Tag: Plaza Río 2

CBRE: Shopping Centre Construction Soars with 30 New Sites Planned By 2020

5 July 2018 – Voz Pópuli

The market for the construction of shopping centres is soaring again. In Spain, there are currently 18 projects under construction with a combined gross leasable area (GLA) of 650,000 m2 and another 12 assets in the pipeline, spanning another 648,000 m2. That brings the total surface area to 1.3 million m2 across 30 projects between now and 2020, according to data from CBRE.

Although it is still too soon to talk about pre-crisis figures (when 800,000 m2 of retail space was constructed per year), the reality is that the sector is growing at rates that have not been seen since 2009.

Last year, five new shopping centres were inaugurated with a combined gross leasable area of 211,000 m2 and a surface area of more than 30,000 m2 each. Highlights included shopping centres in Madrid (Plaza Río 2), Gran Canaria (Alisios) and Melilla (Parque Melilla), the first ever shopping centre in the autonomous city.

In Spain, although there is a high density in general terms, there are still cities with a shortage of retail space. For example, Lleida lacks any offer and so there, Carrefour Property is promoting a new 55,000 m2 complex, which has secured demand from many retailers that do not currently supply that market. Nevertheless, the majority of the developments currently underway are located in Madrid, Sevilla and Barcelona.

Renovations

Another trend is for the renovation of existing complexes. During the crisis, the people responsible for retail premises were more concerned with surviving than with renovating their spaces. Now, refurbishments are being carried out in several shopping centres, led by huge firms such as Carrefour Property, Carmila and Merlin.

With the arrival of the internet, shopping centres have had to adapt and they are now looking to offer differentiating experiences to become meeting places and social spaces for communities.

The restaurant sector is the horse pulling the cart, given that the sales of traditional fashion is stagnating. Previously, the sector sought out fast-food operators but now restaurants are becoming attractions in their own right.

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by David Cabrera)

Translation: Carmel Drake

More Than 1 Million People Visit Plaza Río 2 In <1 Month

13 November 2017 – Press Release

On its first two days of opening (20 and 21 October), the Plaza Río 2  shopping centre recorded its highest footfall figures, with 86,000 visitors on each day, taking the average entry rate to 6,000 people per hour. 

Plaza Río 2 expects to receive 1,500,000 visitors between Black Friday and 6 January 2018, which marks the end of the Christmas campaign.

The Plaza Río 2 shopping centre is taking stock of its performance since it opened on 20 October 2017. And it is doing so with a round number. In just over 20 days, it has broken the threshold of 1 million visitors. This data reflects the fact that the public like the wide range of possibilities on offer there.

During its first two days of opening (20 and 21 October), it recorded its highest footfall figures, with 86,000 visitors on each one of those dates, which represents a spectacular average entry rate of 6,000 people per hour. Plaza Río 2 opened on a date that was not particularly well suited to trading, given the weather, which makes the 1 million visitor figure even more impressive. If we look at the days of the week that have received the most footfall, Saturdays are the busiest day so far, followed by the bank holidays.

In terms of where the visitors are coming from, it must be said that they are arriving from both sides of the banks of the Manzanares River. Plaza Río 2 represents a breath of fresh air for the area from a commercial perspective and, moreover, has managed to entice people from other parts of the capital. In short, the new public is on the lookout for new leisure spaces. The managers of the centre are very happy with the results obtained so far and state that they hope to receive 1,500,000 visitors between Black Friday and 6 January 2018.

With 160 establishments filling its 40,000 m2 space, the centre managed by the property developer Sociedad General Inmobiliaria de España (LSGIE) offers a unique shopping experience that has been enhanced by a very interesting gastronomic proposal. The Mirador de Plaza Río 2, with the largest restaurant terrace in Madrid (3,000 m2), is home to 9 dining premises, catering for every culinary taste.

With an investment of €200 million and 100% of the stores leased before it opened, the centre has created 1,800 direct jobs and provided employment to 2,000 people during the construction phase. Moreover, it has managed to attract brands that are not typically found in shopping centres, such as the case of Victoria’s Secret, Armani Exchange and H&M Home.

