Liad Barzilai, CEO of Atrium Group, has told PropertyEU that he could envisage a day when retail specialists Atrium might ‘diversify into mixed-use assets’ as the company continues to monitor the outlook for retail real estate across Europe.
‘At this point our strategy is retail,’ Barzilai said. ‘I could see us diversifying further into mixed-use, with retail remaining the dominant element. It's a bigger discussion, however we do already look slightly more widely in terms of mixed-use components as part of our strategy.’
Earlier this week, Atrium divested two non-core assets to ECE Real Estate Partners for €298 mln, as part of an ongoing plan to refine its portfolio.
The firm said that both Atrium Koszalin, located in Koszalin, and Atrium Felicity, in Lublin, were sold at a premium of around 3% to book value.
'I am also very pleased that we were able to dispose of such a significant portfolio at a premium to book value,' noted Barzilai. 'The disposal proceeds will support us in the continued optimisation of our balance sheet and further growth of our portfolio towards dominant retail centres in prime cities in our core markets.'
However, Barzilai said that Atrium was continuing to monitor sentiment in the sector.
'As a company we are retail specialists, so we are not ignoring the trends and the turbulence,' he said. 'But we do believe that dominant assets in very strong cities will continue to perform well.
'These are places where the population is growing, employment is stronger, and there is more money to spend, essentially. It’s true that we need to adapt our retail offer, modernise and add entertainment, and food & beverage, to ensure that our assets meet the demands of consumers.
'But we definitely think that assets that are in the right locations, can continue to grow and to be strong,' Barzilai concluded.
