The idea that changed everything…
Before the concept of OFF Piotrkowska Center was born, the area of the former Ramisch factory had gradually been deteriorating. The decline reached bottom when the place was awarded the title “Czarna Kropa” (Black Spot), i.e. a shameful title bestowed upon locations which the residents of Łódź would never like to go anywhere near.
However, only a few years later the readers of National Geographic Traveler hailed the very same location as the greatest among the Seven New Wonders of Poland. Everything changed when the new owner, OPG Property Professionals, took over the site.
It takes courage to step out of the safe confinement of the mainstream, and this truth applies in business, too. We were one of the first asset managers in Poland to take on the revitalization of a post-industrial area. We took a chance with the whole creative business ecosystem concept with no real benchmark to follow. And we weren’t afraid to make mistakes because we were able to learn from them quickly. We believed in startups, even though the city’s economy was then only beginning to recover from the years of stagnation.
Today we know that fortune favours the bold. Many tenants who took their first steps in business at OFF Piotrkowska Center all those years ago, are now coming up with new successful, creative ventures.
The preservation of the historical identity of this place was my personal dream. I am proud of the transformation which Ramisch’s former factory has undergone: from a purely hipster venue to a place which has something to offer the whole family and elderly people, too. It is a creative ecosystem in which there is enough space for everything that is important for Łódź, i.e. historical heritage, new technologies and startups as well as the fashion industry making its way back to the city.”
Michał M. Styś
The initiator of the OFF Piotrkowska Center project
CEO of OPG Property Professionals
Reversing the fate of a decaying, post-factory space is a real art - literally and figuratively. The idea of saving the Ramisch factory area was born out of the need to preserve the historical identity of the place.
The "Fabrykancka" Association was the initiator of the revitalization of the former Ramisch factory. Using the space provided by OPG Property Professionals, the association became the host of FabrySTREFA - a place for artistic initiatives outside the mainstream.
It was here that the first creative ventures began to appear, attracting the attention of young creators and entrepreneurs using premises for rent. And later everything in the area of the Łódź gem began to change, and to give rise to what we know today.
The investor OPG Property Professionals had one condition: new tenants needed to bring something unique to the table, offer something that would be hard to find in a typical shopping mall. What was to be created in the former Łódź factory had to be fresh and unusual in order to attract people to this atmospheric location in Łódź.
OFF Piotrkowska Center has become a place where various fields of art, culture and business meet. Thus, fashion designers, interior design and architecture studios, music clubs, bars and restaurants serving original food, as well as exhibition spaces, rehearsal rooms and showrooms, opened their doors in one place.
In exchange for preferential financial terms, new tenants were involved in the renovation of old interiors. Together, we have created something truly “OFF” – an independent meeting place which has become a real alternative to the consumer mainstream.
The success of this organic, grass-roots revitalization initiative involving creative entrepreneurs enabled further revival of the historic urban fabric of Łódź. Since some of the spaces were adapted for new office, service and commercial premises for rent, Ramisch’s factory resumed its iconic, three-shifts work schedule. And this is how the Creative Business Ecosystem concept was created – the idea behind this was that a restaurant owner could meet an owner of an innovative tech company or a promising startup on his or her way to work.
Everyone supports each other’s businesses, driving the development of the place further – without corp speak and without large distances between one another.
The place where thousands of cotton products were manufactured each day over a hundred years ago has today become a number one venue for fashion designers, events and original concepts in Łódź. It is here in Łódź that modern class A office buildings and premises for rent on Piotrkowska Street are located, along with much more. Good food? Cafes? Atmospheric locales in Łódź? All of this can be found at one address!
Thanks to its location on the longest shopping street in Europe, OFF Piotrkowska Center is not only the hottest address in the city right now, but it also stimulates the general economic activation of the entire quarter!
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