* the project concept is developed by Foster + Partners,a world leading architecture studio, with international specialist teams, basedon the findings of the consultations and workshops with community stakeholders,the business community, the academic community, and public administrations
* kickstarting the most extensive decontaminationendeavor in Romania, entailing the fitting out and fixturing of specialtylaboratories, research infrastructure with national impact
* nursery fitted in Lazu village: the first 520 trees
* archeological research works in progress
* 800 million Euro investment in an integrated urbanregeneration mixed-use project, with various components: cultural, educational,retail, public utility functions and services, entertainment, sports andleisure facilities, park and botanical garden, amphitheater, artistic and business events halls,entertainment centers, office and residential, pedestrian, bicycle and vehicle trafficconnectivity and mobility solutions
* 38 hectares of inactive, formerly industrial land,reactivated as a hub for economic, touristic, and social development, in line withthe urban development strategies of the city
* the investmentis aligned with the city's major strategic urban development projects
* discover the vision proposed by IULIUS and Foster+Partners- https://bitly.cx/qfRCb
IULIUS Companyis announcing the vision proposed for the most extensive reconversion, bioremediationand urban revitalization project in Romania, developed on a 38 hectares land inConstanța. The project is reshaping the way urban development is made and representsa vision whereby Constanța will be put on the map of Europe’s major urbanlandmarks deemed magnet-cities. A best practice model for aligning a privateinvestment upwards of 800 million Euro with the urban development strategies ofthe city and the country, which focuses on creating a ‘city within the city’type integrated urban complex, with complementary uses, that will help transformthe area into a hub for regional, economic, social and touristic development:
· cultural and educational – to support local initiatives, develop the academiccommunity, and diversify the leisure offer;
· retail – witha complete mix of services, brands, and facilities that support the localentrepreneurship and address the community’s requirements;
· public utility functions and services;
· entertainment and edutainment – with new concepts, marking regional or even nationalpremieres, that support the city’s attractiveness as a year-round tourist destination,while also providing locals with new entertainment opportunities in the city;
· sports and leisure facilities;
· park and botanical garden – fitted with hundreds of mature trees, providing agreen backdrop, environmental benefits, and set to become a community hub;
· office – todraw companies from industries with added value and to diversify careeropportunities for young people, geared towards human resource retention;
· pedestrian, bicycle and vehicle traffic connectivity andmobility solutions – to support the implementation of the regeneration,mobility and connectivity solutions of the public administration for the AnghelSaligny development area.
Thevision proposed for the project is signed by Foster + Partners, thearchitecture studio that created some of the most spectacular, challenging andimpactful urban developments across the globe, and focuses on creating a new hubof Constanța, a dynamic and people-centered one, celebrating the local heritageand progress alike. A regeneration of downtown Constanța, which is currently a pollutedformer industrial site. “We are excited for the opportunity to be part ofConstanța’s future. Our urban plan embraces sustainability, inclusivity andinnovation, showcasing how the industrial past of Constanța will become one of itsgreatest assets. In transforming the urban wasteland into a vibrant hub, weinvite locals, investors and tourists to be a part of this transformativejourney towards a city that honors its history and embraces a future brimmingwith life. This is a regenerative journey, involving an entire team ofspecialists for solving its many challenges. Thus, our vision prioritizes theenvironmental focus, by integrating green corridors, remediating a hydrocarbon-contaminatedland, removing boundaries and developing a sustainable development that complimentsharmoniously the existing cityscape,” said Maximilian and DanielZielinski, Senior Partners Foster + Partner.
“Constanțais impressive through its history and its defining mosaic of culture andcivilization, which is why our project will be designed to honor this heritage.Our wish is to make Constanța a year-round destination, 365 days a year, byestablishing a new point of interest, a new destination and new opportunitiesto promote the city as a business, cultural and social hub. We will do so withthe same commitment to our development model, that is restoring a previouslyindustrial area back to the city, reconverted as a living part thereof,smoothly integrated with the urban regeneration masterplan of the city, with alot of green spaces, new experiences, and consulting with the community. Thenew development will feature an impressive diversity of entertainment venues, coffeeshops, restaurants, first-to-market family leisure concepts, sports infrastructure,thus becoming a community space, the most vibrant part of the city, in an areathat is currently cut off from the urban life,” said Raluca Munteanu, IULIUS Development Manager.
520 mature trees currently acclimating in Constanța
Extensivegreen spaces are a central feature of IULIUS projects. The project in Constanțawill feature a park with mature trees, up to 60 years of age, and a botanicalgarden. In the last months of 2024, IULIUS completed the fitting out of thefirst private dendrological nursery in Dobruja, in Lazu Village, which alreadyaccommodates 520 mature trees of the total 2,000 to form the green areas builtfrom scratch across the project.
Oneof the largest bioremediation projects in Europe
The 38hectares to accommodate the development of the urban reconversion project havebeen inactive for more than 10 years now, and previously accommodated storageinfrastructure for oil products, therefore IULIUS will carry out the mostextensive environmental remediation project in the European real estate. Allthe necessary endeavors are currently underway for implementing thebioremediation procedures. The process will also help to develop a researchinfrastructure with national impact, by partnering with the National Research &Development Institute for Pedology, Agrochemistry and Environmental Protection (ICPA)in Bucharest, as well as with the Ovidius University of Constanța. IULIUS fitteda laboratory with special equipment necessary for implementing the bioremediationat the ICPA in Bucharest, while also fixturing a laboratory for testing and analyzingoil products at the University in Constanța.
