Investors compete for the railway station in Katowice

The areas intended for redevelopment are as follows: the existing station concourse together with the Szewczyka Square (bus station) and the Oddziałów Młodzieży Powstańczej Square that is located on the other side of the railway tracks. In total, it is an area of 6.5 hectares in the very heart of the city centre.

The redevelopment will consist in creating not only an interchange but also offices, shopping centre, car parks and hotels. It is still not clear what will happen to the existing building of the station: whether it will be preserved in whole or only in part.

One of the competing investors is ING Real Estate. This company has once presented its plans – the existing station concourse was to be converted into a large shopping and service centre. The railway station would be situated above the platforms that could be accessed by escalator. The Szewczyka Square would still function as a bus station but it would be surrounded by new glass buildings and a hotel. The investment – assessed at PLN 900 million – did not come off because the city resigned from cooperation with ING.

The first stage of the selection process has begun. ING is still a strong candidate, with huge capital and extensive experience. It created Złote Tarasy in Warsaw, a gigantic shopping, service and office centre with an area of 220,000 m2, located opposite the Central Station. The investment cost half a billion euro, and the value of the redevelopment in Katowcie will be similar. However, the company does not want to reveal its current plans.

Among the contenders there are also: TriGranit from Hungary (developer that built Silesia City Center – the largest shopping centre in the region – and is currently working on the Dębowe Tarasy housing estate, located close to Silesia City Center), Ghelamco (developer that erected a dozen or so office buildings in Warsaw) and Globe Trade Centre SA (implements all types of projects: from housing estates to shopping centres in Central Europe, e.g. Kazimierz Gallery in Kraków).

In October the Polish Railway Lines will select five investors who will get to the second stage of the competition. Then, there will be further stages that will help select the best offer. The winner will be announced at the beginning of next year. The investment – assessed at several hundred milion zloty – may start at the turn of 2008 and 2009 at the earliest.