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placemaking

Hardly any other word has characterized the real estate industry lately as much as transformation. It describes many different aspects and involves all stakeholders. However, one area that is often neglected is community building. We are ignoring the most critical group: the users and consumers. David Fuller-Watts, CEO of Mallcomm, explains in this interview what community building should stand for today and what the real estate industry, including proptech, needs to do to serve their communities’ changing needs.

ECE Real Estate Partners is expanding its investment activities and has raised further circa 100 million Euro of capital for its ECE Progressive Income Growth Fund (the “EPIG Fund”) that invests in high quality shopping centres in Europe and holds a portfolio of seven centres with a total market value of more than 2.2 billion Euro.

Utopian Hours, taking place 18-20 October in Turin, Italy, is a three-day international event organized by urban knowledge agency Stratosferica, showcasing and discussing new concepts and inviting guests and audiences to suggest a new way of conceiving human evolution. Starting from the first edition in 2017, the festival aims to give for the eighth time a voice to the people behind these changes: City makers, activists, architects, and innovators share their experiences and stimulate new visions for the future and concepts of cities. ACROSS spoke to Daniele Vaccai, Project Developer at Stratosferica, about the festival, its program, and speakers.

Evolutionary development to secure the location: Dreieich Nordpark, located around ten kilometers south of Frankfurt am Main and a central supply location for the residents of Dreieich and the Offenbach district, has been extensively modernized – and a number of new tenants have also been added to the location’s offering.

As part of its ambitious strategy to grow the number of sites it operates, entertainment and leisure operator, the Lane7 Group, has announced the opening of its first venue in continental Europe at The Playce, Potsdamer Platz in Berlin in September, as well as two venues opening in Dublin in the coming months. While continuing the pace of its UK expansion – with a second London venue, in Camden, opening in October – Lane7 now seeks to grow its European portfolio by some 10 venues over the next 2 years.

The City Center Amstetten shopping center is planning a new food court area that will offer even greater culinary variety. umdasch The Store Makers, the Amstetten-based shopfitting and design expert, is responsible for the concept of the new food court.

The next ACROSS Retail Talk “Rethinking Brick-and-Mortar Retail by increasing the Shop Floor Experience” will discuss how retailers and shopping center managements can inspire and retain customers by offering true retail experiences. Join us to learn about expert insights from top professionals in the industry.

Fiba Commercial Properties, a leading investor in commercial real estate in Turkey, Europe, and the Far East, continues to distinguish itself with remarkable achievements. Notably, its İnegöl AVM and Downtown Bursa Life and Entertainment projects have made a significant impact, earning spots as finalists in the prestigious Global RLI Awards 2024—one of the highest honors in the retail and entertainment sector.

Consumers in Europe continue to be affected by various crises. After inflation peaked in 2022, 2023 was characterized by an adjustment to the increased cost of living. Additionally, the multiple global crises and the loss of purchasing power caused uncertainty, which led to concerns and a change in consumer behavior.

NEPI Rockcastle achieved a 13.5% increase in net operating income (‘NOI’) in the first half of 2024 compared to 274 million Euro compared to 241 million Euro in H1 2023. On a like-for-like basis, NOI was 10% higher in H1 2024 compared to H1 2023, excluding the impact of developments completed after 30 June 2023 and industrial property sold in January 2024.

The Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier shopping center is once again struggling with water damage. According to the fashion news portal FashionUnited, a few weeks ago there was an “isolated technical problem” in a “small section of the construction site”, causing rainwater to penetrate into “a few rental spaces”.

The Austrian building contractor and shopping center operator Richard Lugner, who became famous for his appearances alongside Hollywood stars at the Vienna Opera Ball, has died according to media reports. Austrian media reported that the 91-year-old died in his villa on the outskirts of Vienna.

At the end of July, Austria’s market-leading shopping center operator SES and Vinzenz Gruppe Service, an expert in health parks, signed a partnership agreement to jointly develop long-term health centers at selected SES shopping locations and thus strengthen regional healthcare provision in the long term.

The investment group DRFG’s portfolio is expanding with an important addition: the acquisition of one of the largest privately-owned real estate development platforms in Central Europe, TriGranit.