Plaza Río 2 comprises 6 floors, 3 dedicated to shopping, 2 to parking and 1 to dining. Its modern, urban and state-of-the-art style has made it a commercial attraction for visitors to the Matadero and Madrid Río, as well as for residents of Usera, Arganzuela and Madrid centre. Natural light is the main protagonist of the building, which is equipped with the most advanced systems in terms of energy efficiency and sustainability. It has 35 bays for recharging electric vehicles and the building’s lights automatically adjust the intensity of the light they emit depending on needs.

The French property developer Sociedad General Inmobiliaria de España (LSGIE) has been responsible for undertaking this project, which represents its eighth shopping centre in Spain and its fifth in the Community of Madrid, after it first ventured into the capital in 1983 with Madrid 2 La Vaguada.

Original story: Press Release

Translation: Carmel Drake

Spain’s Shopping Centres Reinvent Themselves As Leisure Mega-Resorts

23 October 2017 – Expansión

Star asset / The boom in e-commerce and change in consumer habits are revolutionising the traditional concept of retail. Offering new experiences and turning their properties into iconic spaces are some of the maxims of the owners of shopping centres.

Much more than retail spaces. The new generation of shopping centres is evolving to incorporate a leisure concept for the whole family and to adapt to the demands of the millennials. Aquariums, artificial lakes, ski resorts, diving pools; everything fits into these new megaresorts designed for leisure, experiences and shopping.

“We have to implement new concepts, but without taking our eye off the ball in terms of the retail mix”, explain sources at Unibail-Rodamco, the largest listed commercial real estate company in Europe, which owns 13 centres in Spain, worth more than €3,500 million, and which plans to invest an additional €650 million in the country between now and 2024.

“We have introduced the DEX (Dining Experience), which aims to revolutionise restaurant spaces in shopping centres through a combination of architecture, design and leisure to offer a multi-sensorial experience”, explain the sources. They are adamant that “physical stores are not incompatible with e-commerce. In fact, we are seeing lots of the companies that originated in the digital environment now looking for physical points of sale. Amazon has opted to sell through physical stores with its acquisition of Whole Foods in the USA. We have also seen the same thing with Hawkers, the sunglasses brand, which recently opened its first physical store in Madrid”.

“Shopping centres are having to evolve to adapt themselves to the new needs and wants of customers, combining technology, multi-channels and experiences to reach more demanding end consumers”, explains Luis Lázaro, Head of the Shopping Centre division at Merlin Properties, which plans to invest €100 million over the next few years in both modernising the image of its centres as well as in updating its commercial offer.

José Manuel Llovet, Director of Retail at Lar – which owns 14 shopping centres in Spain – explains that the Socimi is working on improving the customer experience. “We are investing more than €60 million in Capex to adapt and modernise our centres, improve services and experiences, as well as implement the omnichannel strategy”.

Sources at Intu, owner of Puerto Venecia (Zaragoza), Intu Asturias (Asturias) and Xanadú (Madrid), which also has several important projects underway, say they use the shopping resort concept as the formula for attracting consumers, turning shopping centres into “tourist and leisure attractions”, and adopting a strategy of fewer operators with larger surface areas.

Meanwhile, Sociedad General Inmobiliaria de España (Lsgie) inaugurated Plaza Río 2 on Friday. One of the main features of that centre, located on the banks of the Manzanares River (Madrid) is its Mirador (lookout), which they define as “the best restaurant terrace in the capital” (…).

Carolina Ramos Alcobía, Director of the Shopping Centre Leasing department at Aguirre Newman, points out that Spain is promoting a model that moves away from the traditional shopping centre. “The trend is moving towards an aesthetics of open shopping centres, which are more like small towns or urban shopping centres; moreover, that concept is very highly favoured by the Spanish climate. The key is to get away from the stress associated with hectic, uncomfortable shopping centres” (…).

According to Ramos, “we are undoubtedly witnessing the largest transformation of shopping centres since they first opened in Spain, almost forty years ago. If they don’t spruce themselves up, they won’t survive” (…).

