In Gdansk, work is underway on the Study of theGrunwaldzka Avenueband, the city's main artery. When residents dream of greenery and harmonious development, developers want to build buildings that are intense and tall. Among the demands are 100-meter-high residential towers in place of the Manhattan shopping center and 200-meter-high buildings near the SKM station in Zaspa.
The new document is expected to set the directions for the part of the city with about 18,300 residents. It is along this street that the city's services and commerce are most heavily concentrated. The changes are needed because in recent years the Oliwa and Przymorze districts have seen the growth of Gdansk's office basin with thousands of employees. The infrastructure, especially city transportation, has not kept up.
residents: we want greenery and harmonious development
The strip of Grunwaldzka Avenue, where office and service functions have developed, can be supplemented with residential development. However, this will require the creation of new public spaces and green areas," said Prof. Piotr Lorens, Architect of the City of Gdansk, in an interview with A&B.
In November, we wrote about the conclusions of the consultations in which more than 130 people took part. Among other things, residents want friendly development of the avenue, the introduction of greenery and harmonious development of new areas with respect for the neighborhood, as well as a reduction in speeding on Grunwaldzka Avenue.
Now officials have to think how to reconcile these expectations with the different demands of investors, who dream of more intensive and high development. In the applications for changes in local plans for the area, which have been submitted to the Gdansk Development Bureau, there are even demands for buildings reaching 200 meters!
Investors want to push up on Grunwaldzka Street
Developers also want to lower parking rat ios compared to those established in the Gdansk Study. These - according to their wishes - for residential development would be trimmed from one space per apartment to 0.6 spaces. They would also like to locate green areas on elevations and roofs - and limit recreational greenery.
Among the demands is allowing a tall building - reaching 120 meters at the site of the Manhattan Mall. The fact that the owner of the shopping mall would like to demolish it and build apartments has been discussed in Gdansk for some time. In addition, if the city were to grant the investors' requests, the area next to the SKM Zaspa train station would change. Where the 10-meter-high City Meble shopping pavilion stands today, a 200-meter-high building would be erected. A new - 100-meter-high building could also appear in the Garrison area - but even the current plan allows for this. In the area of the Olivia Business Center complex, the investor is requesting an increase in the parameters of the development - up to 160 meters (today, for the so-called Olivia 9 building, it has a building permit for a 135-meter high development). A request to allow a building of the same height on the corner of Żołnierzy Wyklętych Avenue was also made by another investor.
View from the Sobieski Reservoir area towards Oliva
Source: BRG study
According to officials, the Grunwaldzka Avenue Band Study is expected to be ready in April and will be the basis for further decisions, including those related to planning changes. Until the work is completed, investor applications and work on development plans for the area remain on hold.
