On 30 August, Iulius Town Timisoara, Atterbury Europe’s much awaited mixed-use development in partnership with Iulius, opened its doors to the Romanian public in all its glory.

Atterbury Europe and the Romanian real estate powerhouse joined forces in 2017 in a 50/50 joint venture, and first on the list of priorities was the fast-tracking of the Iulius Town Timisoara project. Over the past two years leading up to the opening of the first phase on 30 August, the existing Iulius Mall was integrated into an extensive urban regeneration project, the likes of which has not been seen in Romania. “Together with our partner Atterbury Europe we have developed a regional business hub that feeds into the economic development, as well as a cosmopolitan shopping and leisure venue that is unique in Romania,” says Iulius President Iulian Dascalu.

The first phase of Iulius Town, which is situated in downtown Timisoara, contains a wide variety of retail shops, entertainment and leisure options, as well as premium office space, in the biggest-ever mixed-use development in the country. It is a real record-breaker, biggest retail space outside of the capital of Bucharest with 450 shops spread over 120 000 sqm; but also the biggest offering of class A office space, stretching over 100 000 sqm.

Atterbury Europe CEO Henk Deist has praised their Romanian partners and the powerful results being delivered by the partnership, calling the first phase of Iulius Town “infinitely impressive”.

And indeed, this groundbreaking development is set to be a jewel in the crown of Western Romania. Atterbury is known for creating beautiful mixed-use spaces that incorporate ultramodern business, leisure and retail facilities into human scale, and this “live, work and play” real-estate concept has transplanted beautifully to Western Romania. Iulius Town includes a number of premier international brands that are opening for the first time in Romania, and features some of the latest and most spectacular store concepts in Europe right now. Among the new stores shoppers can look forward to are A|X Armani Exchange, Superdry, Next, Zara Home, Peek & Cloppenburg and Marks & Spencer, while existing stores such Sephora, Guess, Massimo Dutti, Zara and more have had extensive facelifts and expansions.

Far from the boring food courts of old, Iulius Town delights patrons with a wide choice of cafés and themed restaurants, including Mexican, Lebanese and Mediterranean cuisines; and terraces with garden views of Iulius Gardens, an expansive green lung that offers a place to relax on the lawns, complete with a lake, a Venetian carousel, promenades and squares for a variety of open-air events.

World Class opened the largest fitness centre in Romania here, with a semi-Olympic swimming pool; and a state-of-the-art 12-cinema multiplex theatre is coming soon, along with a high-tech conference centre that will be able to host events with up to 1 000 guests.

And it is not only retail and recreation that is five-star at Iulius Town. The office space stretches over four buildings, three of which are already in operation, and the fourth, currently under construction, will be the tallest building in Romania. In total around 13 000 employees will eventually come to work here every day. United Business Centre, which is due for completion in 2020, will contain a 3 000 sqm medical hub, restaurants and a conference centre, in addition to 52 000 sqm of leasable office space over 27 floors.

This volume of expected traffic has also required significant infrastructure upgrades, and the developers invested in a variety of measures, including widening and upgrading of streets around the precinct, and the construction of a traffic underpass that streamlines traffic in the area. An extensive art project brought together 30 of the best graffiti artists from Europe and as far afield as Mexico, Peru and Venezuela, to decorate the underpass with an astounding mural art gallery.

The grand opening was spread over three spectacular festival days of art, music and fireworks, and included the shattering of a Guinness World Record – the most LED lights ever to be switched on simultaneously. Records are made to be broken, and at Iulius Town this will only be the beginning…