PKP Sells Affordable Apartments in Poland Starting from 19,000 PLN

Walking through downtown Chicago last week, I noticed something that felt increasingly familiar: another “For Sale” sign going up on a building that used to house railway offices. It got me thinking about the news I’d seen that morning about PKP selling off apartments across Poland for as little as 25,000 złoty – roughly $6,200 USD at current exchange rates. While that headline might seem worlds away from the Willis Tower or the L trains rattling through the Loop, there’s a quiet parallel happening right here in our own rail corridors that’s worth paying attention to, especially if you live near the Metra Electric District or the South Shore Line.

The Polish State Railways (PKP) aren’t just offloading random properties; they’re strategically divesting residential assets that were historically tied to railway operations – think former signalmen’s cottages, stationmaster houses, and dormitories for track crews. In Łódź, they’ve listed two apartments and a plot of land; in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, entire bundles of properties are going for fractions of what developers typically question; and up in Warmia and Mazury, one unit recently hit the market for just 19,000 złoty (about $4,700). These aren’t luxury lofts; they’re often modest, functional buildings located right along active or former rail lines, many dating back to the communist era when the state provided housing for its railway workforce.

Now, why should this matter to someone living in Chicago? Because our own passenger rail agencies – Metra, the CTA, and even Amtrak – are sitting on surprisingly similar portfolios. Metra alone manages over 240 stations, many of which include ancillary buildings that once served operational or residential purposes for rail employees. Think of the old agent’s house near the 55th-56th-57th Street station in Hyde Park, or the vacant maintenance building straddling the tracks just west of Kensington/115th Street. While these aren’t currently being sold en masse like in Poland, the financial pressures driving PKP’s decisions – aging infrastructure, shifting operational needs, and the require to unlock capital for modernization – are mirrored right here in our transit agencies’ budget discussions.

Take the ongoing GSM-R radio system upgrade on Poland’s Central Railway Line (CMK), which I saw reported as nearing completion with the final mast installation in Secemin. That’s part of a broader digital signaling push across European rail networks – a push that requires significant capital. Similarly, here in Chicagoland, we’re seeing Metra invest heavily in positive train control (PTC) systems and station accessibility upgrades, funded partly through federal grants but also requiring local matching funds. When agencies look to balance these books, non-core assets like underutilized buildings near stations often enter the conversation. It’s not about selling off the Main Station or Millennium Station; it’s about evaluating whether that empty lot near the 14th Street Metra stop in Chinatown or the disused signal tower property along the Union Pacific North Line in Evanston could be repurposed or leveraged differently.

This trend also touches on deeper socio-economic shifts. In Poland, the sale of these railway-linked homes often brings new life to neighborhoods that might have seen decades of stagnation – imagine a former railway worker’s flat in Łódź being renovated and rented to a young professional near Piotrkowska Street. Here, similar infill opportunities exist along transit corridors. The vacant lot adjacent to the Morgan station on the CTA’s Green Line, for instance, has been discussed for years as potential transit-oriented development (TOD) space. Or consider the old rail yard parcels near the Western Avenue station on the Metra BNSF Line – sites that, if thoughtfully redeveloped, could add housing without consuming greenfield space, all while potentially generating revenue for the agency that owns them.

Of course, any such move here would need to navigate layers of complexity that might not exist in the same way in Poland. We’ve got federal historic preservation reviews (thanks to the National Historic Preservation Act), local aldermanic prerogatives, community input processes mandated by laws like Chicago’s Affordable Requirements Ordinance, and environmental assessments that can leisurely things down. But the core idea isn’t foreign: rail land is valuable land, especially when it’s near transit. The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) has long advocated for leveraging underused transit-adjacent properties to address our regional housing shortage, noting in their ON TO 2050 plan that strategic infill near stations can reduce vehicle miles traveled while boosting ridership.

Given my background in urban transportation policy, if you’re living in a Chicago neighborhood near a Metra or CTA station and you’re curious about how these kinds of rail-adjacent property conversations might affect your block – whether you’re a homeowner worried about nearby changes, a renter hoping for more affordable options, or just someone interested in how our transit system evolves – here are the three types of local professionals you’d want to consult, and exactly what to look for when hiring them:

• Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Planners: Seek those with proven experience working specifically on Chicago-area projects, ideally familiar with the nuances of Metra’s station areas or the CTA’s transit zones. They should understand CMAP’s guidelines, know how to navigate the Chicago Department of Planning and Development’s (DPD) review processes for projects near transit, and be able to articulate how a specific parcel’s proximity to rail affects its development potential – not just in terms of density, but also regarding parking reductions, affordable housing incentives, and pedestrian/bicycle connectivity to the platform.
• Railroad Property Specialists (Real Estate Attorneys): Look for lawyers who don’t just handle generic real estate transactions but have a track record dealing with railroad-owned land. This means understanding the nuances of surface rights versus subsurface rights, knowing how to interpret old railroad deeds and easements (often archived with the Cook County Recorder of Deeds or the Illinois Commerce Commission), and being familiar with the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) role in any potential abandonment or conveyance of rail corridor property. They should know the difference between negotiating with Metra’s real estate department versus a private freight carrier like Union Pacific or CSX.
• Local Housing Policy Advocates: Find professionals or organizations deeply embedded in Chicago’s specific housing landscape – not just general affordability experts, but those who focus on the intersection of transit and housing. They should be able to explain how Chicago’s Affordable Requirements Ordinance (ARO) applies to new developments near transit, know the specific incentives or overlays that might exist in your aldermanic ward (like those near the 606 or along proposed Red Line extensions), and have connections to community groups that regularly engage with aldermen on land use decisions around stations like those on the Pink Line or the Milwaukee District West Line.

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