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Leasing

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) is once again strengthening the attractiveness of the shopping and leisure destination in North Rhine-Westphalia: for this purpose, rental areas of anchor partners are being comprehensively expanded to establish flagship formats and, at the same time, new brands are being brought on board to further diversify the product range at the center. In this context, Westfield Centro is also announcing several market entries in Germany. A number of the new partners are also placing a particular focus on sustainability in their business model.

Exciting new leasing partners and new openings further cement Eurovea’s position as the most innovative and highest-quality shopping center in Bratislava. In an interview with ACROSS, Leasing Manager Katarina Paule talks about what it takes to prevail in a competitive market like Bratislava, why Eurovea offers the ideal market entry, why F&B and leisure, in particular, are influenced by the entire Eurovea City, and why it’s ultimately all about the community.

Retail parks have established themselves as one of the most stable asset classes in the retail sector in recent years. Making clever adjustments to the tenant mix ensures both the security and long-term development of a retail property. That fact is clearly demonstrated by a number of assets in MEC’s portfolio, in particular, by the Dreieich Nordpark case study, as Christian Thiele, Head of Leasing Management at MEC, explains.

VIA Outlets enters the final weeks of 2024 at the MAPIC trade show in Cannes with leasing demand remaining strong and a slate of major expansion and refurbishment projects gathering pace. The major extension of VIA Outlets’ Sevilla Fashion Outlet in southern Spain, which opened towards the end of last year, also qualified as a finalist in the ‘Best Refurbishment and Expansion Project’ category of the prestigious MAPIC Awards 2024, among a field of 154 applications.

Austria’s largest and most diverse shopping and entertainment destination expands its already impressive lineup of brands and tenants, bringing renowned global brands to Vösendorf. The center celebrates several brand debuts in Austria, including the country’s first adidas monobrand store, which, alongside New Balance, enhances the activewear offering as new partners. In premium fashion, Joop!, Scotch & Soda, Rinascimento, and Brax add variety and distinction.

“Commercial Real Estate is not a short-term project,” says Yurdaer Kahraman. The CEO and Board Member of Fiba Commercial Properties has dedicated his career to the retail real estate industry. He is familiar with the international and German markets and, through Fiba Commercial Properties, now operates some of the most innovative centers in Türkiye, Southeastern Europe, and the Far East. In the ACROSS interview, he critically examines the management of the European retail real estate industry and concludes that only quality will prevail. In today’s competitive environment, it is not a matter of being the largest in the number of assets and area. The winners are those who are fast, innovative, and sustainable.

The fashion chain Peek & Cloppenburg Düsseldorf has signed a long-term lease contract to become a new tenant in the Limbecker Platz shopping center in Essen. Union Investment and ECE are setting the course for the future of the center with the first extensive partial letting of the space in the former Galeria store, which is also set to benefit Essen’s city centre in the long term.

The Rhein-Ruhr Zentrum (RRZ) in Mülheim, Germany, has gained a new anchor tenant: leisure provider ADVENTICA. The owners of the center, Eurofund Group and Signal Capital Partners, have now signed a long-term lease for 3,300 sq m of space. The opening of ADVENTICA’s first German location is planned for the second quarter of 2025, while renovation work will begin in early October.

CBRE Romania has announced its exclusive involvement in the leasing strategy of H Știrbei Palace, an emblematic historical monument located in the heart of Bucharest and one of the most anticipated retail projects in the capital. After the completion of the renovation works, Știrbei Palace aims to become a landmark shopping gallery for luxury brands in South-Eastern Europe.

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) currently operates 21 assets in the German and Austrian region: 19 in Germany, eight of which are in the Group’s own portfolio, and two in Austria. Last year, a total of 714 rental contracts were closed for these 21 assets. The average vacancy rate for the core locations in the portfolio around Westfield Centro in Oberhausen, Ruhr Park in Bochum, as well as Westfield Shopping City Süd in Vösendorf in Greater Vienna and Westfield Donau Zentrum in Vienna, is less than two percent.

The anchor tenant for the LU: project in Mainz has been determined. In the urban mixed-use project development by J. Molitor Immobilien GmbH and Sparkasse Rhein-Nahe, one of Europe’s most successful sports retailers, Engelhorn Sports, is opening its first store in the Rhine-Main area.

Sloane Stanley has announced the recent appointment of specialist independent property consultants, Levy Real Estate, to join the existing leasing team across the whole Estate incorporating the King’s Road and Fulham Road.

For the year 2022, MEC has reported a total of 223 new and follow-up leases in its more than 80 properties managed throughout Germany. As a result, the total leasing has reached 158,000 sq m of total space.