AXA acquires Belgian shopping mall development

AXA Belgium has signed an agreement with Belgian developer Codic on the acquisition of the Blauwe Toren, a company created to develop and manage the B-Park shopping centre development in Bruges. The total investment comes to about EUR 90mln. Jones Lang LaSalle Capital Markets advised AXA on the purchase of the Belgian shopping mall development.

The shopping mall will provide around 38,000 m² of space on completion at end-2008. B-Park is made up of 19 retail units, of which more than 70% has already been let to Carrefour (14,000 m2), Decathlon (4,600 m2), Krefel (3,000 m2) and other tenants. The property includes a car park with more than 1,850 parking spaces.

Codic will take care of the management, works and letting of B-Park until completion. In a statement, AXA said that the transaction allows the company to diversify its real estate portfolio, which currently consists of 75% of office space and 25% of retail assets. Cushman & Wakefield advised Codic on this transaction. In France, Codic recently sold five office developments in the Val Saint Quentin business park to Prupim for a total of EUR 90mln.

Last month, AXA REIM also bought the Rivas Futura retail park in the Madrid district of Rivas Maciamadrid. The retail property provides around 37,000 m² of space leased to El Corte Ingles, Decathlon, Media Markt and Toys’R Us and is located within the H2Ocio shopping mall, a 50,300 m² property formerly owned by Spanish group Avantis. In May, AXA REIM also purchased an office building of 12,600 m² in Barcelona's 22@ district from Spanish developer Inbisa.