Blue City (Warsaw)

Blue City is a postmodernist shopping centre in Warsaw, Poland, located at 179 Jerusalem Avenue within the district of Ochota. It was opened in 2004.

History
The investition, originally named the Reform Center, was first proposed in the late 1990s, by Sabri Bekdaş, owner of the Reform Company. It was invisioned as a 9-storey-tall shopping centre. It was proposed to also include there an amusement park themed around musician Michael Jackson. In 1997, Amnon Shiboleth, businessperson and Jackson's lawyer met with the representatives of the company, to discuss the proposition. While the idea of the theme park feel through, Shiboleth himself became interested in the investition, and bought 51% of ownership from the Reform Company. The building was designed by architect Vahap Toy. Due to issues between investors, the building remained unused for several years, and severely deteriorated over that time. Beginning in 2003, it was renovated and remodeled, and was opened on 31 March 2004. It became the biggest shopping centre in Poland at the time.

In 2018, in the shopping centre wss opened the "miniature" IKEA store, with an area of 4,800 m2. It was the smallest store opened by the company worldwide, as part of the test of new business strategy. It was closed in 2021. In the same year, in Blue City was opened the Fit/One health club becoming the largest of its kind in Poland.

Characteristics
The Blue City shopping centre is located at 179 Jerusalem Avenue. The building was designed in the postmodernist style, and has the total area of 180,000 m2, of which 60,000 m2 is used by stores and services, while 19,000 m2 is an office space. It has 8 storeys, and its total height is 55 m. The shopping centre includes 220 stores.

On the opposite side of the street, at 148 Jerusalem Avenue, is located the Atrium Reduta shopping centre.