Yesterday, in a public referendum, the citizens of Singen voted in favor of the construction of the planned ECE downtown shopping center. 21.6% of the eligible voters (7,813 votes) voted “Yes” while 15.2% (5,502 votes) of them voted “No”. Thus, the required quorum for the public referendum, which is 20% (7,245 votes) of all eligible voters, was met. A great majority of Singen city council had already decided in favor of the center at the end of May. With the confidence gained by these two positive decisions, ECE can now proceed full steam ahead with the development of the center.
“We are delighted that such a large and convincing majority of Singen’s citizens has voted in favor of the ECE center and that we have the full backing of the people, the politicians, and the authorities of Singen,” said ECE Project Manager Marcus Janko, commenting on the results of the public referendum. “We will now proceed with the development of this great project in Singen and we hope that we can still convince those citizens of Singen who have been critical to the project.”
The plans of ECE comprise a shopping center with a sales area of 16,000m² with 80 shops and premium dining options on three levels: The center will be located directly at the train station and the pedestrian zone. Approximately 500 parking spaces are planned for the center. The completion of the project, which has an investment volume of approximately €140m, has been scheduled for fall 2018. Approximately 370,000 people live in the catchment area of the center.
Its architecture and design will pay homage to the volcanic heritage of the region and the industrial tradition of the city – for example with soft shapes and warm colors that resemble geological structures and a ceiling that will feature a design resembling superimposed layers.
