Gdańsk opts for private investment in public housing

The local government says the project, which is worth zł.70 million, will not affect the gmina's budget and has announced a tender to find a private partner.

Under the proposals the City of Gdańsk will form a company with a private investor. The City will then provide the land plot for the construction of 1,000 flats and as soon as works are completed it will buy all the shares in the consortium company from the developer, so that Gdańsk becomes the only owner of the flats. The City will then pay the company for the shares over a 25-year period.

Gdańsk is looking for experienced builders to take part. Companies that want to enter the competition have to prove that in the last three years they have designed 700 flats and built at least 500. The future partner of the City also has to prove that it has the financial means necessary to build the complex, or that it can get loans to finance the work. The competition will finish in January 2006.

The new tenants will be Gdańsk citizens who now live in buildings designated for demolition or in a bad technical condition. The new flats will emerge on a land plot of 10 hectares. There will be 12 complexes, with a maximum of three storeys, located on ul. Na Zaspę, Malczewskiego, Niepołomocka and Madalińskiego. The undertaking is a serious step forward, as in 2004 in the whole Pomorskie voivodship only 130 council flats were completed.