Downtown rezoning planned

Warsaw authorities have reworked a plan to redevelop Pl. Defilad, the square which hosts one of Warsaw's most iconic landmarks - the Palace of Culture and Science. The new plan to rezone the center of Warsaw, published last week by Gazeta Wyborcza, would include conditions for the development of a 300-m skyscraper right next to the Palace of Culture and Science.

Two other high-rise buildings, standing 280- and 230-m respectively, would be erected on ul. Emilii Plater and two 120-m office towers would rise to the south of the Palace. One of the taller buildings would be constructed inside today's Park Świętokrzyski, an idea which has strong support from Warsaw Mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, but faces stiff opposition from some architects, ecologists and residents.

"Today the development of high-rise [office] buildings is declining. Will there be demand for that much office space? And so many new building projects mean that the Palace of Culture's surroundings will be a construction site for many years to come," said Grzegorz Buczek, a member of Warsaw's Architecture and Urban Development Council.

The plan also calls for the creation of several passageways between Pl. Defilad and the surrounding streets to integrate the Palace of Culture's surroundings with the rest of the city center. A green boulevard would be created along Al. Jerozolimskie.

Adopting the new rezoning plan will be a time-consuming process. It can only be approved after changes to today's spatial development plan of the city, and Lokale Immobilia has learned that this will take place no sooner than 2010.

"What Gazeta Wyborcza published is not the full version. We are going to present the new official plan within the next few weeks, certainly before Christmas," said Marcin Ochmański from WarsawCity Hall's press office.