Cross-border retail investment rises to 50%

The European shopping centre sector attracted EUR 25.7bn worth of investment in 2006, according to Rene Tremblay, chairman of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and president and CEO of Canadian shopping centre developer and manager Ivanhoe Cambridge. Cross-border investment accounted for half of that figure, he added.

Tremblay was speaking on the importance of shopping centres to the European economy on the first day of the ICSC Europe conference in Amsterdam on Wednesday. In the three years to 2009, Western Europe will see 400 new retail projects come on stream accounting for 13 million m². During the same period, another 130 projects will be completed in the new EU member states, doubling the existing stock in these countries to five million m².

Shopping centres accounted for 25% of retail sales in Europe in 2006, Tremblay said. Between 2000 and 2005, retail was the third fastest growth sector in Europe, at 2.6%. Transport was the fastest growing sector with 3.9%.