Rodamco Europe opens a new extension to the dominant Parquesur shopping center in Madrid. The extension is one of the largest to an existing shopping center in Europe and adds around 44,000 m2 of new retail space to the shopping center, making it one of the largest retail schemes in Europe.
The value of Rodamco Europe's interest in the new total Parquesur (prior to external valuation) will be around 230 million (book value of the existing part plus development cost of the extension) and produce a net initial yield of around 6.8%. This extension strengthens Rodamco Europe's position in the Spanish retail sector. The total investment portfolio consists of 12 shopping centers and is valued around 1 bn of which 89% is in the retail sector.
The GLA of the extension is around 44,000 m2 including an open-air terrace (1,000 m2) around the new lake. In the future a garden (3,560 m2) and other smaller extensions (2,155 m2) will be added. The new GLA of Parquesur is around 151,000 m2, of which Rodamco Europe owns 76,000 m2 (the rest are other owner occupiers). The extension is estimated to increase the number of visitors per annum to 24 million compared to previously 18 million and it creates (directly and indirectly) 1,800 new jobs for the region.
CEO Maarten Hulshoff: âWe have worked very closely with local authorities who shared our vision for Parquesur. This shopping center, acquired in 1994, was already one of Rodamco Europeâs largest. Following the â¬110 million investment, it is state-of-the-art, in line with our strategy of continually improving and developing the assets in our standing portfolio. The inauguration of our new Parquesur extension also reflects our firm commitment to expand our dominant position in urban catchment areas such as Madrid.â
The original Parquesur was acquired by Rodamco Europe in July 1994. From that moment Rodamco Europe started to elaborate plans for the extension of the shopping center. The rezoning of the land, negotiations with co-owners, and public bodies, and included the construction of a new motorway through part of the land, meant that the construction was not able to start until 2003. The extension which has taken 18 months to complete, on time and on budget, makes Parqesur the largest one-level shopping center in Spain.
65 new retail units have been added and are leased to major (international) retailers such as the Inditex (Zara) group, Fnac, Nike, H&M, Leroy Merlin and Timberland, and owner occupiers such as the department store El Corte Ingles.
New facilities include children's areas and 3,000 additional parking places. Two new access points have been opened up, and the shopping center is also modernized and made lighter. The key highlight in the design is an artificial lake of around 5,000 m2 at the heart of the center with Spain's first cyber floating fountain which is surrounded by a cluster of different types of restaurants.
The president of the Madrid autonomous region, Esperanza Aguirre, carried out the official inauguration of the new extension yesterday evening together with Maarten Hulshoff from Rodamco Europe.
Source: Rodamco Europe