NETHERLANDS
Westfield Mall of the Netherlands
On March 18, 2021, Westfield Mall of the Netherlands officially opened its doors–a fully covered shopping and experience center of 117,000 sq m. Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield is managing this project. By opening the company gives entrepreneurs the space to start selling safely under the current circumstances and in accordance with the applicable guidelines. The planned festivities will be postponed to a later time, when the restaurants, cinema and other leisure activities can also be opened. Westfield is the first comprehensive shopping experience of this size in the Netherlands. Westfield Mall of the Netherlands is an, innovative shopping, dining, leisure and entertainment destination in the heart of the Randstad, Leidschendam. From brunch to shopping, from a movie to extensive dining, experience is central at this mall. Different from other shopping centers in the Netherlands, partly due to the arrival of various flagship stores, the architecture, distinctive catering establishments, special events and a wide range of leisure options.
UNITED KINGDOM
McArthurGlen Designer Outlet West Midlands
McArthurGlen celebrated the opening of McArthurGlen Designer Outlet West Midlands on April 12, 2021. This £160 million fashion destination that is set to be the only stand-alone shopping center to open in the UK this year. The arrival of the scheme is a significant moment for McArthurGlen as it marks the group’s first UK opening in over 20 years, as well as a return to the market where it introduced the concept of designer outlet retailing in Europe with Cheshire Oaks in 1995. Located just 30-minutes from Birmingham, Designer Outlet West Midlands provides customers with fine open-air retail and leisure experiences, offering up to 80 brands in its first phase with year-round savings of up to 60 %. The outlet has been brought to life as the result of a joint venture between McArthurGlen, Aviva Investors and the Richardson family. Spanning 26,500 sq m in total over two phases, it will create 1,000 new retail jobs for the community, supporting around £20 millions of employment income each year. To help reduce its impact on the environment, the center features around 400 newly planted trees, along with solar panels, on-site beehives, a wormery, electric car charging points and bicycle parking, helping create a greener, more sustainable retail destination. It also provides direct access to the adjacent nature reserve and its network of footpaths, encouraging local customers to visit on foot.
SERBIA
Delta Planet Niš
Delta Planet Niš extends across 40.000 sq m, two floors, and 850 parking spots for visitors. It was built in only 14 months and opened on April 22, 2021. Visitors have a wide range of shops at their disposal, including leading fashion brands, many restaurants and cafés, bookshops, home décor shops, as well as a cinema with five auditoriums. Delta Planet investment is worth 70 million euros and is a part of Delta Holding’s investment plan, which includes building the business headquarters Delta House (opening this summer), renovating Sava Center (starting in autumn 2021), and other real estate projects. “We are opening a shopping center which has regional significance for both citizens and the economy of Niš and its surrounding. Delta Planet will attract guests from both southern and eastern Serbia, as well as from bordering Bulgaria. By opening 1,100 work places, it is one of Delta’s projects that impacts society on a wider scale and has a positive effect on the development and appearance of cities we operate in”, said Angelina Nekić, Managing director of Delta Real Estate Group.
BELGIUM
La Couvinoise
On May 10, 2021, Mitiska Reim opened La Couvinoise in the Belgian city of Couvin. Developed in partnership with Groupe Bartolas, this new retail park features 18 commercial premises with a GLA of 13,350 sq m. The site is food-anchored by both Lidl and Delhaize supermarkets and other key tenants include Jysk, Extra, ZEB, Point Carré, Pronti and JouéClub. La Couvinoise is located close to the city center, next to the bus terminal and train station, and is easily accessible by foot, bicycle, public transport and by car, with more than 450 parking spaces onsite. The retail park has been designed to achieve a “Very Good” score on the BREEAM scale, featuring charging points for electric cars and the roof area will be covered by 2,200 solar panels which will generate an electricity capacity of around 700mWh, equivalent to the annual electrical requirements of 200 homes. Bram Thomas, Mitiska Reim’s Investment Director for Belgium, Netherlands and France, commented, “Food-anchored retail has proven to be one of the strongest and most resilient retail sectors over the past year. Looking ahead, we expect the long-standing advantages of the retail park proposition based on convenience, essential shopping and value for money to continue to be an attractive proposition for investors, retailers and shoppers”.
SPAIN
Breogán Park
Breogán Park is a comprehensive transformation of a former shopping center – Dolce Vita – into a retail park in Spain, developed within a sustainable urban regeneration framework, that will improve and complete the commercial offer in A Coruña. Specifically, in A Grela, an urban business park (the largest in the region), the 60,000 sq m of GLA to be found at Breogán Park will offer local residents and employees a mix of retail facilities, F&B and leisure, offices, and self-storage, as well as more that 2,000 parking spaces. In addition, in terms of logistics, the premises provide a diversified mix of different activities. The project, developed by Pelayo Capital, represents the largest private investment in A Coruña, estimated at more than 100 million euros, with an estimated 2,200 local jobs created during the construction phase in addition to the 1,000 local jobs Breogán Park will offer when it commences operation, which is scheduled to take place in early 2023. The scheme, designed by Chapman Taylor, has been awarded BREEAM Excellent accreditation in the “New Construction” category.
ALBANIA
The Pyramid
Construction has recently started on the Pyramid of Tirana, the brutalist monument in the heart of Albania’s capital city. MVRDV’s design will result in the dramatic renovation of the cultural heritage building, once the showpiece of Communist dictator Enver Hoxha. The concrete structure will be reused, the atrium and its surroundings will be greened and opened, and a small village of cafes, studios, workshops, and classrooms – where Albanian youth will learn various technology subjects for free – will permeate the site, both inside and outside the pyramid itself. As a result, the Pyramid is expected to become a new hub for Tirana’s cultural life and a beacon for future generations. The transformation will show how a building can be made suitable for a new era, while simultaneously preserving its complex history, and will demonstrate that historic brutalist buildings are ideal for reuse. The project also meets a number of the Sustainable Development Goals outlined by the United Nations. Rather than wastefully demolishing the structure, its robust concrete shell is being adapted in line with the principles of a circular economy.
