IMMOFINANZ Group received the 'Extended/Refurbished Project of the Year' award from EuropaProperty for the second phase of the Silesia City Center. This annex, which was developed directly by the Group, opened in October 2011 and has since enjoyed great popularity, with 300,000 visitors counted in the first week alone. With 86,000 m² of selling space and a total of 310 shops, the Silesia City Center is one of the top five shopping centers in Poland.
The CEE Retail Real Estate Awards were presented this year for the fourth time by the portal EuropaProperty. On 9 February 2012 in Warsaw, well-known retailers and investors from nine countries were honoured in over 20 categories. The award for the 'Extended/Refurbished Project of the Year' went to IMMOFINANZ Group: the Silesia City Center extension convinced the jury of distinguished experts.
The opening in October 2011 was a huge success, not only because of a personal appearance by Paris Hilton: the Silesia City Center is the largest and most modern shopping center in Katowice, the heart of the economic region of Upper Silesia. This facility, which originally provided space for 250 shops on 66,000 m², was enlarged by the IMMOFINANZ Group's commercial development team to add 20,000 m² with space for an additional 60 stores. Together with the Maritimo Shopping Center, which opened last October in Romania and was recognised with the renowned CIJ Award, the Silesia City Center extension is one of the most important development projects completed by IMMOFINANZ Group in 2011.
"The extension of the Silesia City Center proved to be an excellent decision: high visitor frequency, the successful completion of refinancing in November and now this award as the 'Extended/Refurbished Project of the Year'. The EuropaProperty Award Gala was attended, just as every year, by all well-known names in the branch. That makes me even more pleased to see IMMOFINANZ Group as one of this year's winners", commented Eduard Zehetner, Chief Executive officer of IMMOFINANZ Group. "With the Silesia City Center we have set a course for Poland that we intend to continue in the future: our strategy calls for the development of high quality shopping centers, and our next project of this type will be realised in Lublin."
Source: IMMOFINANZ Group
