CEE property developer Trigranit has announced plans to develop one of Europe's largest entertainment, commercial and conference centres south of Bratislava, Slovakia. The Metropolis scheme will be developed in a joint venture with Harrah's Entertainment, one of the world's largest casino operators.

Trigranit said this week that the project represents an investment of EUR 1.5 bn and is expected to create over 10 thousand new jobs in its construction phase, which will last almost five years.

This week, Harrah's Entertainment, which operates 54 casinos worldwide, told news agency Reuters that it is still negotiating financial details with Trigranit. A minimum of six banks are supposedly involved in the financing of the project.

The centre will be built on a 30-hectare site and is located at the intersection of highways that lead to Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and Prague, with four international airports nearby. With a gross buildable area of 1.2 million m2, Metropolis will include retail and leisure space, golf and hotel facilities, casinos as well as cultural and congress facilities.

The project will be developed in a number of phases, with the first one being the construction of the shopping and leisure centre, three hotels and a US-style casino. Later phases will see the construction of the conference facilities, golf courses, further casinos and luxury apartments.

Trigranit entered the Slovakian real estate market over 10 years ago and has since developed a number of large projects in the country, including the Millennium Towers and Lakeside Park.