ECE starts development of Turkey's Marmara Park

The Turkish arm of German shopping centre specialist ECE has announced it will start construction of the Marmara Park shopping centre in Istanbul's Beylikdüzü / Esenyurt region in early 2011.

The company, which has just presented the project, said Marmara Park will become one of the largest shopping centres in Europe on completion in the autumn of 2012. The scheme will feature around 100,000 m² of gross lettable area across 250 shops. It will also include 4,000 parking spaces. The total investment volume for Marmara Park is around EUR 220 mln, ECE said.

'This project will set a new benchmark for shopping and entertainment not only in Turkey but in all of Europe,' said Andreas Hohlmann, general manager of ECE Türkiye.

Separately, the Hamburg-based developer said that architects RKW Rhode Kellermann Wawrowsky have been selected for the design of the EUR 500 mln Quartier am Mailänder Platz urban development project in Stuttgart, Germany. The firm beat over 10 other renowned architectural firms for the contract.

Located in the Europaviertel district of Stuttgart, the project represents a partnership between ECE, Strabag Real Estate and Bayerische Hausbai (BHGKG). It comprises around 400 flats, a 160-room hotel, office and retail space as well as 1,680 parking spaces. The start of construction is scheduled for spring 2012 with completion of the overall project due by spring 2015.