MDC reports that 14 months before the opening date 84 per cent of Hagen's Volme-Galerie has already

* 84% of the total area of the inner city shopping centre has been let
* Anchor tenants are Saturn, Sport Arena, Wehmeyer fashion store and H & M
* Attractive food and catering concepts fill the new Friedrich-Ebert-Platz with life
* A section of the Volme-Galerie entitled 'Stadtfenster' (Window to the City) will open in October of this year

Good news for Hagen retailers: Multi Development Corporation Deutschland (MDC) reports that 84 per cent of the space available in the Volme-Galerie has been let. This represents almost half of the total of 60 shops.

The Euro 120 million project in the redesigned and pedestrian-only Friedrich-Ebert-Platz square in HagenÂ's city centre comprises two building sections: the freestanding 'Stadtfenster' (Window to the City) with approx. 2,000 m2 retail space and offices on two upper storeys and the main building situated next to the historic tower of the town hall. Volme GalerieÂ's total area of around 26,000 m2 also encompasses what was formerly the city centre speciality market. The new retail spaces currently emerging comprise around 14,500 m2. Around 72 per cent of new spaces have been let.

With anchor tenants like Saturn (approx. 6,000 m2), Sport-Arena, Kidz Only and Wehmeyer fashion store (all occupying an area of around 3,000 m2) and with a branch of H & M (2000 m2 ) in Hagen for the first time, the Volme-Galerie exerts a force of attraction to all kinds of visitors to Hagen. Up-market clothes shops (e.g. Springfield, Vero Moda), fashionable footwear (e.g. Rolandschuhe, Deichmann), services and convenience goods stores round off the mixture of trades in the Volme-Galerie. 'In Hagen as well as in other MDC retail locations, we endeavour to bring together a range that complements the stores in the adjacent pedestrian precinct,' says Christian Iwansky, Managing Director of MDC Deutschland GmbH, 'so that ultimately the whole inner city benefits from the interest generated by the Volme-Galerie.' The particularly attractive feature of Volme-Galerie in the new city centre concept for Hagen is its varied food and catering concepts that will continue to bring life to the Galerie and Friedrich-Ebert-Platz long after the shops have closed. For example, Celona Café & Bar (Extrablatt Group) offers varied food and catering with Mediterranean flair all day long as well as events and live acts in the evenings and at the weekend. They, together with Don Peppino pizzeria and Mühlen bakerÂ's shop (both situated in the 'Stadtfenster'), will guarantee a very busy and popular central location. Against the backdrop of the historic town hall and the striking architecture of the Volme-Galerie, visitors can now, for the first time, go shopping, relax and enjoy the new quality of urban infrastructure at Friedrich-Ebert-Platz. Also located at special points inside the Galerie are e.g. espresso bar, ice-cream parlour and an international snack service. The soon-to-open Ratskeller Restaurant in the basement of neighbouring town hall tower has been designed by the Dortmund Aktienbrauerei brewery and will concentrate more on good home cooking.

MDC will completely renovate and almost double the number of parking spaces in the multi-storey car park of the former specialist market to a total of around 850 parking spaces. MDC has found a reliable partner in the European car park operator Q-Park. This means that future visitors to Hagen city centre will benefit from a well-lit and customer-friendly car park equipped with CCT and with its own direct entrances to Volme-Galerie.

MDC can offer other potential tenants retail spaces in the Volme-Galerie in sizes ranging from 40 to 250 m2. The Stadtfenster is scheduled to open in autumn of this year, while Volme-Galerie will open in Spring 2003.

(source: Multi Development Corporation)

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