ECE has opened its new development, Zielone Arkady shopping center, in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz. It is the largest ECE project in Poland to date and the largest shopping center in Bydgoszcz and the surrounding region.
On a leasable area of about 51,000 sqm, the centre accommodates around 200 stores of national and international retailers as well as a modern food court with diverse dining options and nearly 400 seats. The center will bring 1,500 new jobs to the city.
The investment volume for Zielone Arkady amounts to about €145 million. The ECE European Prime Shopping Centre Fund II, which had secured the property for acquisition at an early stage, will add the property to its portfolio. ECE Polska has taken over the long-term management and the leasing of the shopping gallery. It is already the ninth center in the management of ECE in Poland.
Leszek Sikora, Managing Director of ECE Polska, commented: “We are pleased to add Zielone Arkady to our management portfolio in Poland. Its unique architecture, the broad merchandise mix, the excellent infrastructure and accessibility as well as the certified sustainability of the building make it a special property in many ways.”
Zielone Arkady offers a diverse branch mix with national and international brands. Among its fashion retailers are the Inditex labels Zara and Pull&Bear as well as Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, and Oysho.
Besides its prominent label Reserved, the Polish fashion group LPP will also be represented at the center by its concepts Mohito, Sinsay, House, and Cropp, which are very popular in Poland. Poland’s largest shoe retailer, CCC, will also open a shop at Zielone Arkady. Further concepts in the center include Adidas, Benetton, C&A, Deichmann, Lacoste, Levi’s, Nike, and Tommy Hilfiger. Moreover, the center features jewellery and accessories stores such as Swarovski and Swatch, grocery stores, book stores, home accessories stores, consumer electronic stores such as Saturn, as well as various other retail concepts and services.
The most prominent architectural feature of Zielone Arkady is its west entrance. Visitors enter the building through an almost 30-m-high entrance hall, which is shaped like a towering crystal. Inside the center with large glass facade elements lies the light-flooded food court with more than 400 seats and ten different food outlets. The atrium at the south entrance, which extends across three levels and resembles a theatre with a stage in its center, will be used for events.
Zielone Arkady (the green arcades) also sets sustainability standards and has already been awarded with a BREEAM certificate: Besides the extensive interior planting, natural building materials and very efficient ventilation, heating, and lighting technologies are used. Furthermore, as the first shopping center of ECE in Poland, the leases of Zielone Arkady include a “Green Lease Agreement.” This agreement demonstrates the commitment of the tenants to energy-saving business operations, for example with regard to water and energy consumption.
The sustainability rating also considered the central location and excellent accessibility of the center: The center is situated in a downtown location. It can be reached conveniently on foot within five minutes from the historic city center of Bydgoszcz; bus and tram stops lie nearby. Visitors arriving by car can reach Zielone Arkady from two adjacent arterial roads and nearly 1,200 parking spaces are available to them at a parking garage directly at the center. More than half a million people live in the catchment area of the center.
