New European mall openings to fall until 2011: C&W

European shopping centre development activity will hit a five-year low in 2010, with only 7 million m² of new space due to open, global real estate adviser Cushman & Wakefield has predicted.

C&W believes the full impact of the global recession is likely to be most felt in 2011, when only 5 million m² of space is predicted to open across Europe, the lowest figure since 2003.

In its new European Shopping Centre Development report, Cushman & Wakefield says that 2009 will see around 8.7 million m² of new shopping centre space open - a decline of 5% on 2008. In the first six months, 3.1 million m² of space in 115 new shopping centres opened in Europe, 18% less than the same period in 2008. Completion levels are not expected to pick up significantly for 2-3 years.

The largest amount of new shopping centre space opened in Russia, where approximately 580,000 m² was added in the first six months of 2009, of which around 45% was built in Moscow.

In Western Europe Italy recorded the highest amount of new space, with 18 new centres adding just over 370,000 m² to the market. Germany and the Netherlands also recorded relatively strong activity in the first half of 2009. Bulgaria recorded the largest percentage increase in shopping centre provision at 33%.