Multi Corporation, Blackstone's European retail platform, has launched Forum Gdansk, its latest flagship project in Poland.
The €194 mln scheme opened its doors on Saturday in Gdansk's inner city, offering 62,000 m2 GLA of retail, a multi-screen cinema, leisure facilities, restaurants and 1,100 parking spaces.
The project also includes a boutique hotel and the multi-functional Gdansk Heritage Centre. Comprising a new public transport hub, it stands adjacent to the main railway station, the Old Town and key municipal buildings.
'Forum Gdansk is unique, because it combines a huge variety of retail, leisure, cultural and gastronomic amenities, all interlinked via a striking infrastructural system, with lots of green, public spaces and sport facilities,' said Josip Kardun, CEO Multi Corporation.
'We are proud to open Forum Gdansk, one of Multi’s most challenging projects since its foundation in 1982. It provides a modern urban shopping destination for the 1.3 million inhabitants in its immediate catchment area, plus the 2.5 million tourists that visit Gdansk every year,' Kardun added.
New global brands for the Tri-City metropolitan area (which includes Gdansk, Sopot and Gdynia) include &Other Stories, with their second store in Poland, together with Jubirex and Okaidi. Forum Gdansk also offers a number of firsts for Gdansk, such as JOOP!, Liu Jo, Twin Set, COS, MAC, Made in G, Magnific Boutique, New Look, Paris Optique, VAN GRAAF, Max Mara by Weekend and Miss Etam.
Multi Poland, part of Multi Corporation, the Gdansk municipal authorities and PKP Polish Railways cooperated on the project. Multi developed the project and is responsible for the management of Forum Gdansk.
Multi’s in-house design studio TTDesign provided the concept design, while the Polish branch of French construction designers SUD Architectes was responsible for the detailed architectural plan.
