Plans to invest 150 mln Euro unveiled.
The company has acquired a 120,000 sq.m. site in Bucharest, which is to be developed into a major shopping center, and an office and residential complex.
On the 16th February GTC, via its subsidiary GTC Romania, acquired a land plot of 12 hectares in a prime location in a northern district of Bucharest, Romania for 15.5 mln Euro. The north of Bucharest is predominantly residential and is the city’s fastest growing area.
Capitalizing on the improved macroeconomic conditions in Romania, and on growth in the purchasing power of its citizens, the company intends to expand its operations in the country significantly, focusing on three sectors: office buildings, retail centers and residential developments.
“We anticipate that our scale of activity in Romania will become as important, and hopefully as successful, as in Poland. Anticipating Romania’s accession to the EU in 2007 we plan to increase our portfolio to 250,000 sqm in the coming years,” says Piotr Kroenke, GTC’s General Manager.
The planned shopping center in Bucharest will be of the same quality and style as GTC’s existing centers, Galeria Mokotów and Galeria Kazimierz, but will offer more retail space than either of the projects; it will be one of the largest retail centers in the region.
After successfully completing its first office building, Europe House, which was sold to Europolis 2 years ago, GTC is currently developing its second office project, America House, the largest office development in Romania. The building is situated in the heart of Bucharest’s Piaza Victoria, opposite the Romanian Prime Minister’s residence. Completion is scheduled for the first quarter of 2006. When finished, the building will provide 26,000 sqm of high quality office space.