Złota 44 is a residential

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ri ...

(192 meters high, 52 stories) in central

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. It was designed by Polish-American architect

Daniel Libeskind Daniel Libeskind (born May 12, 1946) is a Polish–American architect, artist, professor and set designer. Libeskind founded Studio Daniel Libeskind in 1989 with his wife, Nina, and is its principal design architect. He is known for the design a ...

, in association with Polish architects Architecture. It was developed by US real estate investment manager Amstar and Warsaw developer BBI Development, which bought the topped-out but unfinished building from its initial developer,

ORCO The Orco ( pms, Eva d'òr, that is lit. ''Water of gold''; la, Orgus) is an Italian river. It originates in the Piedmontese slopes of Gran Paradiso and after about reaches the Po river near Chivasso, in the Metropolitan City of Turin. Its drain ...

Design

The building's name comes from its address on Złota ("Golden") Street. Złota 44 is located next to the

Palace of Culture and Science A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

, the tallest building in Poland (237 m), and the

Złote Tarasy The Złote Tarasy (''Golden Terraces'') is a commercial, office, and entertainment complex in the center of Warsaw, Poland, located next to the Warszawa Centralna railway station between the Jana Pawła II and Emilii Plater streets. It opened ...

shopping center. At 192 meters, Złota 44 is the sixth-tallest skyscraper in Warsaw. Złota 44 is one of the tallest residential buildings in Poland and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

. The luxury 52-story skyscraper reaches a height of 192 meters and contains 287 apartments. All of these are equipped with the home management system (HMS), facilitating control of the air conditioning, roller blinds, heating, illumination, and allowing online restaurant orders and other services. All residents receive a security card, which only allows them to reach the floor their apartment is located on. Residents have access to a

wine cellar A wine cellar is a storage room for wine in bottles or barrels, or more rarely in carboys, amphorae, or plastic containers. In an ''active'' wine cellar, important factors such as temperature and humidity are maintained by a climate control system ...

which accommodates up to 10,000 bottles and includes a tasting room. In addition to a 25-meter swimming pool (the largest private pool in Poland), the recreational floor has a hot tub, massage rooms, a Finnish sauna, a steam room and outdoor terrace. The floor also features a private movie theater with a golf simulator, children's playroom and conference rooms. A dedicated concierge is at the disposal of residents.

Apartments

The apartments are located between the 9th and 52nd floors. Fully finished apartments were offered in nine interior design variants and four sizes: one-bedroom units (from 62 to 70 square meters), medium-sized units (90 to 120 square meters), larger apartments (140 to 250 square meters) and penthouses (which may exceed 1000 square meters, possibly encompassing the entire floor). On 16 April 2015, the sale of apartments officially resumed. Depending on location, size, layout and finishing standard, the price per square meter ranged from 24,000 to 40,000 PLN.

History

File:Złota_44.jpg, April 2011 File:Złota_44,_Warszawa.jpg, May 2012 File:2014-02-21_Libeskind’s_Złota_44_in_Warsaw.jpg, February 2014 Due to financial problems experienced by the developer, as well as invalidation of the construction permit and disputes with the inhabitants of the surrounding buildings, Złota 44's construction was put on hold in 2009, but resumed in January 2011. On 3 February 2012, the building was topped out. In December 2013, ORCO terminated its contract with general construction contractor Inso. By the end of the year, ORCO was calling the investment a "major financial failure for the group in the fall of 2013". It announced a €121 million (approximately 500 million PLN)

write-down A write-off is a reduction of the recognized value of something. In accounting, this is a recognition of the reduced or zero value of an asset. In income tax statements, this is a reduction of taxable income, as a recognition of certain expenses ...

of the value of the building, and went on to announce its intention to sell it as quickly as possible. One of the banks financing the skyscraper's construction terminated its contract and wanted its 250 million PLN loan refunded. ORCO also disclosed that the high apartment prices (up to 65,000 PLN per square meter, at the time the highest in Poland) were artificially inflated to generate media coverage. On 28 August 2014, ORCO's sale of Złota 44 was finalized; the skyscraper was acquired by American real estate investment company Amstar and Polish property developer BBI Development for €50 million (approximately 215 million PLN), a fraction of the estimated €163 million (700 million PLN) construction cost.

Panorama picture

References

External links