Immofinanz acquires retail park in Udine, Italy

The Retail Park Terminal North in Udine comprises a leasable area of around 33,000 sq m with a total of 36 stores, making it the largest retail park in the STOP SHOP portfolio to date. The expected annual rental income amounts to around  €5.6 million.

“Our STOP SHOPs are an optimal combination of local supply, shopping pleasure and lifestyle. They have proven to be extremely crisis-resistant during the Covid 19 pandemic and are popular with tenants and customers alike. As one of the largest European countries, the Italian market offers great potential for this,” comments Dietmar Reindl, COO of the Immofinanz Group.

The future STOP SHOP Udine is located in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, an extremely convenient location. The property is located directly on the main road leading into the center of Udine, being also easily accessible by public transport. The catchment area comprises around 300,000 people within a 30-minute drive.

With a share of 30% of the leasable space, the wholesale store Carrefour is the anchor tenant from the food trade. Tenants such as Decathlon and Euronics have also proved to be extremely popular, attracting almost 1.6 million visitors, between January and October 2021. Other tenants include Burger King, Douglas and Takko, as well as Italian brands, such as Globo (fashion) and Dondi Salotti (furniture). The remaining term of the leases (WAULT) is 7.7 years.

Green technologies as an essential criterion

IMMOFINANZ sets high sustainability standards for the construction and operation of its retail parks. A core element of the net-zero emissions strategy is to promote the company’s own production of renewable energy, among other things also installing photovoltaic systems on the roofs of STOP SHOP retail parks and implementing new locations, exclusively with photovoltaic systems. Moreover, in the case of the now acquired property in Udine, it was ensured that the installation of photovoltaic systems on the roof and thus the conversion to renewable energy sources is possible. This will be implemented in the short-term. Other activities such as the expansion of e-fueling stations or resource-conserving water, and waste management are also to be implemented at the new site in line with group-wide measures.

High-yield and crisis-resistant asset class

With 100 STOP SHOP retail parks in ten European countries, IMMOFINANZ is one of the leading providers of local shopping centers. The retail parks are characterized by a wide range of goods at an attractive price-performance ratio. The asset class has also proven to be crisis-proof and has generated excellent returns thanks to the strong demand. As part of its growth strategy, IMMOFINANZ plans to expand its STOP SHOP locations to 140 by 2024. Italy is one of the focus countries in which the company sees particular growth potential. Therefore, around EUR 250 millions are to be invested in the acquisition of existing retail parks and the construction of new ones by 2024, thence building up an Italian STOP SHOP portfolio of at least ten locations.

As of September 30, 2021, the STOP SHOPs in the portfolio have an occupancy rate of 99.0% and a yield on the basis of the rent estimate of 8.1%. Including the recent acquisition, IMMOFINANZ’s STOP SHOP portfolio comprises 100 retail parks (existing properties) in ten countries: Slovakia (16 STOP SHOPs), Slovenia (14), Hungary (14), Serbia (14), Austria (13), Czech Republic (12), Poland (10), Croatia (4), Italy (2) and Romania (1).