Briefs

Galeria Legnicka in Wroclaw

Construction of Galeria Legnicka, Wroclaw's new shopping centre, has begun. Around 150 shops and services units as well as a Tesco supermarket will welcome their first customers in Spring 2005. The EUR 80 mln complex will consist of 54,000 sqm of leasable space. The project will also contain an additional facility in the form of an enormous tent in which there will be an amphitheatre, a promenade with arts and crafts shops and an after hours restaurant. The centre has already signed lease agreements for 37 per cent of its space with such companies as Tesco with 15,000 sqm, RTV Euro AGD with 1,400 sqm and Reserved, 970 sqm. Rents in Galeria Legnicka vary from EUR 8 to 60 per sqm. The developer claims the centre's location, in a wealthy area three kilometres from the city centre, with excellent bus and tram connections, to be one of its main assets.

Stary Browar is launched

Stary Browar in Poznan has begun welcoming customers and it held an opening ceremony at the beginning of November, which was attended by representatives from all the companies involved in the undertaking, including the investor Fortis and its shareholder Grazyna Kulczyk, architects Studio ADS, agents Cushman & Wakefield H&B and the project manager EC Harris.

Reserved in Wroclaw and Hungary

LPP, the Polish clothing retailer, which owns the fashion brand Reserved, has announced that it has signed a ten-year lease for a store at Galeria Dominikanska in Wroclaw, making it the chain's second shop at the centre. LPP's Hungarian subsidiary, LPP Hungary Kft, has also signed a lease agreement for space at a shopping centre in the town of Pecs. Both centres were developed by ECE Projektmanagement.

Centrum Galaxy opens in Szczecin

The retail centre Centrum Galaxy in Szczecin has opened. Developed by Echo Investment, with Jones Lang LaSalle as leasing agents, the centre consists of 100,000 sqm of retail and leisure space, including a Geant hypermarket of over 11,200 sqm, 150 tenants, and a multiplex cinema which will open in the first quarter of next year. There is also a bowling alley and other entertainment facilities at the centre.

Portuguese retailer to expand in Poland

The Portuguese retailer Jeronimo Martins has plans to open a further thirty shops by the end of this year in Poland, to strengthen its position on the market. The company currently operates 640 of its Biedronka discount outlets in the country and wants to increase the share this brand has of its total sales. This increased in the first half of this year to twenty eight per cent, compared to the corresponding period in 2002, when it was twenty three per cent.