European Shopping Center Completions To Fall 45% By '11-Survey
LONDON -(Dow Jones)- European shopping center completions are expected to fall by 45% by 2011, as schemes are put on hold during the recession, according to a new survey by Cushman & Wakefield.
The property adviser said that new shopping center development will fall to its lowest level for 5 years in 2010. The full impact of the global recession is likely to be felt most in 2011, it added, with only 5 million square meters of space predicted to open across Europe - the lowest figure since 2003.
But even though consumer confidence remains weak and financing is scarce, new development is far from being at a complete standstill.
"In both mature and emerging markets there remains potential for new shopping centers and there is evidence of medium to large scale shopping centers still being able to obtain finance, albeit developers are required to provide significant chunks of their own equity," said consultant at Cushman & Wakefield Alexander Colpaert.
"Such schemes are normally in prime locations where there is a proven need for retail development."
Turkey and Russia still top the league table of shopping centers in the pipeline, while France has the largest amount of new space that's set to become available in Western Europe.
