One of the largest real estate transactions that went into Vienna to date on stage. With words such as these end of last year was the deal to the Wien-Mitte complex, which includes the shopping center "The Mall" shows. As a seller, UniCredit Bank Austria acted as a buyer, a consortium led by Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing. About the price they covered the cloak of silence. Just weeks after "The Mall" changed the approximately 55 shops listed city gate in Vienna-Floridsdorf the owner, from the stump group for German Warburg HIH Invest Real Estate.
"The City Gate offers due to the positive location concept and the expected above-average population growth in the metropolitan location in Vienna, but also specifically in the area of the center, for Warburg HIH Invest and their investors an interesting medium to long-term investment," commented Andreas Schultz, CEO Warburg-HIH Invest. Moreover, lately also played the Millennium City in the 20th district, the M4 in Wörgl, the Cyta in Völs and the Fischapark in Wiener Neustadt each have a main role in a transaction. You can twist and turn so as you want: The Austrian investment market for retail properties moved to brisk. This is not least because other asset classes no longer fulfill the set in her return expectations. Especially residential properties this fall with regard to this country.
The competition from the WWW
Excluding the constantly high level of interest from investors sidelined, lived through the market for retail property in Austria - or in the whole round earth - just a profound transformation. Finally, the online trading caused partly massive area reductions of entire industries. Conversely, however, provide new concepts such as pop-ups and flagship stores large online portals for new dynamics.
At the same time it is striking that hardly malls are pulled up on the green meadow. As the - until further notice - last of these species in the Alpine republic applies the G3, which in Lower Austria Gerasdorf opened its doors in October 2012 Design. Thus the malls move for some time increasingly toward (inner) cities. For example, the Weber line that successfully competes for customers since August 2015 heart of Ried / Innkreis on approximately 22,000 square meters of rental space. Not yet completed is the seaside town of Bregenz with Euro Spar and Zara as anchor tenants. Next year grand opening will be celebrated in Vorarlberg.
Currently 228 shopping centers and retail parks
How many shopping and retail centers, Austria is the bottom line, that is how big is the market? On 1 January 2016, according to a recent report by the consulting firm Baden Location + Market 228 pieces. They have a total on a rentable area of 3.9 million square meters, of which 3.2 million relate to retail and it is at rest to service, catering and other leisure facilities.
2015 thus stood in shopping centers and retail parks per inhabitant about 0.46 square meters of lettable space. This value remained noisy location + market compared to 2014 de facto equal. A 15-year observation period, however, shows an extreme surface expansion of almost one hundred percent. Possessed local shopping and retail centers at the millennium on about two million square meters of rentable space, so they blow current soon the four-million-square-meter mark. Malls were here experienced a gain of 88 percent, retail parks even by 115 percent. Looking at this growth rate in a shorter period, for example, of one year to the next, so the growth flattens now from serious.
Every ten years, modernization required
So there are fewer new projects. However, this fact does not once again that prevails in the domestic commercial real estate market stopped. On the contrary. Because the owners focus on the refurbishment of existing properties. The Society for market and sales research (GMA) found in a study in 2010 that 48 percent of all shopping centers are in need of revitalization in Germany. In Austria the proportion is likely to be similar in size. Where it is not just about a new facade paint, but a complete realignment of the property. The reasons for trafficked modernizations ranging from low awareness of need for revitalization through complicated ownership structures and scarce financial resources to feh
