Kraków in line for new retail, leisure center
Construction is scheduled to be completed in the spring of 2005.
"We would like to extend the city's tourist route," jokes GTC General Manager Piotr Kroenke. "It will begin at Wawel castle, go through Kazimierz and hopefully end in Galeria Kazimierz."
The castle may not have to worry about losing visitors, but Galeria Kazimierz will certainly make itself felt economically when it opens. Its 160 shops, along with a variety of entertainment and leisure uses, will share space on two floors, as will a 10-screen cinema and a fitness club. GTC says it has already secured commitments for 3,000 square meters of the retail area.
GTC reports that the development's catchment area includes 100,000 people within a 10-minute walk and 250,000 within a 10-minute drive, and Kroenke says the location is an attempt to capitalize on two markets. It is close enough to walk to the city center, but may be well positioned to capture traffic not destined to or from the city itself. Parking spaces for 1,800 cars are planned. In addition to existing public transportation routes, there is a tram line planned to run over the nearby Kotlarski bridge.
Kazimierz, the old Jewish section of Kraków, has recently seen something of an economic revival and a sharp increase in shops, cafés and bars, fueled largely by a customer base of students and tourists. With any luck, Galeria Kazimierz can harness some of that energy.
The 5.7-hectare site was formerly occupied by a meat factory, but GTC hopes to turn it into something worthy of the historic character of the neighborhood as well as taking advantage of the location. "The site faces the Vistula," says Kroenke, "and fits in with the city's plan to turn Kraków toward the river."
GTC is also the developer of Warsaw's Mokotów Business Park and Galeria Mokotów. That shopping and entertainment center, which opened in September 2000, boasts a monthly footfall of about one million. In June of this year GTC sold 50 percent of the shares of Galeria Mokotów to Rodamco Europe.
GTC's other property in its Kraków portfolio is the GTC Office Centre, a 35,000 square-meter, four-building complex planned to be completed in phases. The first building was finished early this year.
"We would like to extend the city's tourist route," jokes GTC General Manager Piotr Kroenke. "It will begin at Wawel castle, go through Kazimierz and hopefully end in Galeria Kazimierz."
The castle may not have to worry about losing visitors, but Galeria Kazimierz will certainly make itself felt economically when it opens. Its 160 shops, along with a variety of entertainment and leisure uses, will share space on two floors, as will a 10-screen cinema and a fitness club. GTC says it has already secured commitments for 3,000 square meters of the retail area.
GTC reports that the development's catchment area includes 100,000 people within a 10-minute walk and 250,000 within a 10-minute drive, and Kroenke says the location is an attempt to capitalize on two markets. It is close enough to walk to the city center, but may be well positioned to capture traffic not destined to or from the city itself. Parking spaces for 1,800 cars are planned. In addition to existing public transportation routes, there is a tram line planned to run over the nearby Kotlarski bridge.
Kazimierz, the old Jewish section of Kraków, has recently seen something of an economic revival and a sharp increase in shops, cafés and bars, fueled largely by a customer base of students and tourists. With any luck, Galeria Kazimierz can harness some of that energy.
The 5.7-hectare site was formerly occupied by a meat factory, but GTC hopes to turn it into something worthy of the historic character of the neighborhood as well as taking advantage of the location. "The site faces the Vistula," says Kroenke, "and fits in with the city's plan to turn Kraków toward the river."
GTC is also the developer of Warsaw's Mokotów Business Park and Galeria Mokotów. That shopping and entertainment center, which opened in September 2000, boasts a monthly footfall of about one million. In June of this year GTC sold 50 percent of the shares of Galeria Mokotów to Rodamco Europe.
GTC's other property in its Kraków portfolio is the GTC Office Centre, a 35,000 square-meter, four-building complex planned to be completed in phases. The first building was finished early this year.
