Sfera's new phase

Bielsko Business Center 2 (BBC2), which bought an attractive plot with a 19th-century factory in Bielsko for over zł.8 million last year, is currently pulling down the buildings.

It will soon launch construction works on the extension of the existing Sfera shopping center, located on ul. Mostowa, a stone's throw away from ul. 11 Listopada, the main street in town. At the moment the developer is waiting for the building permit.

The space for new tenants will amount to some 24,000 sqm on three floors. "The center is very popular among the inhabitants and tenants. We already have many inquiries from prospective tenants," says Kinga Wnęk, a property negotiator from Jones Lang LaSalle, the exclusive agent for BBC2. The developer is not revealing any information about the value of the project.

Apart from the commercial space the developer is planning to construct a hotel and about 100 apartments. The new part of the mall will have roughly 1,400 parking lots on several floors whereas the existing mall has some 800 spaces.

The first part of Sfera with 18,000 sqm of commercial space was opened in 2001 and is one of the largest shopping malls in southern Poland with 120 shops, 11 restaurants and cafes, seven cinema halls, a supermarket, and a number of various services providers. AW