Against the backdrop of a saturated market, currently, the focus is on optimizing existing shopping centers. After years of investor reluctance, this also offers potential for action in the shopping center transaction market. In view of their risk premium compared to other types of retail use, shopping centers are becoming increasingly attractive and may once again attract the interest of investors with a value-add or opportunistic investment profile in particular, reports Nord LB.
Nord LB defines Future-proof shopping centers as green buildings that also function as third places (meeting spots) and connect the digital and analog worlds of shopping. The two megatrends of health and education will reportedly also drive the future evolution of shopping centers into lifestyle hubs for future generations. As such, shopping in the traditional sense will become a minor matter in these places.
According to the study, best practice cases in Germany that share said features are the The Playce in Berlin, the Pasing Arcaden in Munich, and the Westfield Überseequartier in Hamburg.
While shopping centers have tended to be seen as places of leisure and consumption over the past 15 years, they need to adapt to various trends and developments in order to remain fit for the future and garner further investor attention.
