Dan Ostahie, chairman of the Altex Group, which opened the biggest shopping centre controlled by its real estate division (Cometex) in Buzau yesterday, said he brought forward the inauguration of the mall despite the unfavourable economic climate to avoid losing major contracts.
"Even with the current economic conditions we would still have a lot to lose if one of the retailers left, had we postponed the opening until March, when 100% of the mall would have been complete," Ostahie said.
Aurora Shopping Mall in Buzau, which covers 25,000 square metres, is 85% rented, with the main anchors being a Carrefour hypermarket and an Altex store, in addition to retailers such as New Yorker, Intersport, Takko and Deichmann. Aurora Mall is a three-storey building, with an underground car park for 460 vehicles, a ground floor and a food court on the first floor.
The investment in the shopping centre amounted to 25 million euros.
"I have no intention of selling or giving up management. The investment amounted to 25 million euros and if we sold, we could get no more than 40 million euros last year. A few investment funds were interested in the project, but we decided to keep it, because it is the main shopping centre of the company," Ostahie said. He added that Aurora Shopping Mall would start turning a profit by spring, at which time all tenants will have settled in.
Cometex officials announced that the shopping project in Brasov would be opened some time in the next two weeks.
The project takes up 8,000 square metres and its main tenants will be Altex, Staer and Piritex.
The company is also planning to develop similar centres in Arad and Timisoara, and then will continue its plans to build a retail park in Alba Iulia in the first half of next year. Ostahie will start work on the shopping gallery in Ploiesti in March 2009, for which h
