Portugal's Sonae Sierra was named best shopping centre developer of the year at the Expo Real trade fair in Munich this week. The jury of the European Property Awards 2007 said the company had been elected because of its introduction of innovative concepts in the sector. Other nominees for the award were Germany's ECE, Foruminvest of Belgium, Multi Development (the Netherlands) and Westfield (Australia).
Portugal's Sonae Sierra was named best shopping centre developer of the year at the Expo Real trade fair in Munich this week. The jury of the European Property Awards 2007 said the company had been elected because of its introduction of innovative concepts in the sector. Other nominees for the award were Germany's ECE, Foruminvest of Belgium, Multi Development (the Netherlands) and Westfield (Australia).
Commenting on the prize, CEO Alvaro Portela of Sonae Sierra said: 'This award brings us a special satisfaction, since it demonstrates that the work carried out by Sonae Sierra in the development of shopping and leisure centres is acknowledged by the main European specialists in the sector.' Sonae Sierra owns 46 shopping centres, mainly in Europe, with a total gross lettable area of more than 1,8 million m2. The company is developing 12 more projects.
Meanwhile, Jones Lang LaSalle won the award for best European investment agency team of the year. Tony Horrell, CEO of European Capital Markets at JLL, said the award 'recognises our leading market position and shows that we are acknowledged for our financial, local, cross-border and international investment expertise.' Other short-listed firms for the award included CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield and King Sturge.
The European Property Awards are promoted by real estate magazines Property Week and Immobilien Zeitung as well as Expo Real itself.
