November 20 (SeeNews) - Romanian shopping center developer and operator Iulius said on Monday it plans to inaugurate the first phase of its 220 million euro ($260 million) business, retail and entertainment hub in Romania's Timisoara in the last quarter of 2018.
Developed together Austrian real estate developer Atterbury Europe, Openville Timişoara will comprise office, retail, park and entertainment spaces, Iulius said in a press release. Construction works are set to commence at the beginning of 2018.
The investment in Openville is set to be the largest infusion of private capital in the real estate sector in western Romania.
The Openville project be developed close to Iulius Mall Timişoara, to which an additional 47,000 sq m area will be added over the first development phase.
Apart from the mall expansion, the first phase of development will include 100,000 sq m of class A office spaces, a 47,000 sq m additional retail area, a park spanning on 55,000 sq m, a traffic underpass and more than 1,500 new parking spaces fitted in two parking facilities.
To this date, 18,000 sq m were completed, another 13,000 sq m will be delivered in December, and 19,000 sq m are pending construction and will be completed next year .
"The Openville mixed-use project will lead to a major development in the road infrastructure in the downtown of Timişoara, by engineering an underpass designed to streamline traffic and to connect two of the main inner city roads. The works for the underpass are due to commence in January 2018," Iulius said.
The second phase of the Openville Timişoara project will include the development of another 85,000 sq m of office spaces in four other buildings and 25,000 sq m of retail spaces, depending on market demand.
Iulius Management Center is the largest Romanian mall-type shopping center developer and operator. With over 20 years of experience in modern retail, the IULIUS company group owns a national retail network comprising over 260,000 sq m in four shopping malls under the Iulius brand (Iulius Mall Iaşi, Iulius Mall Timişoara, Iulius Mall Cluj, Iulius Mall Suceava) and the Palas Iaşi mixed-use urban ensemble.
Atterbury Europe BV invests in and develops retail properties. The company was founded in 2014 and is based in St. Pölten, Austria.
($=0.8475 euro)