AM (formerly Amstelland MDC) has signed a contract to sell its La Vache Noire shopping center in Paris to ING Real Estate. Work has started on this 50,000 m² project, which will cost more than â¬200 million and is scheduled to open for business in 2007.
La Vache Noire is part of a large-scale urban redevelopment scheme in Les Portes dâArceuil, a suburb bordering the Boulevard Périphérique in the south of Paris, where AM is building a 50,000 m² shopping center which will incorporate a public roof garden, offices and a 1,800 places parking garage. Around a third of the retail space has been prelet to tenants which include anchors such as Zara, Darty, Monoprix, La Grande Récré, Hennes & Mauritz and Go Sport. Negotiations with other prospective tenants are in progress.
This project is consistent with AMâs strategy for Europe-wide growth in shopping center development. Another AM project in France was the Les Quatre Chemins shopping area in Vichy.
Strategy of the ING Retail Property Fund France Belgium
The Vache Noire acquisition is in line with the ING Retail Property Fund France Belgium´s strategy of maximising total returns, primarily through rental income return, by investing in and actively managing high quality retail properties. The fund has a target size of â¬1 billion and uses a regional allocation model as the basis for portfolio construction. ING Retail Property Fund France Belgium aims to achieve an IRR of between 9% and 10% for roughly 20 international institutional investors over its 10-year lifetime.
Design
T+T Design, AMâs in-house design consultants, were responsible for the urban planning and architectural design concept for La Vache Noire. The result is a light and transparent retail space on several levels, enclosed by tall glass walls. Taking advantage of the siteâs changes in level, the designers have turned the roof of the center into a public garden, providing an oasis of peace in an attractive setting, in the heart of urban Arceuil.
Source: ING Real Estate
