The Dâmbovița Center (also named Casa Radio) is an unfinished building in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, near

Cotroceni Cotroceni is a neighbourhood in western Bucharest, Romania, located around the Cotroceni hill, in Bucharest's Sector 5. The nearest Metro stations are Eroilor, Academia Militară, and Politehnica. History The Hill of Cotroceni was once cove ...

, on the shore of the

Dâmbovița River Dâmbovița can refer to these places in Romania: * Dâmbovița County Dâmbovița County (; also spelt Dîmbovița) is a county () of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Târgoviște, the most important economic, political, administ ...

. Casa Radio (meaning ''Radio House'') was erected during the late 1980s by the Communist regime on land which before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

was the location of the Bucharest

Hippodrome Hippodrome is a term sometimes used for public entertainment venues of various types. A modern example is the Hippodrome which opened in London in 1900 "combining circus, hippodrome, and stage performances". The term hippodroming refers to fr ...

. The building was intended to serve as the National Museum of History (Muzeul Național de Istorie) of the

Socialist Republic of Romania The Socialist Republic of Romania (, RSR) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist One-party state, one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989 (see Revolutions of 1989). From 1947 to 1965, the state was ...

. The balcony (which no longer exists) of the unfinished building facing Știrbei Vodă Street was used by the Romanian dictator

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( ; ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...

on 23 August 1989 to watch the festivities marking Romania's National Day. It was the last Communist-style parade in Romania.

Reimagination

The Romanian government contracted the construction of a hotel and a mall called "Dâmbovița Center" to the Turkish company Cenk Vefa Kucuk. The project was supposed to be a $275 million investment and the largest multipurpose complex in the region. It was supposed to build a 300-room hotel, 69,000 m² of retail spaces, 16,000 m² of offices, 45,000 m² of commercial galleries and a residential complex, designed to include 200 apartments, a parking lot, restaurants and a hospital. The government, which provided the building, would only receive 10% of the income. The government canceled the contract in 2005 because of irregularities regarding the auction, the company, and financing. The company stated it would sue to recover the money already invested. In the winter of 2006, a public-private partnership agreement between

Elbit Medical Imaging Elbit Imaging Ltd., formerly Elbit Medical Imaging Ltd., is an Israeli holding company with activities in real estate, medical imaging, hotels, shopping malls, and retail. The company was founded as a spin-off from Elron Electronic Industries an ...

, an Israeli company, and the Romanian government was announced to develop Casa Radio. The Romanian Government will remain a 15% partner in the scheme. Construction began in June 2007, after a decision to demolish 70% of the initial building, keeping only the

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

and the structural framework. The new project will consist of a mall of , a five star hotel with 320 rooms, a residential area with 300 apartments and three office towers of 26, 30 and 34 floors with the last tower having . Plaza Centers, the developer of Casa Radio in Bucharest entered in 2013 judicial reorganization under the protection of the Dutch bankruptcy law, the Israeli investor Mordechay Zisser announced. Plaza Centers intends to invest in Romania in projects with a total value of nearly EUR 2 billion, the largest of projects being Dâmbovița Center, built on the platform of Casa Radio. In July 2014, Plaza Centers successfully completed

debt restructuring Debt restructuring is a process that allows a private or public company or a sovereign entity facing cash flow problems and financial distress to reduce and renegotiate its delinquent debts to improve or restore liquidity so that it can continu ...

and emerges from reorganization proceeding, and after 2014 it sold Kragujevac Plaza in Serbia and a shopping center in India. The development of Casa Radio comprises approximately of built area, including a GLA shopping mall and indoor leisure center, approximately GBA of offices, hotel complex with conference center and underground car parking spaces. The Company Plaza Centers expected to complete the first phase of the project, which includes the shopping center, parking and PAB, in 2017.

References

External links

Plaza Centers redevelopment
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dambovita Center Unfinished buildings and structures in Romania Buildings and structures in Bucharest Cotroceni