Real estate developer Mivan, which will develop the Liberty Center shopping complex in Bucharest, will also build ten malls outside the city by 2010, taking the company's total investment on this market to 750 million euros.
"This is a good time to invest in Romania. We have already bought land in cities like Arad, Bacau, Brasov, Oradea, Ploiesti and Targu Mures, and are in talks for land in Sibiu, Craiova, Galati and Iasi, with each project being tailored to each city and developed over the next three years," stated John Houghton, Senior Property Executive of Mivan.
Mivan is in talks with a series of banks and investment funds to sign partnerships that involve funding for these projects.
Liberty Center is the first shopping complex to be launched by Mivan on the domestic market, with development costs of this 25,000 sqm mall estimated at around 70 million euros. The mall will be erected in the Rahova district, on the location of a former "hunger circus" (derelict unfinished buildings that were supposed to host food stores back in the days of communist Romania; their name comes from the shape of the building and scarcity of food at the time).
"We will demolish the entire building over the next few days and the mall will be built on a new structure (ground floor plus two storeys). The construction work will begin in February next year and be completed in the autumn of 2008," Houghton explained.
A major Austrian bank will help fund the project, said the Mivan official, who did not disclose the name of the partner.
The representatives of Sparkassen Immobilien, the real estate arm of the Austrian Erste group, who had announced they would get involved in the development of a shopping complex in Southern Bucharest outside of the Sun Plaza project, denied any contribution to this project.
The first leases for space in the Liberty Center have already been signed. The first tenants announced are electronics and home appliances chain Altex and Dutch retailer Spar.
"Altex rented 2,300 square metres on the first floor, while Spar will open a 3,500 square metre supermarket on the ground floor. We are in talks with three international companies for the cinema," stated Monica Barbu, senior retail consultant of the real estate consultancy company Colliers, the broker of the project.
The mall will comprise about 100 stores, 700 underground car parking spaces and, a first for shopping complexes on the domestic market, an indoor skating rink.
As well as the Romanian shopping complexes market, Mivan is also active on the residential market, and is currently developing a project in the Dristor district. The company also has office space projects.
The residential complex called New Town Residence will be developed on a 23,000 square metre plot of land in two stages and will consist of ten blocks with a total of 650 flats. Mivan's partner for this project, estimated at 85 million euros, is investment fund Fabian Romania Property.
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