TOM 03 2021

T
TOPS
M
OF THE MONTH
O
Essential News About The Players In
The Retail Property Market In Germany
THE HOTTEST DEALS +++
INTERVIEWS +++ STATEMENTS
+++ PARTICULARS +++
ANALYSES +++ PROJECTS
presented by HI-HEUTE.DE
March 2021
Food retailers are currently high in demand.
Food retailing feather in investors‘ cap
JLL & Union Investment: Robust sales development tempting
Despite economic uncertainty,
the European grocery retail
real estate market continues
to hold up well. The Covid 19
pandemic has even opened up
new growth opportunities and
attracted investor interest. A
recent study by JLL and Union
Investment on „The European
Grocery Real Estate
Market“ shows that the grocery
retail real estate market
is likely to continue to develop
positively in 2021, following
an investment volume of €6.7
billion in 2020.
As the study makes clear, there
has recently been an under-allocation
of such properties in Europe:
Between 2014 and 2020,
the food segment accounted for
an average of just ten percent of
the total investment volume in
retail properties. In contrast, the
food segment accounted for 37
percent of total retail sales in the
EU of 27 countries in 2020.
The solid performance of the
grocery sector during the pandemic
has led to continued compression
in net initial yields for
high-quality existing properties
in key European markets - evidence
of increased investor interest.
Although the long-term impact
of the pandemic is yet to be
seen, the report aims to identify
development trends in the food
retail property market now:
The recent high growth rates in
online grocery retailing are expected
to level off after the pandemic.
Many retailers are likely
to adopt a two-track approach,
i.e. want to be present in the online
business as well as continue
to cultivate the bricks-and-mortar
business. Since online sales
are not attractive in the long
term due to narrow margins, retailers
will continue to invest in
their brick-and-mortar business,
optimize the customer experience,
and in some cases use their
stores as distribution centers for
online business.
Grocery-anchored real estate
has proven to be a stable investment
property in the retail sector.
Because food retailers have
recently performed well compared
to fashion retailers, for
example, and food retailers are
considered to be tenants with
strong credit ratings, food-anchored
properties have become
more attractive in the pandemic.
The sector is compelling on two
fronts: first, with long-term core
income for more risk-averse investors,
and second, with valueadd
potential in properties with
shorter leases or older existing
properties coming to market.
Increasing investor interest can
be seen in supermarkets and
food-anchored properties. Over
the past six years, investments
in European food retail properties
have been relatively constant
at around €4.5 billion per
year. In 2020, however, volumes
increased by more than 40
percent year-on-year to around
€6.7 billion.

