OREANDA-NEWS. On 09 February 2009 was announced, that Dragon-Ukrainian Properties & Development (DUPD) and TIKO Construction Managing Company, which teamed up to develop a shopping centre on Komarova Avenue, have signed a preliminary lease agreement with LLC Kray, a local retail operator. According to the agreement, LLC Kray committed to be an anchor tenant for 5500 m² of selling space in the Avenue shopping mall, whose construction is expected to be completed in 2011.

The mall will have an estimated total area of 45 000 m², including nearly 25 000 m² of rentable shopping and entertainment space. The centre’s layout is specially designed to accommodate a few other anchor tenants, with 2 500 m² designated for a movie theater. The shopping gallery will house leading international and local brands.

LLC Kray operates a chain of Kray supermarkets and Krayina hypermarkets.

“We are delighted to have LLC Kray, the rapidly developing chain of Ukrainian supermarkets, as our anchor tenant. Among its key competitive advantages are various loyalty programs for customers, a wide product mix, including in-house brewery, bakery foods and confectionery, as well as constant implementation of innovative services and products”, Anna Skripkina, Director of Real Estate Department at TIKO Construction, said.

Volodymyr Tymochko, Partner at Dragon Asset Management, which runs DUPD’s projects, added that “despite tough market conditions, the negotiation of lease contracts is underway… Naturally, we prefer those tenants who have a clear-cut development strategy”. In his opinion, such a high interest towards the project is attributable to its favorable location in a densely populated district near a traffic artery, and professional concept of the centre.

“It was strategically important for LLC Kray to sign the agreement, as the expansion of our retail chain in Kyiv comes first on our priority list, both from the standpoint of our development prospects and capital investments”, says Volodymyr Bodnar, Development Director at LLC Kray.