Hotel with a Seaview

The 4-star Courtyard by Marriott hotel, located at the President’s Embankment in Gdynia, has been open to guests since 4 June 2015. Its exceptional location with a view of the Gdansk Bay is much appreciated by the visitors; ever since its opening, the hotel has been popular among leisure and business travellers visiting the Tri-City.

The Courtyard by Marriott Gdynia Waterfront hotel is situated near the Kościuszko Square, a hotspot for tourists and a perfect place for business meetings in the very heart of Gdynia. It is only a short walk to the beach and the Seaside Boulevard, and just 500m from the Musical Theatre. It is one of the first buildings constructed as part of the Gdynia Waterfront complex. The hotel has eight floors of 200 modern and comfortable rooms. The top floor contains business rooms with panoramic views of the sea. A sun-soaked viewing terrace on the third floor of the building offers beautiful views of the bay. The hotel has a modern Conference Centre with 9 rooms providing generous space for big business events. The hotel restaurant GåRD – Nordic Kitchen offers both Scandinavian and international dishes. A fitness studio overlooking the sea is open 24/7 for hotel guests. The hotel offers bike rental service to the fans of bicycling which is a great way to explore the city. Each air-conditioned room is equipped with 40″ LCD TV, a working desk, and tea/coffee making facilities. Large windows allow more light in, or even, in Premium and Business rooms, a superb view of the Gdańsk Bay. High-speed wireless Internet is available throughout the hotel.

Revitalisation of Międzytorze

More former shipyard areas have attracted an investor. Międzytorze in Gdynia, covering an area of more than 14 hectares, will be profoundly transformed by PKP SA, the owner of the site, and SEMEKO Grupa Inwestycyjna SA from Gdynia.

The investors plan to comprehensively revitalise and redevelop this terrain. The area over which rail tracks extended to the port will be completely changed, thereby becoming the centre of the city, providing people with a wide range of service facilities and residential buildings. The purpose of the revitalisation of this area is to completely change the character, functions and use of this area. Hotels, office space, commercial facilities, and most of all residential buildings, will attract inhabitants and tourists to this part of the city. The total residential and commercial area comes to 345 thousand sq m.

The project is divided into several stages and the whole investment is to be completed by 2026. Construction work may begin as early as in 2017. The value of the project is estimated at approx. 700 million EURO.

First flats to be built on Fishing Pier

Construction work on six residential buildings situated in the area of Fishing Pier is scheduled to be started as early as next year. Dalmor and mLocum have entered into an agreement to carry out the investment project.

The first stage of the investment project will involve the construction of 170 flats with necessary infrastructure on the site owned by Dalmor S.A., located in Gdynia at 10 Hryniewickiego Street. The ground floors of the four-storey buildings will be used for commercial premises. According to plans, the project will also involve the construction of public car parks and parking spaces designated for residents.

Currently, the companies are drawing up the necessary documentation related to implementation of the project. The construction work should begin next year, and completion of the project is scheduled for the beginning of 2017.

The site at 10 Hryniewickiego Street that will be used for the investment project is located on an artificial pier projecting into the Bay of Gdańsk and surrounded by the sea on three sides. The area is part of the Śródmieście district and is seen as the heart of Gdynia. In line with the Local Spatial Management Plan, this terrain may be covered by a gross leasable commercial area of approx. 70,000 sq m and a residential area of approx. 120,000 sq m.

We know the winning design of New Marina

We already know what the New Marina in Gdynia will look like. Construction work on the new building in Al. Jana Pawła II Street, which will house the headquarters of yacht and sailing clubs in Gdynia, a hotel, conference facilities, as well as cafes and restaurants, is scheduled to be completed by 2017.

On 28 January 2014, the results of the architectural competition for the concept of the New Marina building were announced. Four design studios competed for the main prize. Studio Architektoniczne Kwadrat from Gdynia came up with the winning concept. The jury was chaired by prominent architect Andrzej Bulanda. The calm, geometrical architecture of the design that refers directly to characteristics of the local modernism, but uses a contemporary language and technologies, was considered by the jury as the main asset of the winning design. The winners were awarded a prize of 15 thousand zlotys and were commissioned to work out a detailed design.

“This concept reflects the nature of Gdynia, a city located at the interface of land and water. The building will be used for purposes related to water on the one hand and will serve urban functions on the other, as it corresponds to our vision for the development of the Śródmieście district as close as possible to the sea,” said Marek Stępa, Vice-Mayor of Gdynia.

He also notes that in accordance with provisions of the local spatial development plan, the city authorities require that architectural competitions are organised for prestigious locations.

“This is a winning solution for everyone – both for investors and the city. Thanks to this, the architectural design of new buildings in Gdynia is of the highest quality,” concludes Stępa.

“The winning design involves a horizontal layout, simple forms and high functionality. Our concept builds on the idea of modernism – it aspires to be functional, without standing out from or dominating the area,” commented Jacek Droszcz, President of Studio Kwadrat.

“After long discussions, with strong support of the city, we arrived at a consensus with yacht and sailing clubs with which we want to set up a special-purpose entity in the coming period. In this way the clubs will be co-owners of the new building, and not only tenants as has been the case so far,” stressed Wiesław Kaczmarek, President of the Polish Yachting Association.

