Bonarka! At last!
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After much talk, it’s finally on its way – TriGránit Development of Hungary begins its second investment in Poland. Now that it has the Silesian coal mine redevelopment behind it, it’s the Bonarka chemical works in Kraków that is to become a shopping, residential and office complex
It once seemed that this Hungarian developer would rest on its laurels following the Katowice Silesia venture. Plans fell through to develop a business park in Warsaw’s Mokotów district with its partner PKO Inwestycje. TriGránit had also shown an interest in the reconstruction of the Saski and Bruhl Palaces in Warsaw, and participated in the tender to redevelop the centre of Radom and for the purchase of the jewel in the crown of Wrocław – the site known as ‘Centrum Południowe’. But all to no avail.
Dust factory
Kraków, however, has turned out to be a happier hunting ground for the developer. This is the location of their second Polish project, Bonarka City Center, which is now getting off the ground in the former capital city of Poland. It will be built on a 17.5 ha plot at the junction of two arteries: ul. Kamieńskiego and ul. Turowicza. The Bonarka Chemical Works was still operating here up until 2002, and was referred to by the locals as the ‘dust factory of Podgórze’ as it was as well known for its pollution of the air as for the products manufactured there.
Aleksander Kowalski, TriGránit Development Polska’s leasing director, told us that: “Sooner or later we shall have to tackle the reclamation of polluted land. There will also be several dozen buildings to be demolished. We shall start demolition in November.”
Construction of the multifunctional centre should begin early next year. The developer is drawing up documents required to present an application for a building licence. The opening ceremony will probably be held in autumn 2008.
First tenants
Bonarka City Center will have 87,000 sqm of rentable space, and somewhere in the region of 250 and 260 retail outlets and service points situated on two levels. An Auchan hypermarket will occupy 18,000 sqm, with a further 3,500 sqm to be taken up by Electro World, a household electronic goods retailer. Final negotiations are under way with Cinema City, which is to open a multiplex with 18 to 20 screens, although it is not only film buffs who will be catered for there. Aleksander Kowalski makes the following promise: “We intend to create an entertainment centre like Fun City in Silesia City Center, in which bowling alleys, discos and a bar will surely be present.” He also guarantees that major retailers of quality international and Polish clothing brands, as well as restaurants and cafes, will be operating in the centre, as will a building materials market.
We are the best
Aleksander Kowalski emphasizes that: “The thing which distinguished us from the competition is the large number (3,500) of parking spaces, simple road and railway access and the huge scope of the project. The case of Arkadia only proves that Polish customers appreciate huge projects, with the centre doing a roaring trade even though its location is worse than that of Galeria Mokotów.” Agnieszka Michalczewska of King Sturge also speaks of the surroundings of the future centre: “The location of this TriGránit project is interesting due to the proximity of Kraków’s ‘dormitory district’ – the Łagiewniki, Prokocim and Bieżanów areas. New housing investments are also planned for this region, which ensures that the centre can count on customers in the future.
Charting the competition
But in the battle for customers, the Hungarian company will have to face two large players. The first is Galeria Krakowska (investors: ECE Group and HGA Capital Grundbesitz und Anlage), which opened in late September this year. The mall, with around 60,000 sqm of shopping space, is in the city centre next to the railway station on the opposite side of the Vistula River. But the veteran Zakopianka centre, however, is situated quite close to Bonarka, in Łagiewniki district. This centre has a rentable area of 65,000 sqm, on which you can find a Carrefour hypermarket, Decathlon and Cinema City. The centre is currently owned by the Simon Property Group, though TriGránit will probably now have to wage war with another foe, since Zakopianka has been put up for sale.
TriGránit is not the only company casting a roving eye over Kraków’s retail market. Next year, Neinver of Spain is to open a Factory Kraków outlet (15,000 sqm), Gdańsk’s WP Invest company is to develop Solvay Park (around 14,000 sqm) on ul. Zakopiańska, while Ikea and Immochan have confirmed they wish to expand and establish a retail park in Bronowice.
Bonarka is only a warm-up exercise for TriGránit, however, as it intends to develop homes and offices on the remaining land, as they earlier did in Katowice. At present, the first stage (194 homes) of the Dębowe Tarasy estate is being built next to Silesia City Center, to be followed by a business-hotel complex.
Ten more
For several years, TriGránit’s managers have been promising to develop 12 urban centres of a size similar to that of Silesia City Center. Many sites throughout the country, including around Dąbie Lake in Szczecin and the Targ Sienny i Rakowy in Gdańsk as well as a few cities in eastern Poland have already caught this developer’s eye.