Page 2 T O M
NEWS
March 2021
Finally another center opening
The Rée Carré shopping center in Offenburg went into operation
After about two years of
construction work on the
building, the time had come:
Lord Mayor Marco Steffens,
Construction Mayor Oliver
Martini and Klaus Kirchberger,
Chairman of the Management
Board of OFB Projektentwicklung,
opened the Rée
Carré with a symbolic ribbon
cutting.
Alnatura, DECATHLON, Vero
Moda, CECIL, Jack & Jones,
Ernstings Family, the drugstore
dm and the bakery Dreher opened
their stores. The parking garage
operator B + B started the
operation of the parking garage,
which is now available again to
all visitors of the Rée Carré and
the Offenburg city center. The
Spinner jewelry store had already
opened its doors earlier.
„I am very pleased that, despite
the difficult pandemic
situation, we can responsibly
open the new Rée Carré shopping
district today under the
prescribed Corona rules,“ says
Marco Steffens. „With the Rée
Carré, a brilliant extension of
our extensively attractive city
The currently permitted options
for opening stores do
not eliminate the worries and
hardships of the stationary
textile, shoe and leather goods
trade.
In the vast majority of stores,
sales revenues are not even
enough to cover the costs incurred
for staff, rent and electricity,
according to findings by
the BTE, BDSE and BLE. „The
current sales are too much for
fashion stores, shoe stores and
leather goods stores to die, but
too little to survive,“ reports
BTE General Manager Rolf
Pangels.
Against this backdrop, demands
from politicians to roll back the
already limited opening options
are causing great anxiety and
fear in the fashion trade. After
all, he says, the start of the
spring season is enormously
important for the three sectors.
Pangels: „March and April, as
The city of Offenburg is one shopping attraction richer.
Photo: Guido Gregg
center through the GO-OG
program towards the north has
been achieved. I am sure that
the upper center of Offenburg
now offers even more shopping
experience and quality of
stay with an inviting feel-good
atmosphere for visitors from
the entire Ortenau region, neighboring
Alsace and certainly
beyond. For Offenburg, the Rée
Carré is an absolute asset!“
Oliver Martini adds, „As the
building department, my staff
and I have now accompanied
the project for many years. I am
very pleased that a major milestone
has now been reached with
the opening. I personally had
the opportunity to accompany
and shape the project from the
municipal side as early as the
concept development stage. It
is special that we in Offenburg
wanted and received an open
concept, i.e. a city quarter and
not a shopping center. The open
concept has now been implemented
and is further developing
our city center. That just
makes me very happy!“
Textiles between dying and survival
Trade associations despair about current possibilities
The textile, footwear and leather goods trade remains in dire
straits.
the start of the season, are very
important sales phases for the
fashion industry, and the lost
sales can hardly be made up in
the seasonally oriented fashion
industry.“
Already, merchandise pressure
is increasing noticeably across
the fashion industry. „In addition
to large quantities of unsold
winter merchandise, we
now have stores full of new
spring fashions that are either
impossible or very difficult to
sell to men or women due to the
current restrictions,“ Pangels
laments. „At the same time, fashionable
merchandise is losing
desirability and value with each
passing week.“
IKEA strongest European
cross-border
commerce player
In 2020, cross-border online
retail in the European Union
generated total sales of 146 billion
euros (excluding the travel
segment). This represents a record
growth of 35 percent over
the year, shows the study ‚TOP
500 Cross-Border Retail Europe‘
by Cross-Border Commerce
Europe. The increase in sales in
cross-border e-commerce thus
exceeds that recorded for online
retail in Europe as a whole (+24
percent to 573 billion euros).
The main driver of this growth
is the Corona pandemic. In
2020, the top 500 cross-border
retailers „made in Europe“ will
record sales of 53.25 billion
euros (+34 percent). They thus
record a market share of 61 percent
of the total sales generated
by European merchants in crossborder
e-commerce in Europe
(87.25 billion euros). Within the
top 10, which generate 22.2 percent
of the top 500‘s sales, Ikea
holds the leading position, as it
did last year. The company generated
cross-border sales of 5.1
billion euros in 2020 (+ 11 percent)
The H&M Group has three
brands in the top 10 (H&M, Cos
and Other Stories). H&M‘s online
store records an average of
90 percent cross-border visitors.
MediaMarktSaturn
downsizes its German
store network
MediaMarktSaturn intends to
close 13 of its current 419 German
stores and plans to cut up
to 1,000 jobs. Which of the 269
MediaMarkt and 150 Saturn locations
will be affected has not
yet been determined. Space is to
be reduced at further store
BNP Paribas Real
Estate receives
sustainability seal of
approval
blished a sustainability declaration
for the first time and received
the seal of the DNK.
The real estate consultant thus
undertakes to align its actions in
accordance with the 20 defined
DNK criteria in ecological, economic
and social terms. BNP
Paribas Real Estate is one of the
first real estate service providers
to have published this declaration
to date.

Page 3 TOP STATEMENT OF THE MONTH March 2021
T O M
TOP STATEMENT
MARCH
„There will be optimism
starting in July. A lot of sales
will come back as soon as
people can move freely again.
Nevertheless, the fundamental
step change to digital will
not go away, of course. At the
moment, many are still failing
here because the capacities
are lacking, as well as the
technology and the people.
There is a lot of trial and error,
but it is becoming more professional.“
Achim Berg, Senior Partner at the international
consulting firm McKinsey and specialized
in global fashion business, in an article
in the trade journal „Textilwirtschaft“.

