Gdansk Young City Becomes Reality
23 October 2008
Related to
BPT Optima
Baltic Property Trust and the City
of Gdansk have announced the beginning of the Young City project,
the biggest waterfront revitalization project in Poland. The City
of Gdansk, BPTO Infra and BPTO Gdansk Development have signed an
agreement on cooperation covering Young City construction. Thanks
to the agreement, the biggest waterfront revitalization project in
Poland will be created. What is more, the citizens of Gdansk will
gain a perfect venue for living, working, shopping, services and
entertainment.
"At a time when there is great
difficulties in the global financial market, Young City, stands
out, like an oasis, as a solid place to invest in" - told Torben
Schøn, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Baltic Property Trust
Optima S.A., SICAR.
"Danish people lived and worked in
Gdańsk for centuries, now the history makes a circle, now Danish
business comes back to create the Gdańsk of 21st
century" - told Paweł Adamowicz, the Mayor of the City of
Gdańsk.
As a start to creating Young City,
the City and BPTO Infra, in cooperation, will develop the first
stage of Nowa Wałowa Street, the main thoroughfare in Young City,
and the main traffic connection to the rest of the city.
Additionally, Nowa Wałowa will improve access to the stadium where
Gdansk will host the UEFA 2012 football championship matches.
We are "Making Things Happen" in
Young City - Gdansk by creating an innovative solution to develop
the necessary road and infrastructure. BPTO Infra will be
responsible for the construction of one part of Nowa Wałowa, the
"Small Loop", before December 2010. The City of Gdansk will
be responsible for the construction of another part of Nowa Wałowa
over the railroad tracks connecting to Jana z Kolna, the
"Extension", before November 2011.
The start of Nowa Wałowa Street and
the cooperation of the City of Gdansk will permit developers of
this new usable space to quickly obtain building permits. The
completion of the Small Loop and the Extension will allow
developers to obtain final occupancy permits for the new
development.
BPTO Gdansk Development is
guaranteeing that over about 12 years at least 750,000 sq. m. of
new usable space will be developed in Young City. This new
usable space will generate significant new real estate tax revenues
for the City of Gdansk.
Amongst the new usable space to be
developed will be a multi-purpose center with a large shopping
center, multi-plex and IMAX cinemas, two residential towers and an
office building to open in the fall of 2011 or early 2012.
Also, an European Solidarity Center will be built across from the
historic BHP Hall.
Young City is a seven minute walk
to the central train station and a fifteen minute walk to the Old
Town of Gdansk. The uniqueness of this centrally located,
historic, waterfront site, along with the diverse mixture of new
usable space to be developed and welcoming public spaces will
attract sufficient numbers of workers, visitors, shoppers and
residents to Young City that pension funds, investors and
developers who invest in Young City will earn a good return on
their investment and contribute to the successful development of
Young City - Gdansk.
For more information,
please contact:
Terry A. Selzer
Gdansk Young City Project Director
Phone: +48 58 767 79 99
Photos for download:
Signing the deal
The first sod
Visualisation of the Gdansk Young City
About BPTO Gdansk Development A/S
BPTO Gdansk Development A/S was established in
Copenhagen, Denmark, for the purpose of investing and developing in
the former shipyard of Gdansk, Poland. It is a sub-holding of
the investment fund established in Luxemburg - Baltic Property
Trust Optima S.A., SICAR. The fund's principal shareholders
are pension plans and other institutional investors, and its
purpose is to invest in the three Baltic States and Poland.
In 2006 BPTO Gdansk Development
acquired 4.4 hectares of land in Young City as part of a three
phase acquisition. Later that year it sold the land for the
development of a multi-purpose retail, residential and office
center, to be completed in 2011 or 2012. In 2007 it acquired
in the second phase 23 hectares of land in Young City.
Its goal is to ensure at least
750,000 sq. m. of new usable space is developed in Young City that
compliments each other to create a dynamic new destination for
living, working, shopping and services.
BPTO Infra sp. z o.o., is a
subsidiary of BPTO Gdansk Development A/S and responsible for, the
development of the first stage of Nowa Wałowa Street in Young City,
in cooperation with the City of Gdansk.
BPTO Gdansk Development has four
other subsidiary companies in Gdansk.
