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Management

LATEST TRENDS AND PROGRESSES IN ASSET AND CENTER MANAGEMENT

In the 60th anniversary year of the future Westfield Ruhr Park in Bochum, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) is crowning the success story of one of the largest shopping and leisure destinations in Germany: Westfield Ruhr Park will be the third destination in Germany to bear the internationally renowned Westfield brand name, alongside Westfield Centro in Oberhausen and Westfield Hamburg Überseequartier.

Jan Niclas Brandt will become the new CEO of MediaMarkt Austria and MediaMarkt Switzerland starting April 1, 2024. The native German with Norwegian roots is taking on this dual role as part of a strategic realignment of the management levels in both countries. The aim is to grow closer together operationally and to benefit from complementary skills. Cooperation with the parent company will also be intensified.

MEC is further expanding its position as a retail real estate specialist and national market leader for retail parks: As of March 1st, 2024, it has taken over the operation of EKZ Abensberg.

“Investors and Retailers often want too much too soon.” Christian Alexander Kuntze, the founder of NEXXT IN RETAIL, critically examines the expansion strategies of large and small companies. He explains the biggest mistakes made during expansion and how start-up businesses can avoid them. His most important advice before any expansion is: Know your DNA!

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) currently operates 21 assets in the German and Austrian region: 19 in Germany, eight of which are in the Group’s own portfolio, and two in Austria. Last year, a total of 714 rental contracts were closed for these 21 assets. The average vacancy rate for the core locations in the portfolio around Westfield Centro in Oberhausen, Ruhr Park in Bochum, as well as Westfield Shopping City Süd in Vösendorf in Greater Vienna and Westfield Donau Zentrum in Vienna, is less than two percent.

Shopping center operator ECE Marketplaces achieved a strong leasing performance in 2023 and once again increased the leased space in its centers. In total, ECE Marketplaces achieved a leasing performance of around 800,000 sq m in the centers it manages and leases in 2023, an increase of almost 50 percent compared to the previous year. ECE concluded a total of around 2,600 lease contracts in 2023.

“Multi Germany feels small and agile, but it enjoys all the advantages of a large group,” says Jörg-Michael Zimmermann. In Zimmermann, Multi has hired a new Head of Germany who, as a result of his mix of experience can take a 360-degree view of retail real estate. His motto is: “There are neither good nor bad locations. Every asset has specific challenges for which individual solutions need to be found.”

Redevco has appointed Sasha Silver as Head of Global Client Group, where she will be responsible for the company’s client relations and capital raising. Silver will join Redevco’s executive management team and strengthen its focus on expanding the company’s client offering and strategic relationships.

MEC will continue to be responsible for the management of six retail locations in the KGAL Investment Management portfolio. In addition, the management of two further locations will be transferred to MEC. The two companies have now signed an agreement to continue and expand their existing partnership. With the management package transferred to MEC, the Düsseldorf-based retail real estate specialist operates over 130,000 sq m of lettable retail space for KGAL.

For good reasons, there has been increasing attention in recent years on environmental protection, energy efficiency, the reduction of CO2, as well as the economical use of land and sustainability. This also applies to synthetic commercial zones states a new research report by RegioData.