Mitiska REIM, the specialist investor in European convenience real estate, has today announced the opening of a new retail park in the city of Puławy in eastern Poland. Originally a Tesco hypermarket, the site has now been transformed into a modern food-anchored retail park, designed to achieve a “Very Good” score on the BREEAM scale.
Developed in joint partnership with Karuzela Holding, this new retail park has a gross leasable area (GLA) of 14,100 sqm, comprising 20 retail units and parking for 500 cars, and is located adjacent to an existing Leroy Merlin store and McDonald's restaurant.
In addition to food anchor Netto, other tenants include a mix of leading convenience brands, such as Action, JYSK, Kik, Tedi, CCC and Media Expert. The retail park has been developed on behalf of the First Retail International 2 fund (FRI 2) in joint venture with Karuzela Holding. Bank financing has been provided by mBank.
Mateusz Szymczak, Mitiska REIM’s Investment Manager in Poland, comments: “This new retail park in Pulawy is a proven retail location with good visibility and is easily accessible by car, bicycle and public transport. Now open, it has become the largest retail center in the region.”
Grzegorz Pękalski, Member of the Board of Karuzela Holding, said: “By spotting the opportunity to repurpose an existing hypermarket, we have been able to take advantage of the existing zoning and trading history of the site to create a new convenience retail center for both the city and surrounding area.”
Sylvie Geuten-Carpentier, Managing Partner of Mitiska REIM, adds: “We are delighted to continue to work closely with the Karuzela team to expand our operations in Poland. This investment is a good example of our de-risked development approach, working in partnership with a specialized local partner on the ground.”
Mitiska REIM and Karuzela Holding have a current portfolio in Poland of 5 standing assets and 8 development projects, with a combined gross leasable area (GLA) of approximately 160,000 sqm. This year, 2 more development projects are scheduled to open in the cities of Wągrowiec and Kołobrzeg.
