Russia dominant in shopping center development

Russia is dominating the shopping center development pipeline with construction projects in excess of five million square meters underway.

The first six months of 2014 has seen a massive 1.88 million m² of new shopping center space being developed across Europe.  Global property advisor, CBRE, state this type of development has mostly been concentrated in emerging markets, with a huge portion of 84% occurring in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

During 2013, more than 4.5 million m² of center space has opened across Europe, with Russia, Turkey, Poland and France experiencing the largest completion respectively.  Russia and Turkey have remained the busiest markets, as more than 60% of the completions during 2013 were based in these two countries.  During 2013, Russia developed 1.5 million m² of new stock.  In Turkey, more than 2.6 million m² of center space was being constructed in H1 2014.  The high construction rates are due to continuing developer interest in regional cities and an improved economy.

According to CBRE the activity levels in development in Europe are similar to the previous year as regards location, with new construction being dominated by CEE.  The larger projects are occurring in major cities across Turkey, with smaller schemes taking place in the outer regions.