Tri-City firm NDI Development is to accelerate the Gdynia Międzytorze project - a project that PKP has been announcing for years, and which it wants to carry out together with investors. On the attractive downtown post-railroad sites, 4730 apartments are planned along with office, retail, service and hotel developments. But whether there will be an architectural competition, and if not - who will design the buildings in the important location - is quietly being discussed.
Międzytorze is an area located in Gdynia's Downtown that belongs to PKP S.A.. Formerly used by the port, it is to be transformed into a mixed-use residential district. New buildings and functions will be created between Jana z Kolna Street and Gdynia Port station. The project is planned on a grand scale, with the railroad's latest announcements including 4730 apartments along with office, retail, service and hotel developments. New roads and the creation of green areas are also planned.
Gdynia Międzytorze. NDI will break the deadlock?
The agreement with the first developer - Gdynia-based Semeko - was signed by Xcity Investment, the company set up for PKP's development projects, back in 2015. But construction - due to financial problems faced by the developer - has not started to this day. The railroaders, however, argue that this time the work will gain momentum, because in December Xcity Investment signed a contract with another investor: the Tricity-based NDI Development.
- The agreement will allow the company to speed up preparatory work on the project so that construction work on the first residential buildings can begin as early as 2026. - announces PKP S.A.
Concept for the development of the Miedzytorze from 2015.
Xcity Investment
The entire project is to be completed in stages, until 2038.
All is quiet about the designers
What exactly will NDI's share in the grand undertaking be?
- We are a co-investor in this project," Bartlomiej Oset, vice president of the board of NDI Development,comments for AiB. - We will take part in the development of the site, starting from design work, through administrative issues, erection of the buildings, up to their commercialization. In addition, we will actively manage the development site. Currently, together with the city authorities and our partners, we are at the stage of updating the concept for the development of Gdynia's Międzytorze. We are beginning the design of the various stages of the investment, as well as the implementation of formal and technical preparation work.
We also asked NDI how the architectural studios responsible for the project will be selected. And whether an urban-architectural competition is planned. We did not get a clear answer.
The former Miedzytorze project
Xcity Investment
- The scale of the investment allows for architectural diversity," says Bartłomiej Oset laconically. - In the first stages of work, we rely on Gdynia architects, who best understand the importance of the project. As for further design work, we will determine this with our partners.
Concept for the development of the Międzytorze from 2015.
Xcity Investment
It has become customary in Gdynia that development projects for parcels of land that are important to the city's image are selected through competitions. Such a requirement is even written into some local plans - for example, for plots of land in the so-called Maritime Downtown of Gdynia. And although the legality of such provisions was later questioned, most investors respect this custom.
The local zoning plan for the Miedzytorze area was passed by councilors in 2017. Among other things, it provides for the construction of a large retail and service complex near the Gdynia Główna train station. Local architectural dominants were also allowed - raising the height of buildings to 55 meters from street level. The plan also includes a requirement to "adapt architectural forms and expression to the tradition of modernist architecture in Gdynia, and to use the basic color scheme of the facade in shades of white, gray, beige." City planners recommended using traditional ceramic and stone materials on the facades: limestone, sandstone.
