Cracow's Administrative District No. XIV – Czyżyny – is a small centrally situated part of the capital of Little Poland. It occupies the area of almost 12.3 sq. km, which constitutes 3.6 per cent of the whole area of the city. Czyżyny district is mainly associated with Polish Aviation Museum, one of the largest recreation places in Cracow – Park Lotników Polskich, or a historical runway of the old airport Cracow-Rakowice-Czyżyny which is used as a place to organize different kinds of festivals or events that take place in Cracow. The district has been recently enriched by the largest and one of the most modern warehouse entertainment and sport structures all over the world TAURON Arena Kraków where e.g. concerts of famous stars from all over the world are organized.
Communicational jewel of Cracow?
Apart from a rich entertainment and recreation base, Czyżyny has a well-developed communicational infrastructure. The district is crossed by the biggest Cracow arteries – Nowohucka, Stella-Sawickiego and Bora-Komorowskiego Streets as well as Jana Pawła II and Pokoju Avenues. They enable convenient commuting to other parts of the city and to express roads leading out of the city. Moreover, a well-developed network of public communication provides an easy transport on the area of Cracow. The tram line on the passage of Rondo Mogilskie – Jana Pawła II Avenue – Plac Centralny has been recently launched and it partially runs through the district. The investment allowed to e.g. modernized the track, stop infrastructure, and the new surface of the road was performed.
Place favoring investments
Czyżyny is also a district which is an attractive location for investors. The intensified activity of residential developers and purchasers has been recently noticeable on that area. The second group considers price as a very important factor because apartments in Czyżyny are cheaper in comparison to premises located in the city center. It is worth mentioning about a residential project of Budimex, which is being realized in close proximity to the historical runway. The scale of this investment is one of the biggest in Poland when it comes to simultaneously realized apartment buildings – says Marcin Łobos, Lobo Nieruchomości. Moreover, these apartments are competitive because they are included in the MdM program. In my opinion, they will be quickly sold and inhabited by young people – adds Łobos. New housing estates are also being realized, e.g. at Sołtysowska Street. So, will the residential investments realized on such a big scale in Czyżyny contribute to the fact that it will become a new bedroom of Cracow?
Not necessarily. The office sector functions on the area of the district and it constantly develops. For instance, Office Center AZBUD is located at Pokoju 78 Avenue and Special Economic Zone functions at Prof. Życzkowski Street. Moreover, many companies have their headquarters situated in that place, e.g. Comarch, Allieron or Sointeractive. It is worth mentioning that Comach invited bids for a general contractor of a new office building SSE7 in the half of November. The realization of this project, which has already received a building permit, will start in March 2016. Another modern office class A – Lobos Office – is currently being realized not on the area of SEZ but at Mieczysława Medweckiego Street in the neighborhood of Czyżyny railway station. The structure will offer 5600 sq. m of office lease area, which will be certified in the LEED system at the highest Platinum level. The completion of the investment is planned on October in the following year.
According to Marcin Łobos, this part of Cracow has not been appreciated by investors from the office sector so far. However, the industry will be developing. At present, there are a lot of investment areas in Czyżyny, which contributes to the fact that the development potential of the office industry is quite substantial in that place – says Łobos. I have information about many planned investments which will be realized only in the region of Jana Pawła II Street – adds Łobos.
It may seem that residential and office developers will compete with each other. However, projects of residential developers realized in this part of the city are beneficial from the point of view of representatives of office industry functioning on the area of the district. New housing estates in Czyżyny are a real profit for companies – tenants of office structures – who locate their headquarters in that place due to young people who are buying apartments and searching for a job in close proximity. Therefore, the accessibility of employees should be more and more bigger in this region – specifies Marcin Łobos.
Czyżyny has a potential to become another business district of the capital of Little Poland. A convenient communication, rich entertainment and recreation resources, accessibility to investment areas – these are only some of many assets of the district attractive for potential investors. What is the real development direction of this area? It remains to be seen in the prospect of several or even several dozen years.