Autumn debuts

It is the evening of October 19th. The weather is typical for the autumn – cold and drizzly. A few cars are waiting at a taxi rank near the Rataje roundabout in Poznań, but all have been abandoned. In the meantime the queue is getting longer by the minute. Where are the taxi drivers? A dozen or so minutes of waiting later and the puzzle is solved. The first driver returns carrying a few boxes containing electronic equipment under his arm. He had abandoned both his car and customers to do his first shopping in Posnania! It is not clear how long he had been waiting and saving up his money for this day, but we do know that the directors of Apsys Polska had been waiting for this day since they bought the plot for the project twenty years ago. Now ten years after the opening of Manufaktura in Łódź, they have now opened Posnania’s doors to its first shoppers. Apsys’ latest mall has an area of 100,000 sqm and has been built in an investment of PLN 1.2 bln (EUR 300 mln). The French company’s project, formerly called Łacina, covers an area of 9 ha on the Rataje roundabout. Its total built-up area amounts to 260,000 sqm. Construction work started in July 2014. Eiffage was the general contractor of the work, which took 26 months. Foncière Euris was Apsys’ financial partner, while financing for the construction was provided by ING, Berlin Hyp and BGK. The architectural concept of Posnania was drawn up by American studio RTKL, which is famous for such designs as Metropolis in Moscow and Westfield in San Francisco. During the opening ceremony, member of the board Marek Błędowski revealed that Posnania is now 98 pct leased and that 300 brands have opened stores over an area of 100,000 sqm, some of which are making their debuts on the Poznań market, such as Forever 21, Etam and Bierhalle. There are also two large-format stores: Carrefour (with its new concept) and Leroy Merlin, as well as over 200 boutiques – including popular and premium brands and concept stores of Polish designers. The two largest clothing groups in the country, LPP and Inditex, will also be opening outlets of all their brands in Posnania. Reserved, Cropp, House, Home&You, á Tab, Mohito and Sinsay, which belong to LPP, will occupy a total of over 4,500 sqm; while Inditex has leased over 6,000 sqm for its brands: Zara, Zara Home, Pull&Bear, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho and Massimo Dutti. The list of tenants also includes H&M, Van Graaf, Mango, C&A, Lee, Superdry, Terranova, Medicine, Orsay, Bytom, Wrangler, New Yorker, Esprit, Deichmann, Próchnik, Vistula, Smyk, Pierre Cardin, Bartek, Coccodrillo, Obaïbi-Okaïdi and a local children’s optician – Optyk Kids. Its sports fashion range consists of two large Intersport and Martes Sport stores as well as Adidas, Puma, New Balance, 7 Store, Sizeer, Snickers, 4F and The North Face. Posnania also includes such Polish brands as Simple, Patrizia Aryton, Tatuum, CCC and Carry. The entire mix is complemented by its 25,000 sqm gla lifestyle range. This includes a new generation Helios multiplex (eight screens), a Grawitacja bowling and pool club, a Fabryka Formy fitness gym including a swimming pool, interactive playgrounds and a range of food and beverage tenants. For the latter the ‘Dining Village’ concept has been introduced, featuring a terrace on the first floor as well as ground-floor cafés, pubs and restaurants (a total of 700 seats). And 3,300 parking spaces are available for motorised customers. The French developer emphasises that its latest project is focused on using technology and special services to create a unique shopping experience. A network of 22 screens and kinetic walls run by special software is one example of this approach. In addition to this, with a geolocation mobile app shoppers are able to easily navigate around the centre and its car park, while keeping informed about special events taking place as well as the offers and promotions available in individual shops. The investor claims that Posnania is the first mall on the Poznań market to offer such services as hands-free shopping, click & try and valet parking. Following the example of airports, loyal customers can use a special area, Posnania Premium Lounge, where services such as a personal stylist and valet parking can be ordered.

The battle for customers and tenants

How will the retail map of Poznań change after the opening of Posnania? The local market is one of the most saturated in Poland. Poznań’s residents can shop in such well-established centres as Stary Browar (which opened in 2003 and is owned by Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management), Galeria Malta (opened in 2009, owned by Neinver and Heitman) and Ikea Franowo (app. 58,000 sqm). “The opening of the Posnania shopping centre was an important event for the Poznań retail market and it will certainly change the plans of some companies – both developers and retail chains – in terms of expansion on this market. So the next few years will be very interesting because the growing competition increases the need for changing the quality and variety of the retail offered. Some existing centres are already preparing for this time – modernisations and redevelopments are in progress on ETC Swarzędz and Ikea Franowo. So we should expect such kinds of activities on the Poznań market rather than new projects. However, I don’t anticipate any kind of collapse in demand elsewhere – tenants are still interested in older, established centres. Leases have recently been signed by Peek & Cloppenburg for space in Poznań City Centre, Guess in Galeria Malta and the LPP in ETC Swarzędz,” emphasises Katarzyna Michnikowska, the senior analyst in the consultancy and market research department at Colliers International. The saturation of retail space per 1,000 inhabitants currently amounts to 862 sqm, whereas before the opening it was 742 sqm and the average for Poland is 287 sqm, according to Colliers International. Only time will tell what the impact will be of the opening of Galeria Metropolia for the TriCity market. October 22nd was a big day for Przedsiębiorstwo Budowlane Górski, the developer of the project in Gdańsk-Wrzeszcz. It forms part of a multi-stage development that includes a 126-room Focus hotel as well as a conference centre. More than 1,000 apartments are being developed nearby as part of the Browar Gdański estate as well as a 20,000 sqm service and entertainment area in the form of Browar Kulturalny. Galeria Metropolia will offer over 34,000 sqm of retail space and app. 1,100 parking spaces to its customers and tenants as well as an external park & ride car park. A change in the balance of power could also take place on another market – Mielec, after the opening of Galeria Navigator (E.Leclerc, November). According to JLL, the centre will have an area of 25,400 sqm.

