Piotr Gromniak, President of the Management Board, with Rafał Kwiatkowski, Procurator of Echo Investment, and Wiesław Trąmpczyński, Rector, with Barbara Goszczyńska, Chancellor of the Kielce University of Technology, signed an agreement of lease of the University’s areas between Galeria Echo and the University’s student hostels. Michał Sołowow, key shareholder of Echo, also attended the meeting.

According to the agreement, Echo Investment shall built a sports hall for the Kielce University of Technology for 30-year leasehold of site whereon a multi-level car park will be built. In addition, the Company will transfer funds for VAT payment to the University and reserve one hundred parking spaces for the University on the new car park. "This is a pioneering undertaking by a public university and a private company", said Professor Wiesław Trąmpczyński.

Construction of a car park for nearly 2300 vehicles and of a new traffic system will commence in September as the first stage of extension of Galeria Echo.

The sports hall will have an area of nearly 3,500 square meters. It will be used for didactic purposes and for holding contests in various sports disciplines. An approx. 40 x 43.5 m court will be available for playing futsal, as well as two volleyball and basketball courts, or tennis courts. A convenient changing room complex, as well as a fitness club, a gym and a shooting range is also envisaged in the facility. The auditorium of the hall will hold over 500 spectators. ‘We are entering the building site in spring 2009 and we are going to open the completed facility at Christmas’, said Piotr Gromniak, President of the Management Board. The building will also be adapted for organization of cultural events. Estimated value of the facility is ca. 16 million PLN.

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Presently, the Galeria Echo mall in Kielce is approximately 68,000 sq. m in size, including ca. 26,000 sq. m leasable area. The design assumes building 4 shopping floors and a multi-level car park which may contain 2300 vehicles. After extension, gross floor area of Galeria Echo will be about 159,000 sq. m, including 66,000 sq. m GLA. The mall will be integrated in its surroundings while maintaining environment-friendly proportions. Use of high quality materials, such as glass, stone and steel, will emphasize modern character of the design.

Nearly 300 retail outlets will be available to customers in the extended Galeria Echo.  The two top floors of the mall are designated for entertainment and recreation functions. Customers may use a gym, a fitness club, a 12-track bowling alley, a disco, numerous restaurants, cafes, a playroom for kids, and other attractions distributed across different storeys of the shopping center.

The new Galeria Echo will be opened in 2010. Estimated value of investment is ca. 400 million PLN. The design of Galeria Echo extension has been developed at Detan Architectural Studio of Kielce. Facade design was executed by Open Architekci architectural design office of Warsaw.

www.nowa.galeriaecho.pl