MAPIC: Nearly 10m m² (32m sq ft) of shopping centre space will be added across Europe by the end of 2016, DTZ has predicted.
In its Property Times report the agent identifies Turkey, Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and France as the most dynamic markets for development.
²The three markets account for more than 60% of the 9.9m m² of shopping centre gross leasable area (GLA) in the development pipeline across 2015 and 2016, with Turkey alone accounting for around 35%.
Current shopping centre stock stands at 123m m² across 4,800 centres, but a wide variation in provision persists across individual markets.
“We’ve seen a welcome acceleration in shopping centre construction activity, which reached its lowest level in 2011 when just 3.5m m² was added across Europe,” said Adrian Powell, head of EMEA retail at DTZ. “Turkey alone will add that much stock over the next two years as developers seek to capitalise on its underdeveloped shopping centre market.”
Magali Marton, head of EMEA research at DTZ, said: “Interestingly, our analysis shows that only 40% of the shopping centres pipeline will take place in Europe’s capitals and main cities, with the majority of developments taking outside top tier cities. This trend contrasts sharply with most retailers’ traditional focus on prime location.”
