Austrian listed property group Immofinanz has announced the €80 mln acquisitions of 22 sites in medium-sized Croatian cities for the development of Stop Shop retail parks.
The company plans to spend a further €250 mln to develop 190,000 m2 of new retail park space on these plots of land over the next three to five years. The new sites were purchased through the local development experts at ENS and have a total area of more than 730,000 m2.
The deal follows the firm’s market entry in Italy and will bring the number of retail parks in the country from 4 to 26. The existing assets in the cities of Valpovo, Osijek, Ludbreg and Nasice are fully rented and provide 21,000 m2 of space.
‘Croatia is a promising market with a strong return to economic growth as well as rising disposable income and consumer confidence. We have held investments in this country for many years, including market entry with our Stop Shops in 2018. Many of our international retail tenants want to expand in Croatia – and our Stop Shop format is ideally suited for this growth due to the size of the cities and demand by the population for affordable supplies in a pleasant shopping atmosphere,’ said Dietmar Reindl, COO of Immofinanz.
