Easy-access shopping

A new convenience shopping center has opened in Warsaw's district of Ursus and will serve the local community as well as the suburban towns of Pruszków, Piastów, Brwinów and Michałowice. According to Centrum Skorosze's owner and developer, IIC Group (a part of Israeli Giron Development & Building), the shopping center is the first of its kind in Poland.

The main focus of the center's design is functionality. Centrum Skorosze is a single-storey building and nearly all of its shops are accessible from the parking lot.

"This type of design is common in the US and Canada and is convenient for shoppers. Customers are often looking for a specific product and they can go into the shop they require directly from the car park, so it's easy to get back to the car once they've done their shopping," said Yossi Cohen, general director of IIC Group.

Centrum Skorosze, which is located on Al. Jerozolimskie between ul. Nowa Lazurowa and the planned A23 highway, is also situated near the largest Leroy Merlin outlet in Poland. The center has a total area of 13,196 sqm, of which the gross leasable area amounts to 12,000 sqm. An additional 8,000 sqm is planned to be delivered by the end of 2008.

The area around the center is one of the fastest growing parts of Warsaw and a number of local infrastructure projects were carried out in conjunction with the Centrum Skorosze project. These included the resurfacing of part of Al. Jerozolimskie and the construction of access roads.

"Investment in the sewage system and road infrastructure became stimuli for the development of local residential complexes, whose tenants will become customers of the center," said Cohen.

Anna Kapica-Harward