Ewa Andrzejewska
It once seemed that this Hungarian developer would rest on its laurels following the Katowice Silesia venture. Plans fell through to develop a business park in Warsaw’s Mokotów district with its partner PKO Inwestycje. TriGránit had also shown an interest in the reconstruction of the Saski and Bruhl Palaces in Warsaw, and participated in the tender to redevelop the centre of Radom and for the purchase of the jewel in the crown of Wrocław – the site known as ‘Centrum Południowe’. But all to no avail.
Dust factory
Kraków, however, has turned out to be a happier hunting ground for the developer. This is the location of their second Polish project, Bonarka City Center, which is now getting off the ground in the former capital city of Poland. It will be built on a 17.5 ha plot at the junction of two arteries: ul. Kamieńskiego and ul. Turowicza. The Bonarka Chemical Works was still operating here up until 2002, and was referred to by the locals as the ‘dust factory of Podgórze’ as it was as well known for its pollution of the air as for the products manufactured there.
Aleksander Kowalski, TriGránit Development Polska’s leasing director, told us that: “Sooner or later we shall have to tackle the reclamation of polluted land. There will also be several dozen buildings to be demolished. We shall start demolition in November.”
Construction of the multifunctional centre should begin early next year. The developer is drawing up documents required to present an application for a building licence. The opening ceremony will probably be held in autumn 2008.
First tenants
Bonarka City Center will have 87,000 sqm of rentable space, and somewhere in the region of 250 and 260 retail outlets and service points situated on two levels. An Auchan hypermarket will occupy 18,000 sqm, with a further 3,500 sqm to be taken up by Electro World, a household electronic goods retailer. Final negotiations are under way with Cinema City, which is to open a multiplex with 18 to 20 screens, although it is not only film buffs who will be catered for there. Aleksander Kowalski makes the following promise: “We intend to create an entertainment centre like Fun City in Silesia City Center, in which bowling alleys, discos and a bar will surely be present.” He also guarantees that major retailers of quality international and Polish clothing brands, as well as restaurants and cafes, will be operating in the centre, as will a building materials market.
We are the best
Aleksander Kowalski emphasizes that: “The thing which distinguished us from the competition is the large number (3,500) of parking spaces, simple road and railway access and the huge scope of the project. The case of Arkadia only proves that Polish customers appreciate huge projects, with the centre doing a roaring trade even though its location is worse than that of Galeria Mokotów.” Agnieszka Michalczewska of King Sturge also speaks of the surroundings of the future centre: “The location of this TriGránit project is interesting due to the proximity of Kraków’s ‘dormitory district’ – the Łagiewniki, Prokocim and Bieżanów areas. New housing investments are also planned for this region, which ensures that the centre can count on customers in the future.
Charting the competition
But in the battle for customers, the Hungarian company will have to face two large players. The first is Galeria Krakowska (investors: ECE Group and HGA Capital Grundbesitz und Anlage), which opened in late September this year. The mall, with around 60,000 sqm of shopping space, is in the city centre next to the railway station on the opposite side of the Vistula River. But the veteran Zakopianka centre, however, is situated quite close to Bonarka, in Łagiewniki district. This centre has a rentable area of 65,000 sqm, on which you can find a Carrefour hypermarket, Decathlon and Cinema City. The centre is currently owned by the Simon Property Group, though TriGránit will probably now have to wage war with another foe, since Zakopianka has been put up for sale.
TriGránit is not the only company casting a roving eye over Kraków’s retail market. Next year, Neinver of Spain is to open a Factory Kraków outlet (15,000 sqm), Gdańsk’s WP Invest company is to develop Solvay Park (around 14,000 sqm) on ul. Zakopiańska, while Ikea and Immochan have confirmed they wish to expand and establish a retail park in Bronowice.
Bonarka is only a warm-up exercise for TriGránit, however, as it intends to develop homes and offices on the remaining land, as they earlier did in Katowice. At present, the first stage (194 homes) of the Dębowe Tarasy estate is being built next to Silesia City Center, to be followed by a business-hotel complex.
Ten more
For several years, TriGránit’s managers have been promising to develop 12 urban centres of a size similar to that of Silesia City Center. Many sites throughout the country, including around Dąbie Lake in Szczecin and the Targ Sienny i Rakowy in Gdańsk as well as a few cities in eastern Poland have already caught this developer’s eye.
Ewa Andrzejewska
