Some of the land went to retailer Lidl, some to a local residential developer and some to a third investor looking to build a residential or retail project, real estate market sources say. Considering the location of the land near the center of the city, the price, according to ZF estimates, stood at EUR12 milion to EUR18 milion, since there were three buyers.
The mall project was put on hold in 2017. Planned to take up 60,000 square meters, Timisoara Centrum was expanded on paper to 80,000 square meters of gross lettable area, 70,000 square meters of which to be used for retail and 10,000 square meters for offices. The initial investment should have amounted to EUR80 million and was later increased to EUR90 million.
Ali Ergun Ergen is the executive who ran Plaza and Baneasa malls in Bucharest. Alpha Group Investments Ltd. (AGI) is an investment vehicle of Alpha Bank, which owns, among others, a high number of real estate and hospitality properties in South-Eastern Europe.
The other malls in Timisoara are Shopping City Timisoara, which South Africa’s NEPI-Rockcastle opened in 2016, and before that Iulius Mall, expanded last year and turned in to Iulius Town, which also includes office space.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)