Advertisement

Ticker

THE LATEST PLACEMAKING NEWS

The real estate market is truly gaining pace after two years of slowdown. New buildings in Bratislava city center have maintained relatively stable price levels despite interest rate hikes, and the combination of a recovering segment and an exceptional project can present a promising investment opportunity. As investors have historically found, purchasing a new apartment in Bratislava prior toconstruction will reap returns, states Peter Píš, JTRE’s Commercial Director.

As an urban developer, JTRE is uniquely positioned in Slovakia due to its specialization in constructing whole city districts. JTRE is significantly changing the city of Bratislava. Recently, the company developed Eurovea, one of Europe’s largest mixed-use projects. ACROSS spoke to Pavel Pelikan, Deputy Chairman of the Board and Executive Director, about JTRE’s plans, recent developments, and ways of doing business.

In 2023, Eurovea Shopping Center opened its doors. In Bratislava, Slovakia, a shopping center has been built to the latest standards as part of a district development. Since its opening, the large-scale project has kept all its promises and has been very popular. ACROSS spoke to the management of Eurovea about the first year of operation, its USP, and its meaning to the community. Eurovea shopping center shows that modern centers must serve people rather than just sell products.

Consumer sentiment continued its positive trend of the previous months in May and improved further. This is according to the latest consumer barometer published by the German Trade Association (HDE).

The subdued consumer sentiment is also evident in the footwear market, where the gap between private consumer spending and spending on shoes is widening as consumer prices rise. In 2023, total sales of shoes reached a market volume of 9.6 billion euros, which corresponds to growth of 3.8% in the previous year. These and other findings were published in the new „Branchenbericht Schuhe 2024“ (“Shoes 2024 Industry Report”) by IFH Köln in collaboration with BBE Handelsberatung.

Lidl GB has announced plans to open hundreds of new stores across the country, creating thousands of new jobs. This follows a year of significant investment in its infrastructure to further strengthen operations, during which Lidl opened its largest global warehouse in Luton.

The gateway to Bratislava’s rapidly expanding downtown has seen outstanding levels of interest: 135 of the 650 residences have already been sold in the pre-sale phase. JTRE’s new Downtown Yards project aims to combine the city’s contemporary cosmopolitan atmosphere with the Nivy area’s tranquil atmosphere. This modern mixed-use ‘sustainable city’ neighbourhood is under construction, and great initial market launch prices for new homes are available right now.

Three years after the coronavirus pandemic, people are traveling again. City trips are particularly popular. This trend is also boosting retail at tourist locations. If tourism and hospitality are to play an important role in the future of retail (and they must), then the presence and location of hotels is crucial. The combination of hotel and retail sectors offers many opportunities. Nevertheless, the two asset classes have hardly been connected to date.

Just a few months after the start of construction, ECE Marketplaces celebrated the topping-out ceremony for the new “Food Garden” in the Main-Taunus-Zentrum in Sulzbach near Frankfurt am Main – together with the builders, representatives of the center owners, the mayor of Sulzbach and the tenant partners. The implementation of the new gastronomic offer in one of the largest, highest-turnover and most successful shopping centers in Germany for decades is thus progressing rapidly. The opening is planned for spring 2025.

On April 23rd, the German Trade Association presented the Stores of the Year 2024 awards at the Retail Real Estate Congress in Berlin. umdasch’s two projects – BETTENRID in Munich’s Theatinerstraße and the Musikhaus Thomann in Burgebrach-Treppendorf – were named “Store of the Year”.