The Irish property developer Ballymore is to finance and build an international trade centre in Slovakia's capital city of Bratislava. Jack Fagan reports from Bratislava

More than €250 million will be spent on the construction of the first phase of the scheme, which will include a major shopping centre, office complex, hotel, leisure and entertainment facilities, 250 apartments and an underground car park.

The second stage of the mixed-use scheme will also have a commercial element as well as 900 apartments.

The choice of Ballymore Properties to carry out the largest private development to date in Slovakia will be seen as a major coup by Sean Mulryan's company, which has been involved in the property markets in Central Europe for the past ten years. It is now one of the top international property development companies and currently has 28 projects with an estimated value of €22 billion in its landbank at either planning stage or under construction.

Ballymore is also the largest private land owner in the London docklands and in the coming weeks is to start construction on Europe's tallest residential towers close to Canary Wharf.

The company's 34-acre waterfront site in Slovakia extends from the river Danube to the centre of Bratislava and, according to city officials, is destined to become the new commercial heart of the city. It will include a large public square fronting the national theatre.

The first phase of the Eurovea International Trade Centre will take almost three years to complete. It will have a floor area of 230,000 sq m (almost 2.5 million sq ft) including the country's first regional shopping centre with more than 40,000 sq m (430,560 sq ft) of retail accommodation.

More than 40 per cent of the space has already been allocated to leading international traders. The opening of the shopping centre will more than double the overall volume of retail space in Bratislava, which has a population of over half a million people.

Ballymore is to retain ownership of the shopping centre, which is expected to have a rent roll of about €20 million per year. The company is also to lease the planned five-star, 220 bedroom hotel to a leading American hotel chain. Operators will also be sought for an eight-screen multiplex cinema, an Imax theatre and a health and fitness centre.

Ballymore is also building 23,000 sq m (247,572 sq ft) of high quality offices, which will be aimed at the increasing number of overseas finance and high tech companies looking at Slovakia since the government cut the basic income tax rate to 19 per cent.

Ballymore's property interests in Central Europe are being managed by the economist Dr Peter Bacon, who joined the company about a year ago.