Native son

Wrocław is one of Poland's biggest construction sites. Apart from road works that aim to improve the city's infrastructure, Wrocław is also trying to catch up with the other major cities of Poland in terms of modern retail stock. At the moment, Wrocław's share in the retail market in Poland is six percent, whereas for Warsaw the figure is 25 percent.

Things are beginning to change, however. Early next year Arkady Wrocławskie - in whom the major investor is local businessman Leszek Czarnecki - will come onto the market.

Czarnecki, with a fortune estimated at zł.1.3 billion, is one of the wealthiest men in Poland. As the president of Getin Bank and the owner of LC Corp, Czarnecki decided to benefit from the promising local real-estate market, and the city is enthusiastic about his involvement. "Anything that Czarnecki puts his hands on turns to gold," says Paweł Panczyj from the Wrocław Agglomeration Development Agency.

The cornerstone of Arkady Wrocławskie was laid on an area between ul. Powstańców Śląskich, Swobodna, Komandorska and Nasypowa last May. The investor in the project is LC Corp, which is owned by Czarnecki. The 55-meter-high structure, occupying a plot of one hectare, designed by Paweł and Artur Szepaniak, will house mainly stores, services and offices. The overall space of the structure is some 100,000 sqm. The office space, which will be located in a 13-storey tower, will be fully occupied by companies owned by Getin Holding. The center's main attraction will be a huge (nine by nine meter) aquarium for sharks.

The investment's value is an estimated zł.100 million, 30 percent of which was financed with Czarnecki's own capital. The first visitors to Arkady Wrocławskie will walk through its doors at the beginning of next year.