Investor appetite

In terms of investment (…), according to Javier García-Mateo, Real Estate Partner in Financial Advisory at Deloitte, “a voracious appetite exists for medium-sized shopping centres, which we have not seen for more than ten years”. According to data from Deloitte, so far this year, investment in shopping centres amounts to €2,300 million. In 2016, investors spent €3,769 million buying shopping centres in Spain, almost doubling the figure recorded in 2015 (…).

Original story: Expansión (by R. Arroyo and M. Anglés)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Victoria’s Secret & Armani To Open Stores In Plaza Río 2 Shopping Centre

16 October 2017 – Expansión

On Thursday 20 October, the luxury Italian brand Armani is going to open a new store in Madrid. However, the new establishment is not going to be located on one of the capital’s high-end streets, such as Serrano or Ortega y Gasset, but rather in a shopping centre: the new Plaza Río 2.

Located on the banks of the River Manzanares, the Plaza Río 2 shopping centre is the latest project from the French real estate giant La Société Générale Inmobilière (LSGI). With a total investment of almost €200 million, the company has managed to secure tenants for the entire retail space, which measures 38,931m2, out of a total surface area of 127,873 m2.

The new tenants include household name brands, including several belonging to the Inditex group, such as Massimo Dutti and Zara Home, as well as new faces in the shopping centre business in Spain.

Such is the case of the aforementioned Armani group, which will open an Armani Exchange store for the first time in Spain; Armani Exchange is the Italian group’s brand that targets a younger audience.

Meanwhile, the underwear firm Victoria’s Secret, famous for its annual catwalk show with supermodels, will also make its debut in a shopping centre in Madrid with a store in Plaza Río 2.

Until now, the firm, owned by the US group L Brands, has had a presence in two shopping centres in Barcelona, as well as in the airports of Málaga, El Prat and Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas, in the cosmetics and accessories format. Just a few days ago, it opened its first high-street store in the Spanish capital, in premises measuring 150m2 on Calle Fuencarral, which will be joined by its new establishment in Plaza Río 2 next week.

Another first in the new shopping centre will be the H&M Home line. The Swedish firm has reserved a surface area of 3,000 m2, spread over three floors, where it will open a store that will offer its H&M Home household collection for the first time in the centre of Madrid.

Plaza Río 2 is the eighth shopping centre that LGSI has opened in Spain. Through its subsidiary LSGIE, the company has promoted well-known establishments such as Madrid 2 La Vaguada, one of the first shopping centres that ever opened in Spain. In addition to this latest new opening, the group plans to renovate and expand its different assets in the Spanish market, according to sources at LSGIE.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Madrid’s ‘Plaza Río 2’ Shopping Centre Will Open Its Doors On 20 October

27 September 2017 – Press Release

The Plaza Río 2 shopping centre, which is located on the banks of the Manzanares River and opposite the Matadero of Madrid, will open its doors on 20 October.

The new shopping centre, in whose construction almost €200 million has been invested, spans a commercial surface area of 40,000 square metres. It will be one of the iconic shopping centres in the capital and will house up to 160 stores for large domestic and international groups.

Plaza Río 2 is a comprehensive and innovative alternative, thanks not only to its extensive retail, leisure and gastronomic offering, but also its privileged location inside Madrid’s urban perimeter.

This ambitious project has been integrated into the Madrid Río initiative, and is the result of a collaboration between the public sector and a private company to achieve a positive impact on local employment, in harmony with the local environment.

It is the first major real estate project from the Town Hall of Madrid’s current government and it will provide a strong economic boost to the area. Plaza Río 2 has generated approximately 2,000 jobs during the construction phase and, following its opening, will create 1,800 permanent roles. In addition, it is going to offer the perfect combination of leisure, entertainment, fashion, gastronomy and services for the inhabitants of the neighbouring districts of Centro and Ribera del Manzanares.

The opening of Plaza Río 2 will be accompanied by the inauguration of the Mirador de Plaza Río 2, the largest restaurant terrace in the capital, covering a surface area of more than 3,000 m2. Visitors will be able to enjoy spectacular views of the city from the rooftop, together with a varied gastronomic offering. It is regarded as the pinnacle of the Madrid Río project.

