Refurbishment and redevelopment of outdated shopping centre stock is set to increase in importance in Western Europe in tandem with the falling population in the region, according to Menno Maas, CEO of ING Real Estate Development. Maas, who was speaking on Wednesday at the ICSC Europe conference in Amsterdam, illustrated the trend citing projects such as TK Development’s Spinderet mall in Denmark, Unibail-Rodamco’s Forum Nacka in Stockholm and Spuimarkt in The Hague, which ING RE developed together with Multi Corporation and BAM.
Refurbishment and redevelopment of outdated shopping centre stock is set to increase in importance in Western Europe in tandem with the falling population in the region, according to Menno Maas, CEO of ING Real Estate Development. Maas, who was speaking on Wednesday at the ICSC Europe conference in Amsterdam, illustrated the trend citing projects such as TK Development’s Spinderet mall in Denmark, Unibail-Rodamco’s Forum Nacka in Stockholm and Spuimarkt in The Hague, which ING RE developed together with Multi Corporation and BAM.
A growing number of malls in Western Europe are mixed-used projects combining leisure, sport and other activities, Maas said: 'In Western Europe we have learned that people are not only interested in shopping. Thematic centres could be another possible trend in Western Europe. Our theme park in Madrid, Inspira Deco, revolves around the theme of living and design, but you could also have a shopping centre focusing on other themes such as sport or leisure.'
In Eastern Europe on the other hand developers are focusing on quantity rather than quality, Maas said. The key word for most shopping centres in the region is dominance, he added. 'Creating critical mass is crucial in Eastern Europe. The competition here is about being the biggest, not the best, and this will probably continue for the next three to five years. In the new Europe there is a lack of planning regulations and you need to be well positioned in order to succeed.' Pointing to the Colosseum centre in Bucharest, which has a total of 170,000 m2, Maas said: ' Where would you find something this big in Western Europe?'
Developers are also increasingly moving to secondary and tertiary cities in Eastern Europe, Maas said, pointing to the Romanian city of Cluj where Trigranit is developing the Polus Center Cluj and Iulius Group is developing Iulius Mall Cluj Napoca. 'Especially in Romania and Poland, developers are not only going to the one million-plus cities, but also to smaller centres with 70,000 inhabitants', he said
