Welcome to GALAXY

The first sections of retail space are being handed over to tenants right now in the GALAXY Centre in Szczecin

Construction began in October 2001 and today, 14 months later, the building's first tenants are moving in. Though the project has developed in stages and individual sections are at different phases of construction, it will be launched as an entity in a few months.
GALAXY Centre is the largest commercial investment under development in Szczecin at the moment and ECHO Investment's biggest such project, as previously the firm has been involved in developing smaller retail centres.
When asked about its reasons for investing in Szczecin, the company's management replied that the decision was based on thorough market research conducted in collaboration with Jones Lang LaSalle. Indeed, for geographical reasons, Szczecin comes high on the firm's investment priorities. Piotr Gromniak, member of the management board responsible for the the Szczecin project, maintains that GALAXY "fits the market niche perfectly, and enables other companies, particularly chains, to expand in the attractive Szczecin market". In support of this claim, Gromniak cites the example of ECHO's recently launched Galeria ECHO in Kielce. "According to annual statistics, Kielce is not Poland's richest city, and half the size of Szczecin, but the interest in the investment surpassed our expectations. The commercialisation and pace of construction, which were exceptionally rapid, enabled us to launch the building, (already fully leased), four months before the deadline. The reason? We simply gave the tenants what they wanted."
The last two years have not been the most lucrative for developers, though in the retail and leisure sector, the number of new projects has increased steadily. New projects are interestingly enough, being developed more and more outside the main centres of Warsaw, Kraków or Katowice, until recently, meccas for investment.
The time has clearly come for medium size cities which are now attracting investors and companies interested in expanding their commercial activity. They are above all attracted by milder competition, local authorities' goodwill and untapped markets. "For the average citizen in Kielce or Szczecin, a modern retail and leisure centre in their own city is a far more attractive proposition than those omnipresent and outdated centres in Warsaw. What counts in this market is that a project is fresh and unique. To have class alone is clearly better than to be one of seven fantastic projects. Excellence divided by seven isn't excellence any more," says Marcin Materny, Sales Division Director responsible for the commercialisation of GALAXY.
When asked how he viewed the competition, particularly ECE's Galeria KASKADA which is planned quite near to GALAXY, Mr. Materny replied:
"That such an excellent and experienced company as ECE decided to build their new 'Galeria' in the centre of Szczecin proves the appeal of that market, but for the time being GALAXY has no competition in Szczecin. This project is already a reality whereas the others haven't even left designers' desks. We got there first. It's hard to talk about centres which haven't even started construction and it's still unclear when they will exactly. Given that it takes several years to complete such projects, there is no real point speculating about their potential, is there? Other centres in Szczecin don't stand comparison with ours; it's a building in an all together different league."
So, a new mark is about to appear on the retail market map. Let us wish Szczecin's citizens that, as the name Galaxy suggests, their new centre will prove a real star.