Old Town style with high street fashion
Construction has just started on Fashion House Warsaw in the Piaseczno commune in southwestern Warsaw. The site covers about eight hectares and the scheme will provide 23,900 sqm of prime retail space.
The project's developer, the Outlet Company, has been on the Polish retail property market for five years. "We are glad that we can start construction of Fashion House Warsaw - it is our third investment in Poland," says the company's director, Patrick Van Den Bossche. In February 2004, the firm opened a factory outlet center, Fashion House Sosnowiec. This summer the company will also open a new outlet, Fashion House Gdańsk.
The firm is trying to take the ambience of the area into consideration in the construction. Silesian industrial architecture from the 19th century was the inspiration for the Fashion House in Sosnowiec, which is located in historic steel and mining area. The center of Fashion House Gdańsk is reminiscent of a fishing village and Warsaw Outlet Center is designed with the Old Town in mind. "We believe that this architecture and atmosphere will please tenants, customers, and Piaseczno residents alike," says Jan Demeyere of The Office, the Belgian architecture firm that designed Fashion House Warsaw.
"Piaseczno was chosen [as a shopping destination] that involves going out of the city and spending more time in a shopping center. This is a great localization," says Monika Piwońska from the Outlet Company.
The project will involve restructuring ul. Puławska from the outer limits of Warsaw to ul. Energetyczna. This means, among other changes, increasing the number of lanes in each direction to three and setting intelligent traffic lights to ensure free-flowing traffic. The Outlet Company will invest more than EUR 1 (zł.4.1) million in the public infrastructure.
The whole investment will cost about EUR 30 (zł.122) million. The first stage, to be finished by November this year if weather conditions allow, will cost EUR 18 (zł.73.5) million. Piwońska says that, as was the case with the Fashion Houses in Sosnowiec and Gdańsk, financing for the projects will come from Austrian bank Investcredit.
According to Piwońska, the Outlet company does not plan to increase the number of Fashion Houses in Warsaw beyond the Piaseczno branch. However, the company is planning to build three more centers in Wrocław, Poznań and Szczecin. "These are very distant projects. I can't point to any dates, we have not bought the ground yet," she says.
The second stage of Fashion House Warsaw should be completed 1.5 years after the first leg is finished. "However, the project is gaining such interest that it could be finished earlier," says Anna Wysocka, head ofthe retail department at CB Richard Ellis.
Contracts with tenants in the Fashion House will be signed by the end of April. Currently, Puma, Nike, Levi's, Olsen, Wrangler and Adidas have all expressed an interest in the center.
The project's developer, the Outlet Company, has been on the Polish retail property market for five years. "We are glad that we can start construction of Fashion House Warsaw - it is our third investment in Poland," says the company's director, Patrick Van Den Bossche. In February 2004, the firm opened a factory outlet center, Fashion House Sosnowiec. This summer the company will also open a new outlet, Fashion House Gdańsk.
The firm is trying to take the ambience of the area into consideration in the construction. Silesian industrial architecture from the 19th century was the inspiration for the Fashion House in Sosnowiec, which is located in historic steel and mining area. The center of Fashion House Gdańsk is reminiscent of a fishing village and Warsaw Outlet Center is designed with the Old Town in mind. "We believe that this architecture and atmosphere will please tenants, customers, and Piaseczno residents alike," says Jan Demeyere of The Office, the Belgian architecture firm that designed Fashion House Warsaw.
"Piaseczno was chosen [as a shopping destination] that involves going out of the city and spending more time in a shopping center. This is a great localization," says Monika Piwońska from the Outlet Company.
The project will involve restructuring ul. Puławska from the outer limits of Warsaw to ul. Energetyczna. This means, among other changes, increasing the number of lanes in each direction to three and setting intelligent traffic lights to ensure free-flowing traffic. The Outlet Company will invest more than EUR 1 (zł.4.1) million in the public infrastructure.
The whole investment will cost about EUR 30 (zł.122) million. The first stage, to be finished by November this year if weather conditions allow, will cost EUR 18 (zł.73.5) million. Piwońska says that, as was the case with the Fashion Houses in Sosnowiec and Gdańsk, financing for the projects will come from Austrian bank Investcredit.
According to Piwońska, the Outlet company does not plan to increase the number of Fashion Houses in Warsaw beyond the Piaseczno branch. However, the company is planning to build three more centers in Wrocław, Poznań and Szczecin. "These are very distant projects. I can't point to any dates, we have not bought the ground yet," she says.
The second stage of Fashion House Warsaw should be completed 1.5 years after the first leg is finished. "However, the project is gaining such interest that it could be finished earlier," says Anna Wysocka, head ofthe retail department at CB Richard Ellis.
Contracts with tenants in the Fashion House will be signed by the end of April. Currently, Puma, Nike, Levi's, Olsen, Wrangler and Adidas have all expressed an interest in the center.
