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COMMENTARIES OF PLACEMAKING EXPERTS

“We are seeing a much greater focus being placed on delivering quantifiable, and measurable, social value progress within individual placemaking schemes,” states Andrew Sparrow, Director of Activate at Workman LLP, in the latest “Industry Outlook 2024”.

“Great placemaking means rethinking investment, business and operating models,” states William Kistler, Founder and Managing Partner of UrbanOvation, in the latest “Industry Outlook 2024”.

PROJECTS, TRENDS AND STRATEGIES

UŠĆE Shopping Center, jointly owned by MPC Properties and Atterbury Europe, has announced its ambitious redevelopment project to elevate the shopping experience. The project, set to revamp the center’s infrastructure and offerings, promises to blend exciting new features with modern amenities, solidifying its position as a hub for leisure, socializing, and shopping.

Following a customer-centric approach, the ‘Trading-Up’ strategy carried out by ROS Retail Outlet Shopping across its entire portfolio has achieved full potential in 2023. In particular, the Polish centers managed by the operator have registered up to 20 new openings, occupying a total gross lettable area of 3,000 sq m. Expectations in the Polish market are also on the rise with the anticipated center extension of Designer Outlet Gdańsk, which is scheduled to open by the end of 2024.

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LATEST TRENDS IN ASSET AND CENTER MANAGEMENT

Social and geopolitical developments have dominated the placemaking industry in recent years. During these challenging times, important issues, such as location marketing, have been overshadowed by others – and not just in the media. While this may seem understandable at first glance, it has now become clear that companies that have continuously focused on the issues of market positioning and professional location marketing are more fit for the future. ACROSS spoke with Sebastian Guth, Managing Director of 21Media, about what good location campaigns look like, the differences between B2B and B2C campaigns, and why operators who fail to focus on marketing will lose out in the medium term.

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.

STRATEGIES OF RETAILERS

RETAIL TECHNOLOGY

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.

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.

In an age where businesses and consumers get bombarded with digital communications, relevant information must get to people at the right time. Any mall business that sends generic messages to its tenants or shoppers will quickly lose their interest. Digital platforms are fundamental to improving the performance of shopping malls and their tenants.

LATEST TRENDS

The Compass Group has been won as the operator of the Foodhall in the new FOUR Frankfurt city quarter. Food Affairs GmbH, a company of Compass Group Deutschland GmbH, intends to curate the approximately 3,000 sq m space according to international standards and develop it into one of Frankfurt’s top food addresses.

PLANS OF INVESTORS AND OWNERS

“The money is there but is selective” – There are and will always be investments in retail real estate. Investing in retail real estate is particularly attractive since the industry has come through the crisis faster than other asset classes. In the latest ACROSS Retail Talk, “Euphoria, a new dawn, or more of the same?” sheds light on the investor’s perspective for 2024, a high-caliber panel concluded: There are more opportunities than ever, not only in the CEE-market, but also in so called struggling markets like Germany and Spain.

According to the German Süddeutsche Zeitung, Union Investment wants to sell the shopping arcade “Fünf Höfe” in Munich´s old town center to one of Germany’s richest families. The purchase price is expected to be just under 800 million euros.

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.