Auchan to open store in Palas Iasi project

French retailer Auchan will open a store in Iasi, within the Palas real estate project in the Moldavian city. The retailer and Iulius Group, the developer will hold a joint press conference announcing the opening on Thursday, September 16. Palas Iasi is a real estate project downtown Iasi developed by a company owned by Romanian businessman Iulian Dascalu. The project includes retail, offices and residential spaces, along with hotels. The project is built on a 120,000 sqm area and wil be completed in 2011. It was announced to require EUR 250 million in investment. It will include Palas Shopping Street, Palas Mall, two office buildings, four residential buildings. It was announced to include a 50,000 sqm park, a summer theater, a skating rink. The project is built in partnership with the Iasi City Council, the owner of the land where the project is being built. The real estate developers had previously estimated the project would bring EUR 150 million in benefits to the local budget until 2055. Auchan is planning to open a store in Pallady Shopping Center in Bucharest in 2012. The retailer has previously said it was planning to double the number of stores, up to 14 units in Romania by 2012. Auchan and Iulius Group have previously partnered in opening stores within Iulius group projects- the Iulius Mall shopping centers in Timisoara, Cluj and Suceava. romania-insider.com