SES Spar European Shopping Centers (SES) will start this June the construction of a new shopping center in the most densely populated district of Ljubljana, Šiška. The value of the new and most modern shopping center in Šiška is estimated at EUR150 million and will be completed in autumn of 2019.
Directly situated on the H3 city freeway, the new mall consisting of 32,000 sqm of leasable space will house an INTERSPAR hypermarket and around 90 shops, restaurants and service providers. The mall will have 1,600 parking spaces and will feature a vibrant roof terrace with playgrounds for different sports such as badminton, volleyball, mini golf and tennis. SES entrusted the design of the structure to the renowned Austrian architecture firm ATP Architects and Engineers, which will carry out its task in cooperation with Slovenian subcontractors.
The project was presented at a press conference held this week in Ljubljana.
“We see Slovenia as a very perspective market; after all, we already manage four shopping centers in the country and are closely familiar with the shopping habits of Slovenian customers. The new mall will be an excellent supplement to the existing retail offer in city center area of Ljubljana,” commented Marcus Wild, the CEO of SES.
After years of complications involved in obtaining building permits, Toni Pugelj, Manager of the Šiška project, also expressed his satisfaction at the press conference. “We waited for the building permit for more than five and a half years. The application for a building permit had to be supplemented by 216 different documents,” He added that the construction of the transport and municipal infrastructure will begin in the following months, while the works on the building itself will be carried out in the last quarter of this year.
The importance of the location of the new shopping center in Šiška was also pointed out by Igor Mervič, Director General of Spar Slovenia, which will be the anchor tenant of the mall: “The location is one of the best due to transport connections and the population density in that area. The shopping center will attract customers from a broader gravitational area, too,” said Mervič.
The initiation of the construction of the Šiška shopping center is also welcomed by the Municipality of Ljubljana. According to Zoran Janković, the Mayor of Ljubljana, such investments have a positive impact on the development of the city and the quality of living. “I am pleased that another modern center will open its doors in two years. I am convinced that it will add value to the broader area of Šiška and become another social and entertainment center.”
SES is considered to be the market leader in the field of construction, development and management of shopping centers in Slovenia and neighbouring Austria, currently managing as many as 30 shopping centers in six countries of Central, Southern and Eastern Europe.