Culinary novelty

The latest large shopping centre in Warsaw, the 66,300 sqm Złote Tarasy, which is majority-owned by Unibail-Rodamco, was opened in 2007. Since then, the first opening of a large mall in the city (the 64,000 sqm Galeria Północna by Globe Trade Centre) is to take place in Q2 next year. However, this does not mean that nothing else has been happening. Since October 21st, Varsovians have been able to sample a variety of cuisines at Hala Koszyki – a project by Griffin Real Estate. The investor, which a few years ago was faced with the dilemma of whether to carry out a small shopping centre development or to take a different approach, eventually opted for the latter. Following the example of European shopping and restaurant halls such as Foodhallen in Amsterdam, Mathallen in Oslo, San Lorenzo in Florence and Mercado da Ribeira in Lisbon, they decided to introduce an entirely new retail concept onto the Polish market. Its retail and service area covers 2,400 sqm, while there is also an 11,000 sqm office section located in two adjacent buildings. The project is situated on ul. Koszykowa in the city centre. “On the 110th anniversary of the launch of its construction, Hala Koszyki has been returned to Warsaw. It will be the only place in Poland where you will be offered as many as 18 restaurant concepts and eleven grocery stores under one roof, including Bar Koszyki, which will be open from the early morning until the evening, as well as a chemist, a bookshop and a home decoration store. Hala Koszyki will also include an area for art – we are planning to hold regular cultural events in Koszyki. Others, including a preview of the WRO Art Center exhibition and the Griffin Art Space ‘moths, crabs and fluids’ art exhibition, will take place a week after the opening,” says Michał Świerczyński, a partner of Griffin Real Estate. The restaurants and eateries at Hala Koszyki will include: Italian restaurant Semolino Ristorante, Italian delicatessen Heritage Shop&Wine a TukTuk Thai restaurant, Bierhalle, a Gringo Salsownia Mexican restaurant, Kiełba w Gębie, hummus bar Mango Vegan and a Soul Food burger joint. Together with these, Hala Koszyki will also feature completely new concepts, such as the Port Royal Fish & Oyster Bar, the Sobremesa Tapas Bar, Siewcy Smaku (with an organic menu based on buds, shoots and edible flowers), a Curry Leaves Indian restaurant, Kago Sushi, Kreperia, two Mateusz Gessler restaurants as well as a Corona Sok i Mus juice bar. In addition, Poznań-based chain Weranda Cafe & Restaurant is to open one of its breakfast restaurants in Hala Koszyki, while Bar Centralny Koszyki, over an area of almost 50 sqm, will offer a wide range of alcoholic drinks and aperitifs to complement all of this. Hala Koszyki will also include a number of interesting shops, for example, the Bazar Koszyki, a Maison de Thé tea shop, Crazy Butcher, an Aromat bakery, a Damas Mediterranean goods store, a Smak Natury organic products store, a Gaba & Patisserie, a Piotr i Paweł deli-supermarket and a Rossmann drugstore.

It might be small, but it rules

Warsaw’s retail landscape has also been changing due to extension work. Since October 5th it has been possible to shop in a new section of the Promenada mall on ul. Ostrobramska (Praga Południe district, 44,300 sqm). The centre has gained an additional area of 4,200 sqm in its second extension stage, the first of which started in 2015. In the new section Atrium Poland Real Estate Management has located such brands as Go Sport, Jatomi Fitness, Rainbow Tours, Rossmann, Tous and Wólczanka. CFE was responsible for the construction work, while the architectural design was the work of the Sud Architekci studio. After the completion of all the extension stages, the mall will comprise a total of over 90,000 sqm of retail space. Meanwhile, another building – including an Agata Meble store – has been added to Park Handlowy Targówek, which according to JLL has an area of 25,000 sqm. Further openings in Masovia province scheduled before the end of the year include: Galeria Wołomin in Wołomin near Warsaw (25,000 sqm and 80 units, by Acteeum Group and Rockcastle Global Real Estate Company Limited, opening on October 6th), Gondola in Legionowo (10,500 sqm), the Hit shopping centre (13,000 sqm) and Hit retail park (2,000 sqm) in Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki, and Napollo’s Galeria Grodova in Grodzisk Mazowiecki (5,100 sqm, opening in December). Smaller centres celebrating their openings in the last quarter of the year but located outside Masovia include: the extension of Galeria Rynek in Tomaszów Lubelski (7,500 sqm), Galeria Zambrów (18,000 sqm), Galeria Królewska in Sandomierz (5,670 sqm), the extension of Top Shopping in Gdańsk (6,000 sqm) and Real2B Development’s Quick Park in Mysłowice (13,000 sqm, November 13th). The retail saturation in the largest cities in Poland has clearly been accompanied by developers shifting their attention to smaller towns and cities. They are currently preparing smaller centres specially designed for less affluent customers – convenience centres and retail parks. “The crop of smaller retail formats gives us the actual situation on the shopping centre development market. Either there is no longer enough room for the construction of large malls or it is not worth building them as the projects are not as financially lucrative. Small retail parks and convenience centres seem to be the rule of the day. It is easier to find smaller plots, the investment and risk are smaller and the competition does not seem to be so fierce. Consumers are more aware and sensitive to time issues and small centres located on the way home or inresidential estates fit in well with their everyday shopping needs,” says Agnieszka Michalczewska, a partner of the Aspenn consultancy.