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Across Magazine: Futureal lays foundation stone of Buda’s largest shopping centre
Futureal Group celebrated the launch of its EUR 300 million Etele Plaza’s construction with a foundation stone laying ceremony. Buda’s biggest shopping centre is a key element of the group’s property development projects in Budapest’s 11th district.
The capital’s first smart plaza together with Budapest ONE Business Park will become a driving force for the further development of South-Buda.
Etele Plaza, with a gross area of 137,000 sq m, combining digital services and architectural solutions unique in Hungary, will be built in the immediate vicinity of Etele square, the largest multimodal transport hub of Hungary, connecting several modes of transport.
With a rentable area of 55,000 sq m, built in the meeting point of the Kelenföld railway station, underground line 4 and the approach section of M1-M7 motorways, Etele Plaza can be accessed—by direct lines—in just 10 minutes from downtown. The hub is used already now by 165,000 people daily.
According to the expectations, the primary catchment area of Etele Plaza—attracting almost 40,000 shoppers from the capital daily—will be one the most densely populated areas of Budapest, where some 235,000 people live. Over 640,000 inhabitants can be reached within 10-20 minutes drive time and more than 1,200,000 citizens within 20-30 minutes. The residents of the district represent 125 percent of the national average purchasing power under a relatively low degree of retail supply.
Etele Plaza designed by Paulinyi – Reith & Partners will feature 180 shops, a supermarket, restaurants, cafés, a multiplex cinema, a gym, a children’s play centre and a range of other services with nearly 1,300 parking lots. The most advanced location and navigation system will facilitate parking in the building by indicating empty spaces, it will also help customers to find the chosen stores or services through a mobile application.
In the inner space an interactive LED display media interface of almost 200 sq m will add to the uniqueness of the centre, representing the latest generation of shopping centre design. The elegant entrance hall of Etele Plaza, the fashion brand corridors, the attractive internal event space and the terrace directly connected to the restaurant level, will all contribute to the unique atmosphere.
This summer Futureal Group concluded a loan contract of EUR 150 million available for 10 years with a consortium of UniCredit and Erste Group for the development of Etele Plaza. Futureal’s iconic office development project, the Budapest ONE office park in Őrmező is being built in the immediate vicinity of the shopping centre.
The first phase of the office building, with a total area of more than 65,000 sq m, will provide offices of almost 25,000 sq m, as well as commercial and service units on 2,600 sq m, spacious green areas and an underground garage for 480 cars for the several thousands of employees working in the centre.
’Etele Plaza is a niche retail project in South-Buda that will also give an impetus to the development of the area. Futureal Group is currently working on over 30 projects with a total value of EUR 1 billion over 700 000 sq m. This shopping and entertainment centre is a flagship project in our portfolio,’ – Gábor Futó, founder of Futureal Group said.
Etele Plaza’s latest video made by Umbrella has also been launched that features the shopping centre’s outstanding design and solutions. At the foundation stone laying ceremony guests could have a look at Etele Plaza in 3D in a touch-screen showroom.
The article on Across Magazine is available here.