11 November 2014

PRADERA SECURES H&M AND MEDIA MARKT FOR KEY SPANISH ASSETS

Pradera's Spanish asset management team has secured over 16,000 sqm of leasing deals across the Pradera European Retail Fund (PERF) portfolio in the 9 months to 30 September 2014. This includes deals with high profile international retailers H&M and Media Markt across two key PERF assets.

Fashion retailer H&M is an anchor tenant at PERF's El Paseo Shopping Centre in Cadiz. H&M replaces C&A to complement the existing fashion retail offer at the centre, which predominately consists of Inditex Brands (Zara, Berksha, Pull & Bear, Stradivarius, Massimo Dutti and Oysho).

H&M committed to a 25 year lease to occupy a 1,700 sqm unit formerly occupied by C&A. The international fashion retailer opened for trade on 30 October 2014, attracting huge interest with hundreds of customers lining up to enter the store.

At Parc Valles Entertainment Centre in Barcelona, another key asset of PER, German electrical retailer Media Markt agreed to a 26 year lease. The retailer will become the second retail anchor tenant at the centre, following the introduction of the Mercadona supermarket in May and is expected to open for trade in October 2015.

The letting for the 2,830 sqm unit is in line with Fund's strategy to improve the tenancy mix and retail offering at the scheme, in order to drive footfall, leasing demand and income. This follows the change of use license received in 2012, permitting the fund to progress with plans to refurbish the scheme and covert up to 12,000 sqm of space (30 per cent of the centre's GLA) to retail. 

Sean Singh, Fund Manager for PERF, comments: "The significant volume of leasing deals achieved by our local teams across Spain this year coincides with the improvement witnessed in retail markets across Southern Europe in 2014. More importantly, recent lettings to H&M and Media Markt highlight Pradera's asset management capabilities in attracting well-known international retail anchors that will continue to drive footfall, income and value across our portfolios."

Source: PropertyMagazineInternational, November 2014