Złote Tarasy complex will also have access to an eight-screen cinema, fitness club and a dance school which are scheduled to open in the coming months together with an additional 45,000 sq m of lettable office space.

From a polish property investment standpoint the opening of Zlote Tarasy clearly demonstrates Poland’s continued commitment to the rejuvenation of its cities through private capital investment and in the eyes of Warsaw’s mayor, Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz is “another step towards the development of the city centre”.

Low-cost and physically deficient cities as they experience urban renewal based on past trends, on the whole, experience a rise in property values as the area’s appeal appreciates bringing with it accordingly, further wealth through residential and increased local consumer demand. This continued development is just part of the reason Warsaw is rising through the ranks to become one of Europe’s top business cities.