Entertainment cornerstone for Sadyba mall; developer boasts hi-tech cinema
Netherlands-based developer Reynolds, which earlier this year purchased the Sadyba Best Mall retail development in Warsaw from ailing Pol Nordic Group, restarted construction of the mall in September and plans to complete it by August 2000, the developer said.
Reynolds is owned by the same Israeli shareholders that own Cinema City, which initially was to be the anchor tenant in Sadyba with its multiplex, but decided to take over the development.
"We made the deal as a cinema operator," said Moshe Greidinger, chief executive of Israeli IT International Theaters, which owns Cinema City. "When the project stopped, we bought it."
Through its trail of subsidiaries, IT International essentially bought the mall project in the Warsaw area of Sadyba in March from Norwegian developer Pol Nordic Group, which was unable to raise money to complete the development.
Greidinger said his company decided to buy the entire development because of its location on ulica Powsinska. "The location is one of the best in Warsaw," Greidinger said. Between 40,000 and 50,000 cars pass ulica Powsinska every day and 50,000 residents live within walking distance of the mall, he said.
Reynolds in September restarted construction of Sadyba Best Mall, where total investment will run $50 million. The 50,000 square-meter mall will include 25,000 square meters of rentable retail space, Greidinger said. The retail space includes a 3,000 square-meter site for a supermarket operated by an unnamed, but selected, operator. In addition, the developer will lease 1,000 square-meter units to four semi-anchor tenants including home entertainment retailer Euro RTV. The other three operators have yet to be selected, according to IT International. Space for smaller shops also exists. Monthly asking rents will run from about $25-$50 depending on size. Rates are based on a fixed, per-square-meter fee plus a percentage of the store's sales revenue, the landlord said.
The main attraction behind the mall will be the multiplex cinema as well as a larger Imax movie theater, both operated by Cinema City, a leading cinema operator in Israel, IT International said. Sadyba's cinema will be Cinema City's first in Poland, the company said. Cinema City plans to have 15 cinemas in Poland in five years. The next one will also be in Warsaw, in the Bemowo retail development, where France's Carrefour hypermarket will be the anchor tenant, according to IT International.
The Sadyba Best Mall multiplex will include a 4,000 square-meter, 12-screen cinema with more than 2,500 seats. In addition, the mall will have a 400-seat Imax cinema. City Cinema has exclusive rights in Central Europe for Imax, which is a Canadian company that markets special projection technology. The Imax cinema will feature a 20-meter large screen with a special sound system and potential for 3-D viewing. Only about 250 films exist worldwide that use Imax technology to its fullest, according to Cinema.
The Imax cinema, the first Imax in Central Europe, should help boost the revenue of the entire mall, said Greidinger of IT International. "It will add extra value to the building," he said. "The combination of shopping and entertainment will be the winning way."
Annually, the Imax cinema in Berlin attracts 1.4 million moviegoers and in Barcelona 1.2 million, said Greidinger, who is hoping the Warsaw venue will attract 1 million visitors to the Sadyba mall each year and the multiplex to add yet another million.
Warsaw-based, but German-owned Budokor is the site's general contractor and local firm Arch Magic is the architect for the project. Debenham Zadelhoff DTZ agency is marketing the project. DTZ, which has no expertise in retail in Poland, said it was creating a retail unit from scratch for Reynolds.
On the move
Jones Lang LaSalle agency, which since summer has been building a new tenant representation department, hired Robert Ledzinski as its agent. Ledzinski, the second hire for the tenant-side operation, is a graduate of the Economics Academy in Wroclaw and formerly worked as an agent with Warsaw-based Unikat and a couple of Wroclaw-based developers. Jones Lang LaSalle, which earlier offered tenant representation services handled by agents who also worked for landlords, decided to build the new tenant representation office to focus on work for tenants, said Paulina Gorska, marketing manager with Jones Lang LaSalle. Earlier this year the agency brought its London-based agent Paul Blackman to help with the office's creation. The agency will hire more agents for the tenant representation office, said Gorska, who wouldn't estimate the number of agents needed.
Looking for space
The following companies are on the prowl for office space, according to DTZ: Hewlett Packard (5,000 square meters of space), law firm Gide Loyrette Nouel (1,000 square meters) HSBC investment bank (600 square meters), VF Polska, distributor of Lee and Wrangler jeans (500 square meters), and Agilent Technologies (350 square meters).
In brief: Developer Centrum Budownictwa Filtrowa (CBF) last week held a topping-out ceremony at its Focus Filtrowa office development, near the Trasa Lazienkowska expressway in Warsaw. The building, which will have 34,500 square meters of rentable office space, is scheduled for completion next October, CBF said in a press release. CBF is owned by construction company Mostostal Export and Instytut Techniki Budowlanej.
Focus Filtrowa, a 12-floor, above-ground project, will also include a four-level ground floor and underground garage with 435 parking spaces, CBF said. The asking monthly rent for office space is $28-$32 per square meter, according to Healey & Baker agency, which is marketing the development.
Relocations: TK Development and Steen & Strom shopping mall operator moved to new offices at Centrum Handlowe Reduta on Aleje Jerozolimskie. The mall was developed by TK Development and operated by Steen & Strom. SG Bank is moving all of its subsidiaries to the Saski Point building on ulica Marszalkowska 111. (Tel. 528-4000, fax 528-4444)
