The landmark destination in Warsaw’s newest high-rise district, Złote Tarasy is a state-of-the-art, 225,000-square-meter (2.4 million-sq. ft.) commercial complex on a 3.2-hectare (7.9-acre) infill site. Złote Tarasy’s trademark element is its one-hectare (2.5-acre) undulating glass roof, inspired by the tree canopies that shade Warsaw’s historic parks, enclosing its lively retail and entertainment plaza. Visited by more than 1.3 million people a month, the center consists of 45,000 square meters (484,376 sq. ft.) of office space, more than 200 shops, 30 restaurants, and an eight-screen cinema.
A city shattered during the 20th century by two world wars, Warsaw, over the last two decades, has too often been developed in an exploitative and incoherent manner. Miasteczko Wilanów, a new town for more than 20,000 residents approximately ten kilometers (6 mi) southeast of the city center, is a modern incarnation of the urban typology that Warsaw lost during the last century: a mixed-use, architecturally rich, pedestrian-oriented district. With a planned 240,500 square meters (2.6 million sf) of office, 68,000 square meters (732,000 sf) of retail, and 19,500 residential units underway, the new town has contributed to a rise in land value, from $50 per square meter ($4.65 per sf) to $470 per square meter ($43.66 per sf) as of 2010.
On the 27-hectare (67 ac) site of the former Poznanski textile mills in the center of Poland’s second-largest city, French developer Group Apsys has refurbished and adapted 14 historically protected buildings as a two-story lifestyle destination center organized around a traditional Polish market square. A mix of international shops—including two hypermarkets—and more than 50 restaurants, cafés, and bars occupy the 150,000-square-meter (1.6 million sf) project, which opened in May 2006 and will be completed in 2008 with the addition of a four-star hotel, a conference and business center, and three museums.
