Israeli real estate developer Plaza Centers will break ground on its first shopping mall in Romania this year.

The project called Timisoara Plaza, with a rentable area of 38,000 sqm, will be located in the western city of Timisoara and is expected to be due in 2018. The anchor-tenant will be the French retailer Auchan.

Before the economic crisis hit, Plaza Centers had plans for several shopping centers in Romania, including one in Miercurea Ciuc. They failed due to lack of financing.

For the current project, the developer has already secured 65% of its financing. The future mall will compete with similar projects in Timisoara, including the mall developed in the last years by the South-African group NEPI. Iulius Mall, owned by Romanian investor Iulian Dascalu, is the oldest mall in the city.

Alpha Group Investments, an investment arm of the local lender Alpha Bank, also plans to build in Timisoara a project that includes a mall and office space.

Plaza Centers is involved in the grandiose real estate project Casa Radio, also called Dambovita Center, which is now on hold. The project aims to transform an unfinished building located on the shore of the Dambovita river in Bucharest, erected during the Communism years, into a shopping center, with office spaces, a hotel, and conference halls.

editor@romania-insider.com