Russia Leads The Way With 1.8 Sq.M. Of New Retail Space

14 Nov, 2005, Frankfurt

By the end of next year, Russia will have created over 1.8 million square metres of retail space in new shopping centre builds.This gives Russia a major lead in European shopping centre projects for completion in 2006.

In this listing, Italy ranks second with 1.4 million square metres of new retail space and Poland third with 1.2 million square metres (Germany takes sixth position with 643,500m²).These are the findings of international commercial real estate organisation Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker (C&W/H&B) in its most recent study into European shopping centre development.

According to this study, total shopping centre retail space in the major European markets currently stands at almost 100 million square meters. Of this figure, 5.5 million square metres is scheduled for completion this year, and seven million in 2006.Five of the shopping centres soon to open in Russia are Ikea mega malls with over 640,000 square metres of leasing space. These are located in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Ekaterinburg and Nizhniy Novgorod.

Over the past five years, the strongest growth in new shopping centre development has been seen in Central and Eastern Europe, with Central Europe experiencing an annual rise of thirty to sixty percent and Eastern Europe a rise of between forty and ninety percent.

The researchers from C&W/H&B explain; "A major driving force has been the positive economic development in these regions and the associated rise in consumer confidence."

Over the next fifteen months, Poland is set to take the lead in new shopping centre development in Central Europe.One of the main factors that makes Poland attractive for project development is the cost of leasing, currently fifty percent lower, on average, than Western Europe – with a one percent higher rate of return.

The C&W/H&B researchers further explain; "A significant advantage that Poland has over other Central European countries is its large number of cities with over 100,000 inhabitants (it has 40) and the growing spending capacity of its citizens".

Despite this, the advisers believe the Polish shopping centre market to be in a state of flux:"The trend is moving away from out-of-town hypermarkets and more towards inner-city shopping centres. For instance, ‘Zlote Tarasay’ is a new 225,000m² shopping centre development (with 63,000m² dedicated retail space) currently undergoing construction in Warsaw city centre.Eighty percent of this shopping centre, scheduled for completion in autumn 2006, has already been leased."

UK, France and Germany still have most shopping centre retail space

The established markets of the UK, France and Germany still have the largest area of shopping centre retail space in Europe.By the end of next year, these three countries are set to increase current space by an additional 1.6 million square metres.

Northern Europe has best per capita provision

Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands have the best provision of shopping centre retail space per inhabitant.Norway has 788.3m² for every 1,000 inhabitants, Sweden 332.8m² and the Netherlands 322.6m².Germany has 137.6m² for every 1,000 inhabitants, occupying a mid-ranking position within Europe.

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