Poland's Venice infested by sharks
The two-hectare plot of land in the heart of the city is destined for the construction of the Arkady Wrocławskie shopping, arts and business center.
Last week saw the cornerstone ceremony of the E100 (zł.419) million investment by one of the richest big fish in Poland, Leszek Czarnecki, the owner of LC Corp. AP Szczepaniak from Wrocław prepared the architectural design, with the cooperation of Wacław Bieniasz-Nicholson. PORR Polska, the building structure contractor that was also engaged in the Warsaw Financial Center and the Old Brewery project in Poznań, will complete the building shell within 15 months and the complex will be ready for occupancy in "March 2007," says Czarnecki.
The construction commenced a month after the building permit for Arkady Wrocławskie became legally valid. The complex, whose total area will be 100,000 sqm, is the largest investment of this kind in Wrocław. Arkady Wrocławskie will be only 15-minutes walk from the market square and a five-minute walk from the main railway station. But it is not just the convenient location that will make it the center of attention in the region.
The center boasts 130 shops on 30,000 sqm of retail space. Some 3,000 sqm will be occupied by a food deli, whose name is still a secret. "We are finishing negotiations with two leading Polish companies," says Piotr Kaszyński from Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker, which is handling the leasing of the retail space. The results of these talks will be known in two or three weeks. Czarnecki confirmed that the 13-storey office building with a total area of 8,000 sqm will be occupied solely by Getin Holding Group employees. Arkady Wrocławskie will also house a multiplex cinema with 10 halls, one having 550 seats, which will be run by Multikino, belonging to ITI. "I do not confirm that we negotiated with Cinema City. Neither do I deny," said Czarnecki playfully.
So what will be the advantage of Arkady Wrocławskie over the other shopping giant in Wrocław, Galeria Dominikańska? "Galeria Dominikańska does not have an aquarium," says Czarnecki.
The oceanic aquarium, holding 120,000 liters of seawater, will be 8.8 meters high, 8.88 meters wide and 2.8 meters deep.
The biggest aquarium in Poland, according to the constructors, will house a blacktip reef shark, a blue spotted stingray, and extreme divers swimming among them.
"Arkady Wrocławskie is my only investment at the moment," says Czarnecki. It is the third venture by this businessman in the city. "Some 30 per cent of this investment is my own contribution." The administrator of Arkady is not yet known, however. "I do not know if he/she will be appointed at all," said the LC Corp owner.
Last week saw the cornerstone ceremony of the E100 (zł.419) million investment by one of the richest big fish in Poland, Leszek Czarnecki, the owner of LC Corp. AP Szczepaniak from Wrocław prepared the architectural design, with the cooperation of Wacław Bieniasz-Nicholson. PORR Polska, the building structure contractor that was also engaged in the Warsaw Financial Center and the Old Brewery project in Poznań, will complete the building shell within 15 months and the complex will be ready for occupancy in "March 2007," says Czarnecki.
The construction commenced a month after the building permit for Arkady Wrocławskie became legally valid. The complex, whose total area will be 100,000 sqm, is the largest investment of this kind in Wrocław. Arkady Wrocławskie will be only 15-minutes walk from the market square and a five-minute walk from the main railway station. But it is not just the convenient location that will make it the center of attention in the region.
The center boasts 130 shops on 30,000 sqm of retail space. Some 3,000 sqm will be occupied by a food deli, whose name is still a secret. "We are finishing negotiations with two leading Polish companies," says Piotr Kaszyński from Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker, which is handling the leasing of the retail space. The results of these talks will be known in two or three weeks. Czarnecki confirmed that the 13-storey office building with a total area of 8,000 sqm will be occupied solely by Getin Holding Group employees. Arkady Wrocławskie will also house a multiplex cinema with 10 halls, one having 550 seats, which will be run by Multikino, belonging to ITI. "I do not confirm that we negotiated with Cinema City. Neither do I deny," said Czarnecki playfully.
So what will be the advantage of Arkady Wrocławskie over the other shopping giant in Wrocław, Galeria Dominikańska? "Galeria Dominikańska does not have an aquarium," says Czarnecki.
The oceanic aquarium, holding 120,000 liters of seawater, will be 8.8 meters high, 8.88 meters wide and 2.8 meters deep.
The biggest aquarium in Poland, according to the constructors, will house a blacktip reef shark, a blue spotted stingray, and extreme divers swimming among them.
"Arkady Wrocławskie is my only investment at the moment," says Czarnecki. It is the third venture by this businessman in the city. "Some 30 per cent of this investment is my own contribution." The administrator of Arkady is not yet known, however. "I do not know if he/she will be appointed at all," said the LC Corp owner.
