The ECM Group has announced plans to further expand its reach in Europe by buying Russian property for sale and undertaking a large scale retail project in the city of Ryazan.  The Ryazan Shopping Mall project will be the only shopping centre of its kind in the area and will directly provide services to over 800,000 citizens.  Ryazan, which is 180 km southeast of Moscow, provides the ideal opportunity for ECM to begin developing in Russia.  The total investment in the project will reach 100 million Euro.  The shopping mall will consist of 60,000 m2 of leasable area in a single floor design on a piece of land which is approximately 25 hectares.  This is one of the largest investment projects to take place in this region of Russia.

 “We are pleased that we have found such an advantageous opportunity to enter the Russian market.  With the Ryazan project, ECM is not only continuing to implement projects in other areas of Europe, but the project also has a very promising outlook because it will be the only shopping centre of its kind in this area,” ECM’s marketing and PR manager Katerina Hainzova describes, and adds: “We are focusing on the fact that this will be a unique solution for Ryazan residents and we believe that the strategy we have implemented will be very successful in this growing part of Europe.  The Ryazan Shopping Mall will also provide competitive rents for tenants making it very lucrative not only for consumers but also for businesses and company’s in Ryazan.”

The Ryazan Shopping Mall will be located in close proximity to two of the most important roads in the city, the main connection to Moscow as well as the Ryazan City circular.  The Ryazan Shopping Mall will also provide 3,500 parking spaces for potential shoppers and customers.  The market leader for designing inner city shopping centers in Europe will be designing the project, ECE Projekmanagement Germany (ECE).  ECE is the investment and development partner as well, while also being responsible for project management, general planning, leasing and centre management.  The Ryazan Shopping Mall will also be in a first mover position, with no comparable competition in the Ryazan region. The conceptual design for the Ryazan Shopping Mall is currently focusing on “large anchor tenants” such as a super market, a do-it-yourself store an electronics store and clothes retailers.  ECM’s strategy in Russia is based on medium and large size commercial real estate project in cities with more than 500 000 people located in European part of Russia.  ECM has a diversified and individual approach to each city in addressing its needs for office, retail or residential development.