Plaza Río 2 has been designed by the architecture firm Chapman Taylor and will comprise three retail floors and a fourth dedicated exclusively to restaurants. Natural light will feature heavily throughout the centre and the building will be equipped with the most advanced systems in terms of energy efficiency and sustainability.

The project has been promoted by La Sociedad General Inmobiliaria de España (LSGIE), taking its portfolio of shopping centres across Spain to eight. LSGIE’s first centre was Madrid 2 La Vaguada, and since then, it has embarked on several others, including:

Plaza Loranca 2, Gran Vía 2, Plaza Norte 2, Gran Plaza 2, La Villa2, and Plaza Mar 2. For management purposes, LSGIE relies on the ‘Company for Shopping Centres in Spain’ or ‘Sociedad de Centros Comerciales de España’ (SCCE) which offers its services, knowledge and experience in this sector.

Original story: Press Release

Translation: Carmel Drake

Plaza Río 2: Madrid’s Newest Shopping Centre Will Open In October

3 March 2017 – Mis Locales

A new shopping centre will open in Madrid in October and it will be strategically located, next to Calle 30. The shopping centre is being built on the banks of the Manzanares River, opposite the Matadero cultural centre in Madrid, and its area of influence will span 500,000 inhabitants.

The new shopping centre will mainly serve the districts of Usera, Carabanchel, Villaverde Centro, Arganzuela and Puente de Vallecas. It will be directly accessible from the A-42 (Toledo) and the A-4 (Andalucía) motorways and will have good public transport links, including several bus and metro stops and a local train station.

Plaza Río 2 will have a surface area of 40,000 m2 and will house more than 150 stores, spread over three floors. In turn, it will have a fourth floor, the “Mirador del Río”, which will be used exclusively for restaurants. The shopping centre will offer fashion and gastronomy from the largest domestic and international groups in each sector.

The property is being developed by Sociedad General Inmobiliaria de España (LSGIE), which is whereby adding a new shopping centre to its portfolio. In total, the company now owns nine premises, including Plaza Norte 2, Gran Plaza 2, Plaza de la Moraleja and Madrid 2 La Vaguada.

Original story: Mis Locales

Translation: Carmel Drake

C&W: RE Inv’t In Retail Sector Exceeded €4,300M In 2016

2 February 2017 – Finanzas

Real estate investment in the retail sector – commercial assets – in Spain exceeded €4,300 million in 2016, up by 22% compared to the previous year, thanks to the completion of 45 operations, according to the Marketbeat Retail España report, compiled by the real estate consultancy firm Cushman & Wakefield.

The study indicates that much of this investment came from overseas investors, particularly in the case of shopping centres.

Nevertheless, overall, domestic capital increased to account for 67% of financing in 2016, compared to 8% in 2007, due to the rise of the Socimis.

The CEO of Cushman & Wakefield in Spain, Oriol Barrachina, said that retail is one of the “clearest” indications that the market has become globalised.

Moreover, Barrachina commented on the need to increase “transformation” and “diversification” to generate wealth “in other neighbourhoods”.

In relation to retail complexes, the report indicated that they covered a total surface area of 16.8 million m2 – 66% of the total “stock” – spread across 672 locations.

More specifically, shopping centres covered a surface area of more than 11 million m2, with the addition of 175,000 m2 in 2016.

Regarding this year, the Director of Retail Leasing at Cushman & Wakefield in Spain, Cristina Pérez, highlighted the “positive trend” expected in the sector, thanks to the construction of another 100,000 m2 of space, with two centres in Madrid (Sambil and Plaza Río 2) and another one in Barcelona (phase 2 of Glòries).

In terms of retail parks in Spain, the supply now exceeds the European average, with a total surface area of 2.8 million m2.

In terms of high street premises, the head of the area, Robert Travers, explained that it has reached “historical highs”, thanks to the improvement in the economy, growth in tourism and rising consumer confidence.

Moreover, Travers noted that the luxury sector is suffering from a “major” change, following “eight years of euphoria”, due to the effect if terrorism, concerns over the Asian markets and a rise in taxes in China.

In this sense, the Head of High Street confirmed that the growth in luxury stores in Spain is going to be “moderate”.

