Brick and mortar revival
Of all Poland's cities, Łódź has the greatest number of these sites and is attracting the most interest from this new breed of developer
Often referred to as Poland's Manchester, Łódź's rich industrial heritage provides a wealth of remarkable 19th century properties. As developers on the booming regional market look to create a niche product to attract the most sophisticated customers, Łódź's real-estate market is giving way to the trend for loft apartments in refurbished factories.
As the second-largest city in Poland, located only 130 km southwest of the capital and boasting a metropolitan-area population close to one million, Łódź's status as a cultural, academic and economic center is constantly growing. Roman Polański studied here, at Łódź's world-famous film school, along with many other great Polish filmmakers. Every year, the city hosts a number of events such as David Lynch's Camerimage film festival, which bring in millions of visitors to the city from all over the world. Business in the region is booming, with technology and logistics companies like Indesit, DHL, Accenture and Bosch already present in the greater Łódź area.
Imminent revival
Interest in the region has been stirring over the past few years and the city is on the cusp of a tremendous cultural and economic revival. Over the past few years, the city has been focusing on the revitalization of properties in the city itself as part of its economic strategy. The historic factories of the city center are of particular significance, requiring significant outside investment to remodel in a way that retains their former glory.
The city's main areas of development are based in the immediate center, including the Łódź Fabryczna train station, which will undergo a complete overhaul in the coming years. The tracks will go underground and the current site will be revamped and expanded into a major commercial and cultural development in the middle of the city. This includes building a large-scale post-production film facility planned by David Lynch, and a giant contemporary art museum.
A city within a city
The city is also revamping the area that connects the gargantuan Manufaktura shopping complex with the immediate city center. Manufaktura is Łódź's prime example of the investment potential of post-industrial development. Located on the site of Izrael Poznański's huge textile factory, the developer Apsys has literally created a city within a city. Now the commercial and cultural center will see the addition of a luxury four-star Andel's hotel designed by London's Jestico&Whiles.
Christop Salzer, director of Andel's Łódź project, says that the investment, managed by Warimpex, is worthwhile in spite of the high costs of revitalizing and maintaining these properties and related technical difficulties. "Customers will value the distinctive elegance of the design and the historical significance of the properties that are created," says Salzer.
World of potential
Manufaktura's director, Joao Xavier says, "Our company foresaw the attractiveness of Łódź 10 years ago, before any other foreign investors thought to take a risk here. Now more investors are coming in and we look forward to seeing more development in the city center and around Manufaktura. There is a world of potential here. There are already a number of development projects in the works such as the project at the old Scheibler factory."
The conversion of the 19th century cotton mill, once owned by Karol Scheibler, into two residential complexes is Opal Property Development's biggest project to date. U Scheiblera and U Scheilbera 2 on ul. Tymienieckiego will feature over 600 modern "loft-style" apartments built into the existing historic faųade. Most lofts will be between 70 and 90 sqm and several duplex apartments will be as large as 200 sqm.
The company is developing another property on ul. Kilińskiego 187 on the site of an old textile factory, which will include residential and commercial units and a museum. Opal is also planning the development of the Unionteks factory complex, comprised of about 60 buildings and over 75,000 sqm, in addition to an art exhibition hall and conference center on ul. Tymienickiego.
British developer St. Paul's Developments is working on another section of the Scheibler property to renovate a commercial complex called Texotoria Park, to be completed in 2009. A similar class-A office development from Tekum is also expected to start operating in the next few months.
Modern office space
Other companies are looking at slightly newer buildings and using their shells to create modern office space inside. Mermaid holdings and Salamanca Finance are working together on a major project to revitalize the Próchnik textile factories, originally built in the 1970s. JSK Architects are working on the office project's class-A design and the company is holding a tender for a general contractor. Construction is planned to begin in the fall to cover 14,500 sqm of the first phase of the complex.
Mermaid's president Radosław Sieroń declares, "We are confident that the investment will attract a number of firms to base their offices in Łódź." Compared with Warsaw, the class-A and class-B office space available in Łódź is three percent of the office space in the capital.
Lofty ideals
Paweł Grząbka from CEE Property Group agrees that lofts are distinctive on the current property market. "The demographic of people who are looking to buy loft apartments in Poland differs slightly from their counterparts around the world. Here they are even more in focused on the luxury aspect of such properties, and exclusivity is key."
Lofts are fast becoming fashionable all over the country. Opal is currently in the process of finalizing a zł.51-million deal with TUP Property for the revitalization of the Modena Textile Works to create a 38,000-sqm residential and commercial complex. Developers such as Arche, Agrobex, SGI Komfort Clairmont are also looking at landmark industrial and cultural properties in cities like Kraków, Gdańsk, Wrocław and Szczecin.
Leader of the pack
Łódź's seemingly bottomless stock of vacant post-industrial properties makes it the clear leader on the market. Anna Celichowska of Łódź's Office of City Development considers these properties "one-of-a-kind pearls in a city filled with a fantastic historical presence and cultural strength, which is attracting a remarkable degree of interest from both investors and future tenants."
