Financiarul

Leisure Dome Bucharest, the world’s largest indoor multi¬purpose complex to cover 400,000 square metres, will be built in Romania in the Snagov area, manager of the Dutch developer Axion Leisure Development George Barbulescu reports.

‘We have started the project in August 2008. We are now at an initiative stage and if everything goes according to plan, the complex will open on December 12, 2012.

We have opened today in Bucharest a door to those who want to invest and stand to gain in the process,’ said Barbulescu.

The complex, said to be built according to a unique design, would be located in the Snagov area and stretch over 55 hectares, owned by a Romanian businessman, who agreed to contribute the land toward the project. Developers say the agreement should be signed in early September 2009.

‘We have two plans B in case we fail to sign the agreement over this land. One of plans regards a plot of land also in the Snagov area and the other a plot of land somewhere in southern Bucharest.

Yet, we hope to start off the project according to the initial plans, so that in January 2011 we may start the construction proper,’ says Barbulescu.

The Leisure Dome Bucharest complex should cover 400,000 square metres, 200,000 metres of which should be indoor, 63,000 square metres designed for sports, 28,000 for leisure activities, 11,000 for healthcare, 15,000 for restaurants and cafes and 37,000 for retail trading.

A hotel with a casino and a 14,000-square-metre area will round up the complex, which will be served by a helicopter pad to be built at the hotel.

The complex should be a permanent venue for skiing, snowboarding, skating, subtropical water sports, including surfing and diving, which would be singular in Eastern and Central Europe.

An indoor golf course, singular in the world, is also designed to be there, plus Europe’s largest gaming venue – for 3D, 4D and 5D games, virtual reality and cinema – wellness, fitness, tennis courts, a large area of hypermarkets, restaurants and theme clubs, an ice bar, a hotel, a casino and a convention centre.

The best scenario reads 22 million visitors a year, as developers are betting on large waves of tourists ‘tired of already known destinations such as the theme parks of Florida, Paris or the Turkish Riviera.

‘ The project takes into account a 50-year running life for the complex.

The project will be carried out by Axion Leisure Development of the Netherlands and the Benthem Dutch architecture office.

The funds for the projects should be raised from institutional investors, both local and international, private investors, banks and structural funds from the European Commission.

‘Leisure Dome Bucharest will be 100 percent eco-friendly and will place Romania on Europe’s green map, as it is designed as a highly sustainable neutral carbon dioxide project.

Investment in the own energy system of the complex that will use unconventional energy sources – sun, wind and thermal waters – is put at 80 million euros,’ says Barbulescu.