TIANJIN CITY, CHINA-Development Design Group Inc., based in Baltimore and also known as DDG, has been selected to design the four-million-square-foot retail center within the Tianjin City Culture center Development. Construction is underway on the nine-million-square-foot project, which will mostly feature public uses.

Tianjin Lecheng Real Estate Co. Ltd., the developer, hired DDG for the project in this city that’s about 20 minutes from Beijing. Besides the seven-story retail component, the complex will also house a grand theater and opera house, an art museum, a grand library, a youth education museum and a natural history museum.

The region, with about 12 million people, is seeing rapid and sustained GDP growth. Ahsin Rasheed with DDG tells GlobeSt.com that this project is surrounded by office and multifamily projects. “It’s very urban, with four high volume subways passing underneath the property,” he says.

The retail portion will be named Galaxy Grant, Rasheed says, and will feature astronomical names and features. Lotte Department Store, a Korean-based retailer, will anchor the retail portion, along with two IMAX theaters, a large skating rink, and a lot of high-end and European retailers, Rasheed says. The project is expected to be complete by fall 2012, he says.