Mayland launches 'booster' team for non-performing malls in Poland

Polish shopping centre developer Mayland Real Estate is launching a new programme - called Mayland Booster - to work on the renovation and repositioning of non-performing shopping centres.

'This team is structured to act in a joint venture or to be the service provider for the owner for renovation, extension and repositioning. The team can take over all of the process of an existing non-performing shopping mall,' Yann Guen, vice president of Mayland RE, told PropertyEU. The idea is to transform non-performing shopping centres into dominant schemes in the Polish market.

The initiative was prompted by the fact that there is very little bank finance for new development shopping centre schemes in Poland at the moment. As a result investors are focusing on existing assets and non-performing shopping centres that can be upgraded.

Mayland is involved in a number of projects where it acts as the service provider or minority shareholder. Guen said this is a new trend in the market: rather than launch new projects from the ground up, the developer aims to take existing non-performing or older retail destinations and effectively transform them to meet today's standards and requirements.

Guen was one of the panellists at PropertyEU's recent Investment Briefing on the CEE in London.