Cushman & Wakefield’s report also contains information about the boom in e-commerce – which has grown globally by30% since 2007 – and its effect on the real estate sector.

Pérez underlined that it is now necessary “to offer a different social experience” to get “people out of the house” and visiting shopping centres in person.

The Head of Retail Leasing acknowledged that 77% of Spain’s shopping centres “need some kind of improvement”, including modifications to bring them closer to the e-commerce segment.

Original story: Finanzas

Translation: Carmel Drake

Madrid Río Shopping Centre Will Open In October 2017

15 April 2016 – Expansión

Located opposite the Matadero, the shopping centre will open in October 2017 and will be directly accessible from the M-30.

The Plaza Río 2 shopping centre will open in October 2017 with a new design that will include an access road between Calle Matilde Gayo and the Manzanares river, as demanded by Carmena’s Government. “At the request of the Town Hall, there will be a wider than planned street connecting (the shopping centre) with the river. In addition, the façade will be more modern and less palatial, in order to better blend in with the environment”, said Bertrand Chevallereau yesterday, the CEO of Sociedad General Inmobiliaria de España (LGSIE), the property developer behind the new shopping centre.

Located in Usera, next to the Matedero Madrid, Plaza Río 2 will have three parking levels, three shopping floors and a terrace with eight restaurants. The lowest floor will be 7m below the level of the river. According to José Solana, Commercial Director of Sociedad de Centros Comerciales de España (SCCE), the project will comprise 150 stores including an Alcampo hypermarket, all of the Inditex brands, electrical appliance shops and a few sports stores “such as, for example, Décimas”.

Of the 150 stores, 30 will be large brands and the rest, 120, will be small and medium-sized retailers. “We have given priority to local retailers wanting to move in or open a second store in the shopping centre, but in general they do not want to move in as they cannot afford the investment or because they have concerns about moving here”, said Solana.

The shopping centre will be opened on a surface area measuring 40,000 m2, but there will not be any leisure facilities such as cinemas, bowling allies or recreational shops as there is not enough space, given that the shopping centre alone will take up 75% of the site. “What’s more, Matadero Madrid already organises lots of cultural events”, added Chevallereau.

Besides the obstacle to access the river directly, the main complaint lodged by Madrid Río’s neighbourhood associations relates to concerns that the construction of a new shopping centre will harm local retailers in the area and may cause transport problems. In this sense, Chevallereau said that local retailers have concerns that “are unfounded, at least in part”

By way of example, he referred to La Vaguada shopping centre – also built by the LSGI investment and development group – where he says that “many businesses have been generated around the building because it is an attraction for the public”. For Chevallereau, “the new shopping centre will not represent competition to small businesses but rather a dialogue”.

In terms of the disruption that traffic may cause in the area, he stressed that the shopping centre will be connected directly to the M-30, where the road exits the Manzanares tunnel, which means that “many cars will access it that way, without having to drive around the streets bordering the shopping centre”.

Original story: Expansión (by Noelia Marín)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Balkany To Open Plaza Río 2 Retail Park In Madrid In 2017

20 January 2015 – Cinco Días

Madrid will have a new shopping centre in 2017. The first one to be built in the heart of the capital for more than a decade. The Plaza Río 2 project will be built alongside the Madrid Río park, and will be developed by the company Sociedad General Inmobiliaria de España (LSGIE). The company is led by Robert de Balkany, a Romanian-French multi-millionaire, related by marriage to the European monarchy and a close friend of the former King Juan Carlos. One of the directors of LSGIE, Jaime de Marichalar, is the ex-husband of Elena de Borbón.

The shopping centre, which will be located on Calle Antonio López, less than four kilometres from the Puerta del Sol, will cover an area of 40,000 square metres, with 180 shops over three floors and more than 1,500 parking spaces.

LSGIE has mandated the company SCCE – a subsidiary of the French group SCC, also controlled by the Balkany family – to begin commercial work and look for businesses who want to open stores in Río Plaza 2. For the moment, it has managed to close a deal with its first illustrious tenant: Alcampo announced a few days ago that it will open a store in the new centre occupying an area of 5,000 square metres.

