Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) has successfully closed or secured €300 mln worth of property deals since the start of 2024, advancing its debt reduction strategy.
Combined with previously agreed-upon transactions, this will reduce net debt by €500 mln.
URW is actively negotiating the sale of an additional €1 bn in assets and remains committed to divesting more European properties to further decrease debt. The company also aims to significantly reduce its financial exposure in the United States.
According to URW, the real estate investment market remains challenging due to uncertainty around interest rate cuts and geopolitical factors linked to major elections. This has slowed property transactions across all asset classes (core, core-plus, and value-add).
Following the April postponement of the Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier opening, URW last week increased the estimated total investment cost from €1.64 bn to €2.16 bn. The Group is targeting a retail opening on 17 October, followed by a phased opening of hotels and office buildings.
In H1-2024, URW delivered three projects: CNIT Eole (a 29,377 m2 redevelopment in Paris La Défense), Old Orchard Lord & Taylor unit (an 11,619 m2 restructuring of a former department store), and Fisketorvet Dining Experience (a 5,894 m2 refurbishment of the Fisketorvet Mall dining area).
Additionally, 125 apartments of Coppermaker Square, a residential project in Stratford (East London), were delivered in H1-2024, bringing the total to 1,032 out of 1,225. The remaining apartments are expected to be delivered in H1-2025.
The total investment cost of URW’s development pipeline rose from €2.5 bn on December 31 December 2023, to €2.9 bn on 30 June 2024, due to higher costs for a Hamburg mixed-use project and two added US projects. Committed projects total €2.8 bn, with €2.0 bn already invested.
