The European retail real estate industry is yet again facing serious changes. The flow in the big developers’ development pipelines is decreasing significantly. New developments of conventional shopping centers in Central and Eastern Europe are in short supply; we believe that this trend will even intensify. Zoning decisions for straight forward retail projects are getting harder and harder to obtain on the continent. Retail space per capita seems to have reached its upper limit. The former lessor market is gradually turning into a lessee market. Even the needs and standards of today’s European consumers differ substantially from those of the past.
But how does the industry react to these distortions? The line of approach is obvious: the guiding principle of major developers is to move away from properties that are used exclusively for retail purposes and towards mixed-use projects. It is peak season for these mixed-used approaches. The industry tries to meet the requirements of this new reality with a mix of living, working, shopping, leisure, and entertainment. Public spaces are discovered, conquered, utilized, and managed. Multifunctional buildings and open spaces reflect our time’s changing life conditions. The “new way” seems promising, as several highly successful projects, which were realized in the recent past, already prove.
We are not ignoring this trend either. After numerous internal and external discussions, we decided to substantially expand the scope of our reporting. More retail, more leisure, more gastronomy, more mixed-use, and more placemaking is what we are aiming for in 2020 and the years to come. Therefore “ACROSS – The European Retail Real Estate Magazine“ has now become “ACROSS – The European Retail Real Estate and Placemaking Magazine“ to publicly reflect our editorial evolution.
We are confident that this step will enable us to inform you even more comprehensively and precisely about the events and trends of the retail real estate and retail industry.
