3 May 2018 – Eje Prime
The world’s shopping centre giants are very much focused on Spain. Whilst at the beginning of the year, Unibail-Rodamco announced that it was putting up for sale four non-strategic shopping centres in Spain, today, it is another French firm, Klépierre, who is picking up the gauntlet and redoubling its commitment to the country. The company is going to invest €45 million in the expansion of its Maremagnum shopping centre, located in Barcelona, according to sources at the company speaking to Eje Prime.
The group estimates that it will spend €45 million to increase the complex by 8,000 m2, space that will be added to the second floor and sides of the shopping centre. According to the company, the building work will begin in the coming months, although it is not expected to be completed until the second half of 2021. This is the only renovation or expansion project that Klépierre currently has planned in Spain for the next few years.
Maremagnum is one of the jewels in the crown of Klépierre. Located in one of the most touristic enclaves of Barcelona and where a large number of cruise ships disembark every day, the complex was launched in 1995 and was renovated in 2012.
Currently, Maremagnum has a total surface area of 22,542 m2, of which 18,800 m2 are dedicated to commercial activity. More than 154 brands operate in the shopping centre, including the Swedish giant H&M, the majority of the Inditex chains, the US firm Victoria’s Secret and restaurant operators such as McDonalds.
Maremagnum has formed part of Klépierre’s portfolio since 2015 when it completed the purchase of the Dutch company Corio for €7.2 billion. The French group completed the acquisition of Corio after launching a public exchange offer in October 2014 for 93.6% of the shares in circulation.
The objective of the French real estate company with that purchase was to expand its presence in countries such as France, Italy, Spain and Portugal, given that Corio owned complexes in seven counties and in urban centres such as Amsterdam and Istanbul, as well as in cities such as Madrid, Rome, Turin, Utrecht and Berlin.
Specifically, following that merger, Klépierre took ownership of an asset portfolio comprising 178 shopping centres spread over 16 European countries with a combined asset value of €21 billion. In this way, after the merger, Kléperre’s portfolio in Spain comprised around twenty shopping centres, worth more than €2.26 billion, and which generate a profit of €110 million for the group (…).
Good results for the sector in Spain
In macroeconomic terms, shopping centres are performing well in Spain at the moment. Turnover for these types of assets rose by 1.5% last year with respect to the previous year, whilst visitor footfall grew by 1.1% YoY.
The sectors that performed the best last year with respect to 2016 in terms of sales were the home, leisure and restaurant sectors, with increases of 5%, 3.7% and 2.7%, respectively, according to a report from Cushman&Wakefield.
According to the real estate consultancy, new additions such as customer advisory services and sensory and emotional perception, which create new experiences for users, have helped this increase in shopping centre sales figures and visitor numbers. Nevertheless, consumer electronics stores saw their sales fall by 1.8% last year, with respect to 2016.
The occupancy rate of the assets analysed was 91% in 2017, three points above the level last year. The higher demand for retail space also led to increases in rents in shopping centres, which saw rental prices rise by 1.4% last year.
Original story: Eje Prime (by Custodio Pareja)
Translation: Carmel Drake
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