Thearcheological research process is also currently in progress, being carried outby a mixed team of specialists from the Institute of Archeological Researchwithin the Iași chapter of the Romanian Academy, and from the National Historyand Archeology Museum of Constanța.
Aformer industrial area reconnected with the city as a development hub
The investment is aligned with the city's major strategicurban development projects: regeneration of the Anghel Saligny area, multimodalurban mobility solutions, such as the metropolitan train, revitalization of theSaligny tunnel, integration and connectivity with the trading port ofConstanța, etc. The connectivity and integration of the central-western area ofConstanța with the rest of the city, as targeted by a more extensivedevelopment strategy of the administration, are paramount for implementing adirection that is capable of leveraging its major transformation potential.
“Constanța has a unique opportunity toreinvent itself through urban reconversion, as it has untapped land resources. Wewanted to support the local efforts geared towards the urban regeneration of amore extensive area, which also includes the 38 hectares where we will carryout the IULIUS investment. Multidisciplinary teams of specialists have workedto identify the optimal solutions to ensure a coherent and futureproof urbandevelopment, aligned with the strategic plans for the entire area. Thus, thevision for the project features a new train station reintegrated in proximityto its current location. This could potentially complete the administration’splans to connect the entire area with the city. The solutionwill also help to shorten the railway segment and reduce the barriers itcreates, in favor of pedestrian, bicycle and public transit, and enabling amore efficient connectivity. This approach was proposed by specialists and itrequires a rigorous analysis by the community and the central and localadministration, who will also make the opportunity decision for itsimplementation,” added Raluca Munteanu.
Constanța365 – An invitation to developing the city together
Seekingthe opinion of the community is essential for shaping this project proposed by Iulius.Therefore, we launched the www.constanta365.roplatform to discover what Constanța residents would like to propose. We wish tobuild together a sustainable, inclusive and innovative space for the entirecommunity.
About Foster +Partners
Foster + Partners is a global studiofor architecture, urbanism and design, rooted in sustainability, which wasfounded over fifty years ago in 1967 by Norman Foster. Since then, he and theteam around him have established an international practice with a worldwidereputation for thoughtful and pioneering design, working as a single studiothat is both ethnically and culturally diverse. The studio integrates theskills of architecture with engineering, both structural and environmental,urbanism, interior and industrial design, model and film making, aeronauticsand many more – our collegiate working environment is similar to a compactuniversity. These diverse skills make us capable of tackling a wide range ofprojects, particularly those of considerable complexity and scale. Design is atthe core of everything that we do. We design buildings, spaces and cities; welisten, we question, and we innovate.
The studio has established aninternational reputation with buildings such as the Hearst Headquarters in NewYork, 30 St Mary Axe, popularly known as The Gherkin, in London, Millau Viaductin France, the German Parliament in the Reichstag, Berlin, The Great Court forthe British Museum, Headquarters for HSBC in Hong Kong and London, CommerzbankHeadquarters in Frankfurt, the Metro Bilbao, the Carré d’Art Nîmes, and thesustainable Masdar development in Abu Dhabi. Recent work includes Apple Park inCalifornia, Bloomberg’s new European headquarters in London, 425 Park Avenue inNew York, the new extension to the Marseille Airport, Battersea Roof Gardens inLondon, and two new stations for Sydney Metro. Currently, the practice isinvolved in projects such as the New Slussen Masterplan in Sweden, KuwaitInternational Airport, One Beverly Hills masterplan in California, 270 ParkAvenue in New York and the renovation of Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco.
About IULIUS
IULIUS Companyis a real estate developer and operator specialized in mixed-use urbanregeneration projects in Romania, with 25-plus years of real estate experienceand operating in four major Romanian cities – Iași, Timișoara, Cluj-Napoca andSuceava. The investments made in Romania add up to more than 1.2 billion Euro.
The companyportfolio comprises more than 310,000 sqm of retail premises in two mixed-useurban regeneration projects (Palas Iași and Iulius Town Timișoara), thenationwide network of regional shopping malls (Iulius Mall – Iași, Cluj-Napoca,and Suceava), and the Family Market projects in Iași (Miroslava and Bucium).The projects are regional market leaders and draw more than 70 mil. visitsevery year.
In just 10short years, IULIUS came into prominence as one as the most active developersand operators of class A office buildings, creating regional business hubs andmultinational creative communities under the United Business Center nationalbrand in three major academic centers in Romania – Iași, Timișoara andCluj-Napoca. ). In total, there are 15 green buildings with a total areaupwards of 242,000 sqm, accommodating more than 142 company offices and 29,500-plusemployees.
To this date, IULIUS developed 13 hectares of urban gardens fitted with 80,000-plustrees and shrubs, which entailed investments upwards of 18 million Euro. Intotal, the company’s public utility investments add up to more than 190 millionEuro, including the community facilities, parks, as well as the infrastructuresolutions.
IULIUS Company is currently developing two mixed-use urban reconversionprojects in Cluj-Napoca and Constanţa, respectively, entailing an estimatedinvestment upwards of 1.3 billion Euro.