German fund manager Union Investment Real Estate has invested EUR 130 mln in a joint venture to develop the Forum Kayseri shopping centre in Turkey. Union's partner in its third investment in Turkey is local developer Multi Turkmall, part of the Netherlands-based Multi Corporation.

German fund manager Union Investment Real Estate has invested EUR 130 mln in a joint venture to develop the Forum Kayseri shopping centre in Turkey. Union's partner in its third investment in Turkey is local developer Multi Turkmall, part of the Netherlands-based Multi Corporation.

On completion in 2009, the mall will offer 66,500 m2 of retail space in Kayseri, the capital of Kayseri Province in southeast Anatolia. Some 1.1 million people with above-average purchasing power of EUR 1,673 per capita live in the centre's catchment area. 'Shopping centre investments in Turkey are particularly attractive at present because initial returns here are still significantly higher than in Western Europe, said Michael Montebaur, deputy member of the management board of Union Investment Real Estate. 'Forum Kayseri will create a new, modern type of retail experience in a region with important industrial and trading activities where both purchasing power and retail sales can be expected to rise steadily.'

Multi Turkmall plans to develop 20 Forum retail projects in Turkey by 2010.