Kaczynski Street area, Batumi: new buildings by the New Boulevard, quiet and downpours

Lech and Maria Kaczynski Street is a street in the south of Batumi that starts at Khimshiashvili Street and runs into the southern blocks, towards the airport and Adlia. It is named after the Polish president Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria, who died in a plane crash near Smolensk in 2010. New residential complexes have grown up around the street in recent years, and from its start it is a few minutes' walk to the New Boulevard and the sea. Below is what to consider if you are buying an apartment here to live in, renovating it or letting it.

Kaczynski Street: between Khimshiashvili and the airport

At the corner with Khimshiashvili Street stands the Metro City shopping centre, and further along the street and in the neighbouring blocks there are residential complexes of different heights, apart-hotels and buildings still under construction. Buses run along the street to the centre and the airport, which is a couple of kilometres away. The towers on Khimshiashvili Street itself are covered on our page about Khimshiashvili Street.

Compared with the first line there are fewer tourists and less seasonal bustle here, and apartments in similar buildings are often cheaper. So people who want to live by the sea all year, but without the noise of the promenade, look here. Apartments right on the boulevard are covered on our page about the New Boulevard.

Living rather than letting

We choose an apartment to live in at a new complex differently from one for short-term letting. What matters more is a layout with a separate kitchen or a kitchen niche, a storeroom, a parking space, and how the building lives in winter: whether the heating works, whether the floors empty out, whether there is a school and a kindergarten nearby. New complexes in the south of the city have fewer schools and kindergartens around them than the old residential districts, and this is worth checking in advance.

If many apartments in the building are let by the night, in summer the lifts and corridors will be full of suitcases and strangers. Before buying we ask the management company how many apartments in the building are let short-term and what rules apply to guests. We also find out the monthly building service charge and what it covers: security, cleaning, lifts, the pool.

Aircraft, neighbours and quiet

The airport is close, and in apartments nearer to it take-offs and landings can be heard, so windows with good glazing and tight-fitting sashes are needed here. Neighbours are an even more common nuisance: in new buildings the walls and floors between apartments often let through footsteps, voices and renovation next door.

Soundproofing is best planned before the finishing work: shared walls, the floor under the screed, the ceiling, the risers in the bathroom. After tiling and painting it costs more to do. How we deal with noise is described on our page about soundproofing.

Downpours and car parks

The southern blocks of Batumi lie low, and in heavy downpours the water drains from the streets slowly. The Batumi budget for 2024–2025 includes a storm drain from Kaczynski Street along Adlia Street. Until such works are finished everywhere, we check the underground car park and ground-floor apartments for traces of water: stains on the walls, a damp smell, pumps in the sumps.

In an apartment from the developer we check how the windows and balcony doors are sealed: in slanting rain with wind off the sea, water finds every gap. If the windows leak, it is better to find out before the renovation, not after. How we renovate apartments handed over by developers is explained on our page about renovating a new-build apartment.