GTC receives permits for retail center
GTC, which is known for the development of the Mokotow Business Park as well as residential schemes, said the complex will be located on eight hectares of land, at the intersection of Woloska and Wilanowska streets.
GTC claims that the center, to be called Galeria Mokotow, would be one of the largest shopping malls in Warsaw. The three-story center will include a 5,000 square-meter supermarket, a multiplex cinema and a bowling club, which together will take up 10,000 square meters, said an executive with GTC who did not want to be named. The remainder of the center's space will consist of about 100 smaller stores.
GTC's mall will significantly increase the 100,000 square meters of modern retail space currently in Warsaw. But the market is divided on whether this and other developments will lead to an oversupply. Existing retail centers include City Center, Promenada, Panorama, King Cross and Centrum Handlowe Targowek, said Magdalena Fratczak, a retail agent with Jones Lang Wooton.
The supply of modern retail space is likely to triple by the end of 1999, she said. "So far the supply of retail space is insufficient," Fratczak said, adding that the market will not become saturated for at least five years.
But other agents fear an over-supply of space. Shopping center space per 1,000 inhabitants is already 83 square meters in Warsaw, which is close to the European average of 100 square meters, according to a report by Couderq & Kubas.
GTC, which is partly owned by Citibank and Bankers Trust, has already selected operators for the supermarket, multiplex cinema and bowling club. The company would not reveal the identity of the tenants. Atomic Entertainment, which is planning to develop four bowling clubs around Poland, is in talks with GTC, said Krystyna Bujakiewicz, development director at Atomic Entertainment. She added that the GTC site could be Atomic's second in Warsaw as the firm has already secured a site in the Promenada development.
Sources close to GTC, which is being marketed by Jones Lang Wooton and Healey & Baker, said that among 10 multiplex operators that initially expressed interest, South Africa's Ster-Kinekor is a leading candidate. "We are in negotiations with them," confirmed Jeff Georgino, who manages Ster-Kinekor's expansion in Poland.
Ster-Kinekor has already secured two sites in Warsaw, in the Promenada shopping center and in Janki where France's Casino is developing a retail complex.
If Ster-Kinekor gets the Galeria Mokotow location it will be able to move in 2000 when GTC plans to open the mall. Construction of the retail center, to be managed by Bovis, will start early next year.
GTC claims that the center, to be called Galeria Mokotow, would be one of the largest shopping malls in Warsaw. The three-story center will include a 5,000 square-meter supermarket, a multiplex cinema and a bowling club, which together will take up 10,000 square meters, said an executive with GTC who did not want to be named. The remainder of the center's space will consist of about 100 smaller stores.
GTC's mall will significantly increase the 100,000 square meters of modern retail space currently in Warsaw. But the market is divided on whether this and other developments will lead to an oversupply. Existing retail centers include City Center, Promenada, Panorama, King Cross and Centrum Handlowe Targowek, said Magdalena Fratczak, a retail agent with Jones Lang Wooton.
The supply of modern retail space is likely to triple by the end of 1999, she said. "So far the supply of retail space is insufficient," Fratczak said, adding that the market will not become saturated for at least five years.
But other agents fear an over-supply of space. Shopping center space per 1,000 inhabitants is already 83 square meters in Warsaw, which is close to the European average of 100 square meters, according to a report by Couderq & Kubas.
GTC, which is partly owned by Citibank and Bankers Trust, has already selected operators for the supermarket, multiplex cinema and bowling club. The company would not reveal the identity of the tenants. Atomic Entertainment, which is planning to develop four bowling clubs around Poland, is in talks with GTC, said Krystyna Bujakiewicz, development director at Atomic Entertainment. She added that the GTC site could be Atomic's second in Warsaw as the firm has already secured a site in the Promenada development.
Sources close to GTC, which is being marketed by Jones Lang Wooton and Healey & Baker, said that among 10 multiplex operators that initially expressed interest, South Africa's Ster-Kinekor is a leading candidate. "We are in negotiations with them," confirmed Jeff Georgino, who manages Ster-Kinekor's expansion in Poland.
Ster-Kinekor has already secured two sites in Warsaw, in the Promenada shopping center and in Janki where France's Casino is developing a retail complex.
If Ster-Kinekor gets the Galeria Mokotow location it will be able to move in 2000 when GTC plans to open the mall. Construction of the retail center, to be managed by Bovis, will start early next year.
