Echoes around Poland
The new 84,000-sqm shopping and entertainment complex will be built on a 64,000-sqm plot located in the center of Słupsk. The investor wants to launch construction on the zł.200-million project in the spring of 2007. The catchment of the new mall, which will provide 600 new jobs, is estimated at 250,000 customers. The company has already begun the leasing process.
"The retail-space market in the largest cities in Poland has intensified. What's missing are comprehensive ideas linking the opportunity to go shopping and relax in smaller towns. Hence, we made the decision to complete this investment in Słupsk. We expect the center to attract many renowned tenants," says Krzysztof Giemza, director of the Shopping Centers Department at Echo Investment.
The new shopping center will be located on the main street in Słupsk, close to large residential areas. It will host a hypermarket, a DIY center and an electronics retailer. In the entertainment section, the investor plans a six-screen multiplex, a 12-alley bowling hall and a disco. The center will also have a number of restaurants and cafes as well as a playground for children and parking spaces for 1,250 cars.
Other developments
Echo's Q2 2006 net profit reached zł.45 million. According to Jarosław Grodzki, deputy president of Echo Investment, in the last 10 years the company has spent EUR 800 (zł.3,157) million, and the same amount will be invested in the next three years.
The company is currently working on a number of other developments. These include two other retail projects, Pasaż Grunwaldzki in Wrocław and Pasaż więtokrzyski in Kielce. Pasaż więtokrzyski is scheduled to open on November 15 or 30, depending on the decision of E.Leclerc, the main tenant in the shopping center. Pasaż Grunwaldzki will open in March 2007. Echo Investment has also completed a 90-room hotel in the center of Kielce. The Qubus Hotel will open this month.
The firm is also developing several residential complexes. The second and third stages of the Inflancka complex in Warsaw are planned for completion in Q3 2008, while the apartment building on Warsaw's ul. Zwycięzców will open in Q1 2008. In Poznań, the complex in Naramowice will be ready in Q4 2008, and one on ul. Kilińskiego in Kraków will be completed at the end of 2008.
New projects
The company is preparing a number of new projects. It's waiting for a building permit to start work on an 8,500-sqm shopping center in Łomża. Construction work on the 25,000-sqm Malta Office Park in Poznań will be launched in Q4 2006. The 30,000-sqm office complex at Warsaw's ul. Postępu 21 will be built between Q1 2007 and Q3 2008. New residential developments are planned on ul. Kazimierzowska in Warsaw and ul. Wojskowa in Poznań, and both scheduled for completion at the end of 2008.
Echo Investment is also looking to foreign markets. In June the company bought a 6.84-ha plot from the local authorities of District XIV in Budapest for zł.60 million. Echo has plans to build a multi-functional development on the site. Apart from Hungary, Echo is also looking at Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine.
