History

ECC started with a vision by Dutch entrepreneur Dion L.J. Heijmans some 18 years ago. Heijmans was one of the first to understand that the combination of the improving economy in Central and Eastern Europe – especially in Poland – and the lack of retail and office space complying with international standards did offer some major opportunities. In the 1990s, Heijmans was able to realize various ambitious office developments in the city of Warsaw. Heijmans’ projects were developed for the purpose of both operation and sale. In 1991 the first office building developed by Heijmans was inaugurated by Albert, the future King of Belgium, leading a Belgian trade mission of some 50 entrepreneurs to Poland. Partly also as a result of Heijmans’ efforts to point out the opportunities offered by the Polish real estate market, developers from Belgium have invested over EUR 2 billion in Polish real estate up to the present day.

The PROMENADA Shopping and Entertainment Centre remains the ECC Group flagship. Having seen the completion of phases I and II in 1996 and 1999, phase III was delivered in 2005. Boasting over 200,000 sqm of commercial real estate delivered, the ECC Group is one of the leading investors in the Polish property market. ECC offers a wide range of products and services connected with property management and development, as well as project and construction management. Several years ago, the ECC Group made the strategic decision to widen its scope to new, emerging real estate markets in Central Southern Europe, North Africa and Southeast Asia. The second strategic decision was to invest in promising property investment and development opportunities using both own financial resources as well as newly attracted capital from equity partners. ECC Invest was founded in 2007 to initiate, structure and manage real estate investment projects.