Sonae Sierra to manage Croatian retail development

International shopping centre specialist Sonae Sierra is reinforcing its third-party business with a new mandate to take over the development management of a mall project in Croatia.

The Portuguese group will be responsible for the development of the Vrbani scheme owned by private equity house Bluehouse Capital in Zagreb.

The complex will offer 18,000 m² of Gross Lettable Area to be constructed in two phases. Located near Lake Jarun, one of the major tourist attractions of the area, the shopping centre will be designed like a city, with 'neighbourhoods' devoted to fashion, leisure and sports. It will have a total of around 500 parking spaces for visitors.

According to Fernando Guedes Oliveira, CEO of Sonae Sierra, 'This new services contract in Croatia reinforces the company's strategy of providing services to third party, based on the know-how and experience we have in all areas of the shopping centre business.'

The new mandate adds to Sonae Sierra's earlier awarded contract to provide management and letting services for the flagship Bikini Berlin retail project in the Germany capital. The large-scale scheme, representing an investment by Bayerische Hausbau, is scheduled to be inaugurated in 2013.

Sonae Sierra nearly doubled its net profit to EUR 27.3 mln in the first three quarters of the year, versus EUR 14.9 mln a year before. Currently, the company has five malls under construction, representing a total investment of EUR 560 mln.