In 2024, ECE Marketplaces achieved a total leasing performance of over 820,000 sq m of leased area for its overall center portfolio and concluded around 2,800 lease contracts – a further increase of 6% in the number of contracts concluded and 3% in the leased area compared to the previous year. In the shopping centers operated by ECE in Germany alone, the company leased around 550,000 sq m of space and concluded around 1,800 lease contracts – an increase of 10% in lease contracts and 4% in leased area.
“Our renewed strong and even further improved leasing performance shows that bricks-and-mortar retail is developing positively and that many successful retailers are deliberately focusing on high-quality and high-frequency center locations. At the same time, this is a sign of the strong dynamic and the ongoing process of change in the retail sector, which we as operators are actively supporting and shaping together with investors in order to position the centers for the future,” says Joanna Fisher, CEO of ECE Marketplaces.
Last year’s letting successes include the German premiere of the Swedish fashion concept Lager 157 in Waterfront Bremen and the German market entry of Miniso in Limbecker Platz Essen, the world’s largest Only store in Loom Bielefeld, and the successful re-letting of former Galeria department stores, including to P&C Düsseldorf in Limbecker Platz Essen.
ECE has also further expanded its cooperation with important partners such as the Inditex Group, New Yorker and TK Maxx through new stores and the expansion of existing locations alike. Most recently, for example, three lease contracts were concluded for the Thier-Galerie-Dortmund with the Inditex concepts Bershka, Pull&Bear and Stradivarius.
Numerous letting successes were also achieved once again in the F&B and entertainment segment, including the full letting of the new “Food Garden” in Main-Taunus-Zentrum near Frankfurt am Main, which will open this year with concepts such as ALEX, L’Osteria and The Ash, complementing the tenant mix in the center and further enhancing the quality of stay, as well as the establishment of entertainment concepts such as Jump House or Indoor Skydiving in the Rhein-Neckar-Zentrum and NOVA Leipzig. Further contracts have also been signed in the growing non-retail sector, e.g. with medical service provider CSL Plasma and gym operator Sports Club.
