Silesia opens the gates to the City Center

Some 150,000 people visited the complex on its first day with shoppers queuing at the center from dawn, hoping to take advantage of the debut-day bargains.

The developer of Silesia City Center is Nowe Centrum, which belongs to the Hungarian TriGranit Group. Some 240 shops are located on a retail area of 65,000 sqm. In addition, a 10,000-sqm entertainment floor will start operating in a few weeks' time. 

Higher calling

The complex will also respond to shoppers' spiritual needs. The beginning of December will see the opening of St Barbara's Chapel, which was donated by the investor to the Catholic Church of Katowice, to "pay tribute to the local tradition and mining past."

Immoeast Immobilien Anlagen AG, a listed real-estate company active exclusively in Central and Eastern Europe, has a 10-percent stake in Silesia City Centre. After the complex is completed and its space leased to tenants it will purchase the remaining 90 percent. Aareal Bank AG is co-financing the project.

Central shopping

Silesia City Center is located 1.5km from the center of Katowice, at ul. Chorzowska 107, one of the main Silesian thoroughfares. "Due to its position in the last 200 years as a strong industrial center, Silesia is Europe's legend. Soon Silesia is going to become the leading region of the EU," says Sándor Demján, the owner of TriGranit.

The center was built on the area of the old Gottwald coal mine. The historical buildings of the mine, have been refurbished and placed in the project's center. The architectural design of Silesia City Center was developed by Marek Tryzybowicz and Borys Juraszynski of Bose International Planing and Architecture, and aims to blend the locality with modernity. The second stage of the project, which is scheduled for summer 2006, is the construction of residential housing. The developer claims it will be the biggest planned residential investment in the city of Katowice. As part of this scheme, 1,000 flats of various sizes will be completed, and 12 residential buildings will be raised on a five-hectare plot.

Demján revealed that Trigranit plans to build 10-12 similar new generation urban centers in Poland.