The shopping centre (Magnolia Center) will have an area of 120,000 square metres and will also include leisure space. "The financing of the Ploiesti project will come from bank loans and from Lewis Charles Securities investment fund. Construction works will start next April and end in late 2009 or early 2010," Andrei Panculescu, the commercial and acquisitions manager of Westhill's Romanian office, told ZF. The only other shopping centre in the city is Grant Center Ploiesti, which is owned by Winmarkt.
Ploiesti is one of the most industrialised cities in Romania, with a low unemployment rate that ranges between 3-5%, and has managed to attract shopping centre developers that seek locations with a high purchasing power. As a result, another 3 shopping centres have been announced during the past year: Tiago Mall (developed by Irish-based Mivan), Perla Shopping Center (an investment by Israeli group W-GO) and Euromall (developed by a group of firms controlled by Israeli and French businessmen).
Westhill, which arrived on the Romanian market last year, has changed its initial strategy, which entailed the development of office buildings, with the company currently targeting shopping centres and residential projects.
For the Ploiesti project, Westhill set up Retail Park Magnolia, which was acquired from Lewis Charles British investment fund in August for 6.7 million euros. Subsequently, Retail Park Magnolia paid 6.3 million euros for the 10-hectare plot of land where the shopping centre will be developed.
"The new shopping centres, malls and retail parks should have more green areas and go beyond the "box" concept which is present on the Romanian market. The best examples for new concepts can be seen in Spain, Germany, UK, Portugal and even in the new projects delivered in recent years in Central and Eastern Europe," explains Panculescu.
Westhill works with British architecture firm Benoy and collaborates with Gleeds (also British) in terms of project management, with WSP (UK) (on the segment of technical and environment audit) and with Cushman&Wakefield and King Sturge real estate consultancies.
Westhill will also start work on another shopping centre in a Romanian city, with investments worth around 40m euros.
At present, the Romanian retail market remains uncompetitive, largely because there is an insufficient number of brands on the market, and prices are higher than in Austria or Hungary, believe Westhill representatives.
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