Ocean Plaza, a giant entertainment and shopping complex, is opening on Nov. 19 in one of this year’s most anticipated events for Kyiv’s retail world. A grand opening celebration is set to take place on Dec. 7.
Occupying 165,000 square meters, Ocean Plaza will be the second largest shopping mall in Kyiv, after Dream Town in the Obolon neighborhood. Moreover, it is also set to bring 20 new brand stores that haven’t entered Ukraine yet. The complex is also expected to employ 4,000 people at more than 300 shops, 30 cafes, three department stores and a 10,000 square-meter supermarket.
“We see great opportunities in this project. Its unique central location and architectural concept will attract a huge flow of visitors,” said Aleksandr Nikitin, head of TPS Nedvizhimost, through the press service of the Russian investment and development company that manages Ocean Plaza mall.
TPS Nedvizhimost co-owns the mall with Ukrainian investment and development companies UDP and K.A.N. Development, which have invested about $200 million in the project.
Ocean Plaza is also the first big mall in Kyiv’s city center. It is close to Lybidska metro stop in the Holosiivsky district, a neighborhood that is under-served in retail, according to a recent report by Jones Lang LaSalle.
“It offers what is most possible for this particular place (in the) amount of shops, brands and restaurants,” says Natalya Mykolaichuk, head of the commercial real estate department at DTZ, a leading global integrated corporate real estate solutions and facilities management company.
New brand chains will include Michael Kors, Marina Rinaldi, Max Mara Weekend, Stefanel, Reiss, Caterina Leman, Choupette, Blanco, Suvari, and Cinque.
A 350,000-liter aquarium offering a 16-meter long panoramic view of more than 1,000 sea creatures is another attraction at the mall.
A 2,400 square-meter entertainment center filled with a four-level labyrinth, autodrome and other attractions is aimed at children. The first in Ukraine, a 7D cinema that involves viewers in scenes, will be also housed in the mall.
Kyivans await the opening eagerly.
“I and my friends used to hang out in Dream Town but now we are very much looking forward to visiting Ocean Plaza,” says Iryna Nesterenko, a freelance interpreter, who lives not far from the mall.
As of July, Kyiv has 179 square meters of trading space per 1,000 residents, among the lowest in Europe, according to a Jones Lang LaSalle survey. However, with Ocean Plaza as well as other new malls, trading space could increase to 220 square meters, stated the report.
Ocean Plaza has plans to build additional space, which is scheduled to open in 2014, offering 100,000 square meters of commercial space.
Kyiv Post staff writer Anastasia Forina can be reached at [email protected]
