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Shopping center investors and managers are increasingly concerned about the role of their assets, the value and experience they deliver, and how they can resonate in a digital age, argues James Miller, Director of Pragma. Therefore, the overriding focus for shopping centers in 2024, continues to be renewal and adaptation on the basis of accurate consumer research and insights.

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.

Why has our industry been so willing to settle for boring? Asks Cindy Andersen, Managing Director at Ingka Centres. The endless rows of identical stores, the predictability of a food court’s menu, the steady drone of escalators… These conventions have been the traditional hallmarks of shopping center decline for decades. To stay relevant, we must evolve as an industry.

NEPI Rockcastle generated the highest distributable earnings per share in its history in 2023, exceeding the previous record set in 2019. This marks not only a complete recovery from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, but also a sustainable step-up in performance determined by continuing investments in its portfolio. Throughout the year, the Company updated its earnings guidance to the upside as management took note of the strong results coming in. Even so, the 17.1% increase in recurring DEPS achieved (9.3% on a nominal basis) exceeded its latest update.

NEPI Rockcastle, Europe’s third-largest listed retail real estate company and the biggest owner and operator of shopping centers across CEE markets by value, is to invest around 600 million Euro in its development and asset refurbishment pipeline to meet strong demand from retailers aiming to tap into the region’s increasingly affluent consumer base.

“The outlet sector has demonstrated it has its eye firmly on the ball, as well as the capacity to anticipate, be agile, flexible and ready to meet whatever changes come next,” states Daniel Losantos, CEO of NEINVER, and Member of the ACROSS Advisory Board, in the latest “Industry Outlook 2024”.

Institutional investors in Germany are facing a significant shift in their real estate investment strategies, as revealed in the twelfth annual survey by Universal Investment. The survey among German institutional investors sheds light on the evolving landscape of real estate allocations and investor preferences, indicating a strong appetite for diversification beyond national borders and a growing recognition of the role of real estate as a hedge against inflation.

In a world dominated by online shopping, the role of brick-and-mortar retailers is at a critical turning point. The ACROSS Advisory Board discussion in Cannes shed light on a pressing issue – the need to re-educate consumers about the value of physical shopping experiences. Ben Chesser, CEO of Coniq, shares his view on the matter – a PropTech perspective.

Originally developed solely to meet the daily needs of consumers, shopping centers quickly became an asset class. The model worked very well for a long time, but as consumer behavior has changed, so have the requirements of tenants, operators and investors. The obvious task to satisfy customers, business partners and stakeholders is: Get your customers to return to your locations. Clear differentiation and positioning as well as a clear focus on people are crucial.

There are a variety of ways that retail companies are cleverly utilizing artificial intelligence, states Marc Giovannini, founder of Omniaz. He highlights use cases, explains the growing interest, and discusses why hyped products like the much-anticipated Apple Vision Pro may be a push toward mass adoption, but are not the breakthrough product the industry is waiting for.

Online retail continues to change the shopping landscape, and people have adapted their leisure behavior as a result of the pandemic. Consequently, the role of shopping centers needs to be rethought. Shopping centers are no longer straightforward “shopping machines”, but must prove themselves as sustainable and versatile community centers, argues HBB.