ECE to build a modern shopping gallery in the center of Yaroslavl / Russia
European market leader for shopping centers invests around €150 million – Shopping gallery to open in spring 2010
ECE Projektmanagement, the European market leader for inner-city shopping centers, is building a modern shopping center with more than 130,000 square meters of gross floor space (leasable area: 60,000 sqm) in the center of Yaroslavl. The project was announced to the public at a joint press conference with Yaroslavl’s mayor, Viktor Volonchunas, on 25 May, a day before celebration of the city foundation date. “We are delighted to announce that ECE, a company with an international reputation, will be building a unique shopping center in our city,” said Mr. Volonchunas. “This investment will even more strengthen our prosperous economy.” ECE will invest 150 million euros and create more than 2,000 new jobs. The shopping center is scheduled to open in the spring of 2010 – in time for the city of Yaroslavl’s 1,000th anniversary.
The shopping gallery on Ulitsa Svobody, the very center street of Yaroslavl, will house around 200 retail outlets, a state-of-the-art multiplex cinema and a food court. “The shopping center’s main focus will be on fashion retail outlets for the whole family,” said Stefan Zeiselmaier, CEO of ECE Russia. “Thanks to our excellent connections with the big retail chains, I am very confident that many international fashion houses will have a presence in the shopping center”. It is envisaged that the anchor tenants will be a large consumer electronics store, a supermarket and a large fashion department store. “We are looking forward to create a gallery which is fitting in this attractive city and satisfies the demand of people living here”, says Zeiselmaier. The center will also provide around 1,100 parking spaces for ease of access by car.
The company
ECE Projektmanagement is the European market leader for inner-city shopping centers. The ECE Group currently has 90 shopping centers under management in Germany, Turkey, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Austria, Greece and Qatar. These comprise a combined retail space of 2.7 million square meters (29,062,558 square feet) and are home to about 9,200 retail tenants with combined annual sales of 10.4 billion euros. Another 22 shopping centers are currently under construction or in the planning stages.
ECE recently signed a joint venture agreement with Developers Diversified Realty Corporation (DDR), a leading US-based developer, investor and manager of shopping centers. Together, the two companies plan to invest around €1 billion in the construction of new shopping centers in Russia and the Ukraine over the next five years. These plans include the shopping center in Yaroslavl and one in Rjazan.
ECE was founded over 40 years ago in Hamburg, Germany, by Werner Otto, the same man who founded the world-famous Otto-Versand mail order firm. ECE develops, plans, builds, leases and manages shopping centers and large commercial real estate projects. The company has won many awards for the outstanding architecture of its retail centers. More than 2,600 specialists work for ECE in Germany, Central and Eastern Europe.
Yaroslavl, 25 May 2007
Contact: Christian Saadhoff
Tel: +49 (40) 60606-898
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Internet: www.ece.com
