Full steam ahead for Złote Tarasy
Złote Tarasy, which cost EUR 400 (zł.1,613) million, is one of the biggest office and commercial investments in Europe. Last summer, work at the construction site stopped, after a Warsaw ecological association questioned the construction permission for the investment.
Although the Administrative Court did not agree with the ecologists on this issue, it banned further works, pointing to procedural errors.
According to Jerzy Dobrowolski, an expert from Cushman & Wakefield Healy & Baker, this decision spoiled Warsaw's image as an investor-friendly city.
"I had to explain the case to every foreign investor," recalls the Chief Architect of Warsaw, Michał Borowski.
"I was assuring them that the Court had made a mistake."
The investor, ING Real Estate, did not stop the works, but considerably slowed down, thereby losing thousands of złoty every day.
"The investors complain that their costs are growing every day, but this is not our fault. This is due to the dilatory clerks," explains the president of the Friendly City Association, Jerzy Wojnar.
In January this year, the Court allowed the investment to move on again. The Friendly City Association tried to protest once more, using as their argument the incomplete documents of the construction.
This month, however, the Court discarded this accusation. "This is what we expected. Now we can finish the construction without any obstacles," said Ewa Łydkowska, a spokesperson for ING Real Estate.
The legal wrangling has delayed the project by six months, but ING does not intend to sue the ecologists for damage. "Despite the delay, nobody has withdrawn and 60 percent of the area is already leased," said Łydkowska.
"It is a scandal," argues Wojnar. "Such a giant investment in the center of the city. This is creating a fog, blurring the image. This issue has many plots. The fact is that the investor's report on the venture's impact on the environment is incomplete. A few pages are missing there.
"The problem is that the Courts hardly ever look into the issues from a content-related point of view. They only look at the documents without bothering to consult experts."
The Friendly City Association has long been a voice of protest on the Warsaw construction scene, and many wonder just whose interests they are acting in.
In 2001, it blocked the construction of the Arkadia shopping mall, but gave up as soon as they were offered zł.2 million for resigning from the protest. "This money was officially transferred. We spent it on purchasing our head office and statutory operations," says Wojnar.
"Everyone concentrates only on this one issue, because this is the only thing they can get down on."
Last year the ecologists also wanted to block the construction of Blue City Parking, but resigned when their company, Ekoplan, won the procurement to arrange the green area there, for more than zł.300,000.
Recently, the Inland Revenue Office from the Ursynów district has demanded that the Friendly City Association should pay a fine of zł.40,000. The Office discovered that the Association declared higher expenditure than they actually spent for 2002-2003, and thus, paid too little tax.
After the Złote Tarasy protests began, City Hall carefully watched the Association's activities.
Krzysztof Kulesza, the deputy director at the Administration and Citizen Issues Bureau, said at the end of last year: "I analyzed hundreds of pages [of the Organization's reports]. It turned out that the Association members act against their own organization. They want to take out money and move it to a company they have created."
Wojnar complains that since 2001 the Association has been constantly attacked in the media. "I feel reluctant to talk to Rzeczpospolita or Gazeta Wyborcza," he says. Little wonder, as the latter even alleged that one of the Association members is a bomb maker.
The Friendly City Association was formally found in 1997. Since then they have blocked almost every big investment in Warsaw, starting with Trasa Siekierkowska. They are also engaged in residential investments such as Marina Mokotów, EkoPark SA housing estate at ul.Chodkiewicza, Miasteczko Wilanów, and Budimex's housing park at ul. Czerniakowska.
Although the Administrative Court did not agree with the ecologists on this issue, it banned further works, pointing to procedural errors.
According to Jerzy Dobrowolski, an expert from Cushman & Wakefield Healy & Baker, this decision spoiled Warsaw's image as an investor-friendly city.
"I had to explain the case to every foreign investor," recalls the Chief Architect of Warsaw, Michał Borowski.
"I was assuring them that the Court had made a mistake."
The investor, ING Real Estate, did not stop the works, but considerably slowed down, thereby losing thousands of złoty every day.
"The investors complain that their costs are growing every day, but this is not our fault. This is due to the dilatory clerks," explains the president of the Friendly City Association, Jerzy Wojnar.
In January this year, the Court allowed the investment to move on again. The Friendly City Association tried to protest once more, using as their argument the incomplete documents of the construction.
This month, however, the Court discarded this accusation. "This is what we expected. Now we can finish the construction without any obstacles," said Ewa Łydkowska, a spokesperson for ING Real Estate.
The legal wrangling has delayed the project by six months, but ING does not intend to sue the ecologists for damage. "Despite the delay, nobody has withdrawn and 60 percent of the area is already leased," said Łydkowska.
"It is a scandal," argues Wojnar. "Such a giant investment in the center of the city. This is creating a fog, blurring the image. This issue has many plots. The fact is that the investor's report on the venture's impact on the environment is incomplete. A few pages are missing there.
"The problem is that the Courts hardly ever look into the issues from a content-related point of view. They only look at the documents without bothering to consult experts."
The Friendly City Association has long been a voice of protest on the Warsaw construction scene, and many wonder just whose interests they are acting in.
In 2001, it blocked the construction of the Arkadia shopping mall, but gave up as soon as they were offered zł.2 million for resigning from the protest. "This money was officially transferred. We spent it on purchasing our head office and statutory operations," says Wojnar.
"Everyone concentrates only on this one issue, because this is the only thing they can get down on."
Last year the ecologists also wanted to block the construction of Blue City Parking, but resigned when their company, Ekoplan, won the procurement to arrange the green area there, for more than zł.300,000.
Recently, the Inland Revenue Office from the Ursynów district has demanded that the Friendly City Association should pay a fine of zł.40,000. The Office discovered that the Association declared higher expenditure than they actually spent for 2002-2003, and thus, paid too little tax.
After the Złote Tarasy protests began, City Hall carefully watched the Association's activities.
Krzysztof Kulesza, the deputy director at the Administration and Citizen Issues Bureau, said at the end of last year: "I analyzed hundreds of pages [of the Organization's reports]. It turned out that the Association members act against their own organization. They want to take out money and move it to a company they have created."
Wojnar complains that since 2001 the Association has been constantly attacked in the media. "I feel reluctant to talk to Rzeczpospolita or Gazeta Wyborcza," he says. Little wonder, as the latter even alleged that one of the Association members is a bomb maker.
The Friendly City Association was formally found in 1997. Since then they have blocked almost every big investment in Warsaw, starting with Trasa Siekierkowska. They are also engaged in residential investments such as Marina Mokotów, EkoPark SA housing estate at ul.Chodkiewicza, Miasteczko Wilanów, and Budimex's housing park at ul. Czerniakowska.
