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A RT I C L E
Łódź is a city undergoing significant changes and transformations at the moment. How do
you assess its potential in the context of what is happening there?
Łódź is a city that is rapidly developing, changing its image, a city where we fight the com-
mon stereotypes. Our clear advantage is the central location in the heart of Poland and
Europe, but also the proximity of the capital city, which can be reached by motorway in
just 60 minutes, or easy access to other large Polish cities, such as Wrocław, Toruń, Gdańsk
or Poznań. On the other hand, we also offer competitive costs of renting office space and
access to well-educated workers – and these are just some of the factors that make the city
stand out from the others. Let’s not forget that Łódź is a thriving academic centre with more
than 20 public and private universities. Recent noteworthy investments in our city include
the opening of the Airbus Helicopters office, the opening of the new headquarters of Ericpol
in the company’s own office building, as well as the McCormick shared service centre or
the announcement of new jobs at SouthWestern BPS Poland. We estimate that up to 1,300
new jobs in the BPO/IT/SSC sector can be created over the next year.
The New Łódź Centre project is currently being developed in the city.
The New Łódź Centre (NCŁ) is a revitalization project designed to rejuvenate the down-
town of Łódź and create a centre that will be strong, associated with history, yet modern
and providing the residents and others with a safe and aesthetic space to live, work and
spend free time. At present, we are consistently implementing successive stages of the NCŁ
concept – we have adopted the Local Land Development Plan for the area, thanks to which
the revitalization of the heart of the city will be carried out in a planned and comprehensive
manner. In April 2015, the masterplan for the implementation of NCŁ, prepared by Deloitte
consultancy, was unveiled; it is a strategic document designed to systematize the vision for
the downtown core, and to give the vision a certain rhythm in the form of concrete stages
and deadlines for their implementation. Also important in this context is the sale of urban
investment areas, including a plot for the “City Gateway”, which has already been put up for
sale. This project alone will be able to generate around 35 thousand sq.m of office space.
What opportunities will the implementation of the project bring for the city?
We want the 100 ha covered by the New Łódź Centre to be a place teeming with life 24
hours a day, and we will achieve it by locating mixed-use facilities in the area. We will
combine office, residential, hotel, commercial as well as cultural and artistic functions
there. We want it to be a place that’s friendly to the residents of Łódź and visitors, who
will make use of our new, underground, multimodal Łódź Fabryczna station. The best
proof of the attractiveness of the project is the increasing number of interested develo-
pers, who have already invested in land purchases in the NCŁ area or are considering
this possibility.
What challenges will the city have to face in the near future in the context of attracting in-
vestors?
The biggest challenge currently is the insufficient availability of prime office space. This is
due to high interest from tenants while the supply is low. The office space vacancy rate in
Łódź is currently at the level of a few percent. We hope the ongoing talks with office space
developers will soon produce results in the form of new projects.
Who is the main tenant of space in office buildings in Łódź?
Currently, we have approx. 290,000 sq.m of Class A and Class B office space, which ma-
inly attracts companies from the BPO/IT sector. It is noteworthy that these are not only
new investors, but also companies which have long been present in Łódź and continue
to expand their activities, increasing the leased area as a result. We also see a growing
interest from companies located in Warsaw, which, after the opening of the motorway
and the new underground Łódź Fabryczna station, will be able to quickly get from the
centre of the capital to the centre of Łódź, where they can rent offices at prices unavaila-
ble in prime Warsaw locations. It is gradually catching the eye of office developers, who
plan to build approx. 160,000 sq.m of prime office space in Łódź in the coming years.
To rejuvenate the city centre
President Hanna Zdanowska answers our questions about Łódź as a location for new office projects
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