Citycon opened the Liljeholmstorget Galleria shopping center in Stockholm on Thursday, 22 October. The new shopping center, located south of the city center, comprises some 28,000 m² of leasable area almost all of which has been leased. The total number of tenants in the shopping center in three stories is some 90 companies. The underground parking facility built for Liljeholmenstorget contains 900 parking spaces.
The building licence for the shopping centre required also housing development, and that is why 72 new rental apartments will be build above the shopping centre. Apartments are not part of Citycon's core business and have therefore been incorporated into a separate real estate company. After their completion next spring, the apartments will be sold to Heba Fastighets AB at the sale price of SEK 176 million (17.6 million).
Liljeholmstorget is the largest individual development project in Citycon's history with the total investment amounting to EUR 190 million. "Up to the present day, the commercial offering in the Liljeholmen district has been scarce, so most of the purchasing power has leaked out of the area. We believe that the demand for a new shopping centre is strong and its commercial success will be excellent," comments Petri Olkinuora, Citycon's CEO.
The most environmentally friendly shopping centre in Europe?
As far as traffic connections are concerned, the location of the new shopping centre adjacent to a metro station, tram line and feeder bus terminal is ideal. Liljeholmen is also one of the fastest growing and evolving work and residential districts in Stockholm.
Citycon seeks the highest international platinum standard LEED® green building certification for the Liljeholmstorget project. In case of Liljeholmstorget, environmental friendliness refers to, for instance, the excellent location adjacent to good public transportation and light traffic connections. "The water elements use 40% less water than the standard, the design solutions aim at keeping energy consumption 20 per cent below the standard, and cooling is effected by using district cooling system. In addition to these measures, investments have been made in recycling and high indoor air quality," says Kirsi Borg, Citycon's Manager of Environment and Sustainability, listing the achievements.
For Citycon, Liljeholmstorget is an important pilot project of responsible construction and the company's goals are ambitious. For the time being, there are no shopping centres in Europe with LEED® platinum certification. "As far as we can tell, Liljeholmstorget meets the criteria of platinum standard certification, but we cannot be totally sure about it until the assessment of the U.S. Green Building Council is completed in spring 2010," Borg says.
In the future, Citycon will implement all its property development projects in accordance with the environmental certification principles.
Source: Citycon