The costs of the investment project are estimated at approx. 100 million zlotys, and its completion is scheduled for the end of 2017.

Gdynia and Nauta will jointly build roads

Roads are a key factor determining the success of every large investment project. It will be thanks to the cooperation between Gdynia and Nauta Shipyard that the new post-industrial areas, in which a new part of the Śródmieście district will soon be built, will be well connected. On 9 July 2013 a letter of intent concerning this matter was signed at the InfoBox in Gdynia.

The Nauta Ship Repair Yard, which was operating in the region of Wenda Basin, has relocated its activities to the former site of the Gdynia Shipyard.

“This relocation has opened up great opportunities for development,” said Paweł Matwiejko-Demusiak, Vice-President of the Nauta Shipyard. “However, each development process requires investments which we have financed from bank loans. The sale of the land where we have been operating so far will allow us to repay these liabilities,” he added.

The vacant space, covering an area of over 8 ha, will be used for the new centre of Gdynia with services, office, commercial, shopping, residential, hotel and warehouse facilities in the coming years. A new sailing marina will be located in the Wenda Basin, and the waterfront will be transformed into public boulevards. The total area of new buildings is estimated at up to 174,000 sq m. A local spatial management plan is being drawn up for the new district and is to be adopted later this year.

However, before excavators and cranes take possession of the area, it has to be well connected to the network of Gdynia’s streets. Therefore, the parties signed a letter of intent, in which they declared that they will jointly finance the extension of Węglowa Street, the construction of Nowa Węglowa Streets, and extension of Waszyngtona Street. It should be borne in mind that earlier, Polski Holding Nieruchomości, which is in possession of the area occupied by Fishing Pier, made a similar declaration.

Colliers International, a well-known consulting company, is searching for investors on behalf of the Nauta shipyard. Letters of intent signed by stakeholders are being gathered until 24 July. Until the end of August stakeholders will be able to submit non-binding offers that will later become the subject of negotiations. The representatives of Nauta hope that they will select an investor and finalise the matter by the end of this year.

Foundation stone in Gdynia Waterfront

The ceremony of placing the foundation stone under a new office and hotel complex symbolised the official start of construction work on the Gdynia Waterfront complex. The foundation stone was accompanied by a time capsule containing the groundbreaking plaque, a pen-drive with the documentation and visualisations of the project, and a current issue of a local newspaper. The developer, Vastint Poland, plans to complete the first stage of the project in mid-2015.

During the ceremony Roger Andersson, Managing Director of Vastint Poland, stated, “I am sure that Gdynia Waterfront will be a future centre of business, services, recreation and meetings for residents of the city and the many tourists who will visit it. Its prestigious location near Kościuszko Square, modern architecture and well-planned public space with direct access to the water will create a unique atmosphere and will ensure that the complex is a colourful, vibrant heart of the city.“

Gdynia Waterfront is a modern multi-functional complex with an area of 90,000 square metres. It will feature office space, a hotel, residential buildings and commercial and service zones. There will also be cultural and leisure facilities. The first stage includes the construction of the Marriott Courtyard hotel with a conference centre, operated by Scandinavian Hospitality Management, and an office building which is planned to house the headquarters of Nordea Bank Polska. This stage is currently underway and is scheduled to be completed in 2015.

Vastint Poland, forming part of the Inter IKEA Group, is not only the developer and investor but also the future manager of the newly erected complex. The architectural design of the first stage of Gdynia waterfront was developed by Pracownia Projektowa FORT, and PORR Polska is the general contractor.

Nabrzeże Prezydenta development project

Przedsiębiorstwo Projektowo – Wdrożeniowe FORT Sp. z o. o. from Gdańsk won the architectural and urbanist competition for best design of an office and hotel building at Nabrzeże Prezydenta in Gdynia. A Marriott hotel and Nordea bank will be built between the Gemini shopping centre and Sea Towers.

The jury, consisting of representatives of the authorities of the City of Gdynia and the investor (chairman Marek Stępa, Ph.D. Arch., members: architect Marek Karzyński – Manager of the Gdynia Spatial Planning Office, Zbigniew Pomaz, Ph.D. Arch – from Biuro Architektoniczne Mat Sp. z o.o., architect Andrzej Kapuścik – designer of Sea Towers, architect Bernard Lizin from Belgium, Roger Andersson – Managing Director of SwedeCenter, Rune Firing – Managing Director of Mariott Courtyard, Sławomir Żygowski – President of the Management Board of Nordea Bank Polska], found that the winning work combines usefulness with an attractive arrangement of public space.

The jury considered the creation of a pedestrian tract as a particular quality of the design by the winning team (over an area extending from that existing along the open area next to the Gemini shopping centre and on through the Sea Towers complex). The jury also liked the inner square open to the sea. It was considered to form a convenient entrance to the designed buildings. Its connection with the observation deck next to Sea Towers also won recognition.

It is worth noting that the winning team of architects designed the European Solidarity Centre, among others, which is currently under construction in Gdańsk.