placemaking

Italie Deux, acquired by Ingka Centres in 2023, is one of the largest retail-led mixed-use destinations in Paris, France. With its acquisition, Ingka Centres aims to create hotspot that serves as a new meeting place for the neighboring community.

“We are a growth-minded company,” states Vasco Santos, Global Sales & Leasing Director at Ingka Centres. The Scandinavian-rooted, globally active company operates in Europe, China, the US, and is establishing its presence in India. Its main goal is to create meeting places that go beyond shopping and provide real, meaningful value to the community. Despite the company’s success, especially in China, Santos expresses its continuous commitment and appetite for the European market but also stresses that the local market can learn a lot from international examples.

Gesundbrunnen-Center in Berlin, Germany, offers everything under one roof. With the recently announced expansion of the mixed-use shopping destination, the center further cements itself as an outstanding highlight of the German capital’s retail and office offer.

Trinity Capital is one of Bulgaria’s most prominent developers and owners of retail real estate. After developing retail parks and acquiring shopping centers, the company is now entering the market for designer outlets and planning Bulgaria’s first outlet village in Sofia, which will be in the direct vicinity of the largest retail park in the Balkans, which belongs to Trinity as well. Stoyan Kolev, CEO of Trinity Capital, explains why Bulgaria is ready for an outlet, his plans for the location, why the combination of outlet and retail park makes sense, and why entertainment and gastronomy are essential keys to more footfall.

Jurij Triller is the CEO of Smart Octopus Solutions. Together with a co-founder, he has developed a smart gift card solution that offers a closed loop to customers and partners, unlike comparable products. He talks to ACROSS about the advantages of being independent from a major player like Visa or Mastercard, what data insights he can ensure as a result, and why personalization and customization are key.

The ALEXA shopping and leisure center in Berlin-Mitte can look back on an extremely positive 2024. The center, which is owned by Union Investment and managed by Sonae Sierra, was able to further expand its position as one of the most attractive retail locations in Germany with 17 new leases and 18 lease extensions and was named Germany’s best inner-city center. Further optimizations are planned for 2025.

Union Investment, owner of the Köln Arcaden shopping center in Germany, is planning to develop the site into a new mixed-use quarter. The preliminary planning envisages around 108 apartments, some privately financed and some publicly subsidized, as well as senior citizens’ apartments, a facility with care places for senior citizens and office space for a total of around 800 employees.

SES sets a strong example for sustainable management and environmental protection with the successfully introduced comprehensive environmental management system and received ISO 14001 certification from TÜV AUSTRIA. This applies to both the SES headquarters and 15 SES shopping malls in Austria.