Briefs

Auchan gets the thumbs up in Wilanów

Wilanów councillors have authorized the construction of the Auchan retail complex in the vicinity of Wilanów Palace but prevented Carefour and Metro's proposed investments in the west of the borough.
The decision was good news for Prokom Investment who are currently engaged in the 'Wilanów Town' ("Miasteczko Wilanow") scheme. Last spring, Prokom Investment and Auchan signed a preliminary contract for a 15 hectare plot for a hypermarket and supermarket complex, (with approximately 250 units), and local authority permission was the last requirement before finalising the contract. "We will sign as soon as all the administrative procedures are complete" - said the Auchan Polska Development Director, Krzysztof Zieliński. He conceded, however, that the originally-planned floor space would be reduced. It is not yet certain what final shape the structure will take but 'Wilanów Town' architects have already begun designing it.
According to the Mayor of Wilanów, Wojciech Witecki, the authority's decision corresponds with the wishes of Wilanów inhabitants, who approve of the construction of one shopping centre in the borough. In reality, however, most of the people who were consulted declared against both local and peripheral retail complexes.

 

LPP expands further

Polish clothing firm LPP has signed a contract with property developer 4M, for shop premises on ul. Floriańska in Kraków, which will open next year. Another outlet in the city on ul Szewska, recently started business with an area of 170 sqm, which will increase to 300 sqm in 2003, when its next-door-neighbour gives up its space to the fashion retailer.
LPP, which opened another shop in Warsaw last month, currently runs thirty-three outlets in Poland, of which 95% are based in retail centres. It has plans to expand further and by the end of this year it will have 41 and by 2006, 150 shops in the country. The company also intends to open outlets in other countries of Central and Eastern Europe and has already set up a subsidiary in the Czech Republic called LPP Retail.

Galeria Łódzka opens in Łódź

ECE Projektmanagement's second Polish commercial centre, Galeria Łódzka,  has opened in Łódz. The 40,000 sqm. building, which cost EURO 100 mln, contains 160 retail units and some of the tenants are: Tesco hypermarket, Media Markt, Galeria Centrum, Wólczanka and Empik.
Galeria Łódzka's investors are Deutsche Bank Real Estate Investment, IVG and the ECE Group. ECE will be in charge of management and leasing in the centre.

Large tourist centre for the Polish coastline

Baltic Centre Poland, a Scandinavian company, is reported by 'Puls Biznesu', to have plans to build a large tourist centre in Ustronie Morskie and Kołobrzeg on the Polish coast. The cost of the investment, estimated at PLN 1.2 bln, is to include an airport, aqua park, a tourist village and golf course.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs is said to have given BCP permission to buy 220 hectares of land near Ustronie Morskie and Kołobrzeg and the airport will be the first stage of the project.

TK Development and FORAS Holding back together

Following months of negotiations, investor FORAS Holding, and developer TK Development, reached agreement regarding the take-over of retail centres in Poland and the Czech Republic, thus initiating a new period of activity on our market for the two Danish companies.
In 1999, FORAS got first right of refusal to purchase shopping centres built by TK Development and Steen&Strom in the Czech Republic and Poland. In Poland, the centres in question were: Reduta (I and II) and Targówek (I and II) in Warsaw and Plejada Bytom and Plejada Sosnowiec. Under the agreement, FORAS committed itself to taking over the shopping centres constructed by TK Development, once certain requirements were fulfilled. Among these were: the rental of 80 percent of the retail space within a designated period and a certain number of tenancy contracts.
Reduta and Targówek have met the investor's demands but there were doubts as to the other centres' readiness for take-over. After a few months, the parties reached agreement on the contentious issues and agreed to the following*:
-Targówek II (19,600 sqm), i.e. the extended part of the Reduta shopping centre, will be acquired by FORAS at a lower price than originally agreed. The centre's entire space is currently being rented, except for the multiplex, (approximately 5,500 sqm.) and a large store (3,100 sqm.).
-Reduta II (10,500 sqm), (i.e. the development of the Reduta shopping centre), will be launched, after all the formalities linked to taking over the already-existing part have been concluded and after a certain level of income from leases has been secured. All the requirements should be met by 3rd June 2003 and the parties have also agreed on the centre's layout.
-Plejada Bytom (14,500 sqm) is 91% leased. FORAS and TK Development have also agreed on lowering the price of the acquisition.
-Plejada Sosnowiec (18,500 sqm) was opened in November 2001 and is 80% leased. In this case the partners did not change the original conditions of the take-over.
*examples only

Property developer GTC expands Galeria Mokotów

One of Warsaw's most prominent shopping centres, Galeria Mokotów, whose first phase opened in September 2000, has been enlarged from 11,000 to some 60,000 sqm, by property developer GTC.
The centre, visited by 20 million people since it opened, has hosted a million shoppers every month since July 2001, allowing GTC to lease out the new space four months before the expansion.
The new Galeria Mokotów's architects were HOK International, the general constructors Warbud, SAP project are the project managers and the leasing agents are Jones Lang LaSalle and Cushman & Wakefield H&B. Peek & Cloppenburg, with 3,200 sqm, are the anchor tenants.

Rybnik Plaza to be built for PLN 80 mln

A new retail centre in Rybnik, in upper-Silesia southern Poland, to be called Rybnik Plaza, will be constructed in 2004 for PLN 80 mln. The Dutch investor, Plaza Centres Poland, is currently negotiating with the general constructor.
The new centre will have 20,000 sqm. of retail and leisure space in which there will be an eight-screen cinema, sixty shops and several restaurants. The main tenants will be Cinema City and Fantasy Park who already operate in PCP's three other centres in Poland.

Farewell to Billa

Since their acquisition by Auchan Polska, there will no longer be any Billa supermarkets in Poland. The chain will instead become 'Elea SuperMarket'.

 

Local authority has plans for Fort Bemo

Plans to clean up the area around Fort Bema, so that it a leisure centre can be constructed on the site, have been drawn up by Warsaw borough Bemowa's local authorities. Though they hope the fort might attract investors from the gastronomic and recreation industry, they still have not worked out in financial detail what might stimulate investor interest in the area.