ING RE buys Italian malls for EUR 229 mln

ING Real Estate Investment Management Italy has completed the purchase of Carrefour Limbiate and Carrefour Siracusa from France's Carrefour. The value of the transaction, which includes all retail floor space except the Carrefour operated hypermarkets, is approximately EUR 229 mln. Both assets have been added to the operational portfolio of the ING Retail Property Partnership Southern Europe.

Carrefour Limbiate is located near Milan, 14 km north of the city centre. The catchment comprises 730,000 people within a 20-minute drive by car, in one of the richest and most densely populated areas of Italy, ING Real Estate said. The shopping centre has been developed on one level and includes a Carrefour hypermarket of 17,035 m2, a shopping gallery of 20,965 m² subdivided into seven anchor units (9,873 m2) and 83 small units (11,092 m2).

The main tenants are H&M, Oviesse (fashion), Piazza Italia (fashion), Media World, Mondadori (bookstore), Celio and Max&Co. The car park provides 3,000 spaces in two levels.

The second shopping centre is located just 1.5 km away of Siracusa's city centre. Some 300,000 people live within a 30-minute drive of Carrefour Siracusa. ING Real Estate said the scheme comprises a Carrefour hypermarket of 11,980 m² and a gallery of 13,029 m² over two levels. The ground level houses the hypermarket and 45 shops, bars and restaurants.

The first level comprises 11 units (shops, bars and restaurants) and 3 mid-sized units. A car park on two levels with 1,500 places services the scheme. The main tenants in the centre are Unieuro (hi-fi / electronics), Scarpe & Scarpe (shoes) and Conbipel (fashion).

'The Carrefour shopping centres further consolidate the Italian presence of the ING Retail Property Partnership Southern Europe after the purchase of 8 Gallery in Turin at the beginning of the year, ' said fund director Florencio Beccar. The fund has a target size of EUR 1.2 bn to be invested in retail properties in Portugal, Spain and Italy.