Briefs

Warszawa Wilenska retail centre opens

Warszawa Wilenska, a mixed-use retail centre developed by French developer CEFIC Polska in the Praga district of Warsaw, has opened. The centre, which includes the re-built Warszawa Wilenska railway station, has a gross floor area of 117,000 sqm, of which 63,000 sqm is leasable space. It contains a 21,900-sqm Carrefour hypermarket - its 4th in Warsaw and 11th nationally, and here located on the 2nd level - a 16,500-sqm shopping gallery, 12,000 sqm of office space and 1,200 parking places. Carrefour has also leased approximately 4,500 sqm of office space. The 8,700-sqm station, which opens a month after the shopping centre, includes 1,800 sqm of retail space.
Warszawa Wilenska, designed by architects ABI-arpes Szelinski, Schnaider Architekci, is located at the junction of ul. Targowa and Aleje Solidarnosci, just across the Slasko-Dabrowskiego bridge on the eastern side of the river. ERE (European Retail Enterprises), represented in Poland by contractor BEG Polska and CEFIC Polska, is the PLN 350 mln project's investor. Shareholders in ERE are J.P. Morgan (32.26%), Simon Property Group (32.27%) and BEG Management (35.47%). ERE has developed 4 other retail centres in Poland to date, in Krakow, Wroclaw, Katowice and Szczecin. 3 more are planned in the next couple of years, in Gliwice, Bydgoszcz, and the 115,000 sqm (leasable) Arkadia Shopping Centre at Rondo Babka in Warsaw.

Echo Investment's Warsaw development

Polish developer Echo Investment is to build a shopping centre on ul. Zwyciezców in Saska Kempa, Warsaw. Supermarket Rema 1000 will be the centre's anchor tenant. The end of 2003 has been given as a provisional completion date. Echo Investment was unwilling to give further details.

Factory Outlet 50% leased

The first factory retail outlet in Warsaw, called Factory Outlet, is 50% leased. The 10,000-sqm scheme, located in the south-west Warsaw district of Ursus, will be 90-100% leased by its opening in August this year, claims Piotr Potocki, President of Neinver Polska, the development company. The newly signed tenants include fashion retailer LPP (Polish brand 'Reserved'), sportswear retailer Reebok, and Sunset Suits. Jones Lang LaSalle is the leasing agent and Hochtief Polska is the general contractor.

Stop for Real

The Central Administrative Court has stopped the construction of hypermarket chain Real's hypermarket in Gdańsk-Przymorze on the grounds that it has an inappropriate building permit. The permit was issued two months ago by the Pomorskie voivodship, but the Gdańsk city authorities protested against it, along with an NGO called Zdrowy Gdansk. The hypermarket is planned to be developed on a 3.3 ha plot on the junction of Kolobrzeska and Rzeczpospolita streets as a part of a retail and administrative centre. (Source: ,Gazeta Wyborcza")

Pleasure seeking Poles

Poles are shoppers of the pleasure seeking variety, according to Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker's annual 'Where People Shop' report, which looks at shopping habits in 12 countries. The report is based on interviews with around 7,000 shoppers in 12 European countries about their shopping habits and attitudes towards shopping. Six stereotypes emerged - Pleasure-Seeking (31 % of total shoppers), Principled (18%), Discerning Food Shoppers (18%), Independent (12%), Enthusiastic (12%) and Negative (10%). But while coming 3rd in the 'pleasure seeking' ranking of countries, Poland came bottom of the ranking of 'enthusiastic' shoppers.

Centrum Milenium leases retail space

Norwegian supermarket chain REMA 1000 and BRE Bank subsidiary Multibank have taken 900 sqm and 300 sqm in Centrum Milenium respectively. The building, developed by Polish developer Platan Group and located in the Praga district of Warsaw, has 10,300 sqm of office space and 4,500 sqm of retail space. According to Jones Lang LaSalle, which represented Platan Group, the building is now 85% occupied.
REMA 1000 currently operates 66 stores in 41 Polish cities. Multibank plans to have approximately 30 branches open across large cities in Poland before the end of 2002.