The most recent shopping centre to be opened in the central area of Madrid was the one located in the former Príncipe Pío train station (also next to the Manzanares river) in October 2004. Since then, only smaller centres have opened, such as the one recently opened on Paseo de la Castellana, 200 (which houses 6,000 square metres of retail space).

Over the last 10 years, during which time Spain has gone through the toughest economic crisis since the Civil War, only a handful of retail parks have been developed in the Community of Madrid, although some of those have also borne the stamp of Robert de Balknay. Such is the case of the Plaza Norte 2 complex – in Alcobendas – the largest shopping centre in Spain, covering 50,000 square metres, and most recently, Gran Plaza 2 – in Majadahonda – whose red tape was cut in 2012 by Robert de Balkany himself and the then President of the Community of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre.

Six shopping centres have been opened in the city of Madrid since 2004 (in Montecarmelo, Canillejas-Plenilunio, Manoteras, Carabanchel-Isla Azul and the Ensanche de Vallecas-La Gavia) according to data from the Spanish Association of Shopping Centres (Aedecc), but none of those are as central as the planned Plaza Río 2.

Project Canalejas

Another project that is also expected to open its doors in 2017 are the Galarías Canalejas, a luxury shopping centre, covering 7,000 square metres, being developed by Inmobiliaria Espacio and the OHL Group, just 250 metres from the Puerta del Sol.

Plaza Río 2 will be located directly opposite the Matadero Madrid, a group of buildings that have been renovated by the Town Hall in recent years to offer cultural activities (exhibitions, theatres, festivals…) and which has become a magnet for artists and creatives alike. In the area surrounding the capital’s new park, Madrid Río, a project known as Operation Calderón will also be taking shape, involving the demolition of Atlético de Madrid’s current football stadium and the construction of several residential towers.

The original project for the development of the site that will house Plaza Río 2 was approved by the Town Hall in June 2013 and involved the creation of a special urban development plan, which included the construction of a 27-story hotel on top of the shopping centre. However, sources from the company LSGIE say that the project that they have developed never included plans for the construction of that hotel.

The shopping centre’s developers value the location of this site due to its easy access from the M-30 ring road (which runs under the Madrid Río river park), as well as from the roads to Toledo (A-42) and Andalucía (A-4). The proximity of several popular neighbourhoods, such as Usera, Arganzuela, Carabanchel and Puente de Vallecas, has also played a role. According to SCCE’s calculations, 175,000 people live within five minutes of Río Plaza 2 and 500,000 people live within a radius of 10 minutes.

According to the designs for the project, the shopping centre will be directly accessible from the Madrid Río park. Just at that point, there is already a bridge that provides access to the facilities of the Matadero Madrid, the cultural centre Casa del Lector and the Palacio de Cristal-Invernadero de Arganzuela.

The Man Who Brought Us The Mall

The CEO of LSGIE and the SCC group, Robert de Balkany, was the person responsible for importing the concept of the shopping centre or mall from the United States to Europe. It was in 1962 when, after a trip around North America, this Romanian-born Frenchman decided to launch his business venture, which has led him to control the largest shopping centre conglomerate in Europe, with more than 120 properties. He developed his first centre – Parly 2 – in the metropolitan area of the French capital. It opened its doors in 1969. “When I returned from my trip to Detroit, I realised that shopping would never been the same again. The world had changed and consumers wanted service, comfort and activities”, explains Balkany in a corporate publication prepared for the 50th anniversary of the SCC group. “Design had been democratised. I had discovered some land in Chesnay, to the west of Paris, very close to Versailles, and I hired an American architect to join the adventure, to build the first shopping centre in Europe”. Then came Velizy2, Rosny2, Evry2, Ulis2, St Genis2…

Next came international expansion, into Spain, where the SCC group today manages 20 shopping centres, including La Vaguada (the first one opened in the country in 1983) and Plaza Norte 2 (the largest in Spain, with an investment of €300 million and where 2,500 people work). Then came Belgium, Italy, Monaco, Abu Dhabi…

Today, the empire built by Balkany manages 135 shopping centres around the world, with a turnover of €50 million and more than 500 employees.

Original story: Cinco Días (by M. M. Mendieta)

Translation: Carmel Drake