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Page 5 T O M
ANALYSES March 2021
Habona Report: Retail space
under the Corona burning glass
Real estate industry in the grip of megatrends
In the second Corona year, it
becomes clear that the real estate
industry, which has been
spoiled by success, is not invulnerable.
The Habona Report
2021 sharpens the eye for
previously rather hidden developments
and shows where
buildings no longer meet user
demand and price corrections
are unavoidable.
According to Habona, retail and
other public properties in particular
are facing their greatest
challenges in decades. Here, he
said, it is particularly clear how
the old coordinate system of
the real estate industry, with its
classic location categories and
risk classes, static ratios and asset
classes, has become obsolete.
But a year of pandemic also
shows who will emerge stronger
from the crisis: local supply real
estate.
A good compass in
times of upheaval
Together with Statista, Jones
Lang LaSalle as well as twenty
prominent guest contributors,
Habona has highlighted and
evaluated the key drivers for
the future development of retail
locations and concepts under
the Corona burning glass in the
fourth new edition of the report.
Manuel Jahn, initiator and lead
coordinator of the Habona Report,
confirms the importance
of the comprehensive analytical
work: „The technological and
social developments that have
been running in the background
for a long time have been severely
underestimated both in large
parts of the real estate industry
and by politicians and administrators
until recently. It‘s good to
have a good compass in times of
upheaval like these.“
Core messages
elaborated
The authors of the Habona Report
2021 have elaborated eight
core messages.
Manual Jahn, initiator and lead coordinator of the Habona Report
The pandemic reinforces existing
trends. For the first time,
the extent to which the digital
transformation is affecting the
real estate industry as a whole is
becoming apparent. Changes in
user behavior have a direct impact
on the utility value and thus
on the value of real estate.
Understanding
structural change
The reduction in non-food retail
space is benefiting city centers.
A significantly lower demand
for space is bringing movement
into the city centers. As a result
of falling rents, A-locations are
also opening up to more costintensive,
service-intensive and
consulting-intensive concepts
that had long been pushed out
of the city centers.
Corona helps to understand and
acknowledge structural change.
Demand-side changes now affect
not just shopping, but also
how we want to live, work and
travel. The magnitude of the
pandemic‘s aftermath allows
stakeholders to be more open
about necessary changes.
Local supply and mixed-use are
showing their online and crisis
resilience. With new demands
for living, working, and traveling,
decentralized locations are
gaining in importance. Billions
of euros in retail sales are flowing
out of pedestrian zones
and shopping centers and into
local supply locations. New and
interesting real estate tasks are
arising there.
A look at urban
planning
Sustainable urban redevelopment
requires collaborative
urban planning. The complexity
of change suggests that topdown
approaches are no longer
suitable for solving major urban
planning tasks in a sustainable
manner. The real estate industry
is well advised to seek alliances
with public and committed private
actors as well as proximity
to science and research.
The long-term utility value of
the building is becoming important
again. In volatile times,
real estate remains a sought-after
investment target where value
stability takes precedence
over payout. Price corrections
are inevitable where buildings
no longer meet user demand or
can only be adapted to it at great
expense.
Change on the rise
Small and changeable beats
large and rigid. Digitalization
has once again accelerated in all
areas of life. People are behaving
increasingly autonomously
and also contradictorily. Smaller-scale
and changeable building
and location concepts promise
more ecologically, socially
and economically sustainable
solutions.
Local supply real estate eludes
speculative market developments.
Uninterruptedly rising
prices for local suppliers are
in line with growing tenant demand
and increasing turnover.
High barriers to entry in this
regional and small-scale investment
sector counteract price
exaggerations.

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Page 7 T O M
ONLINE VS OFFLINE
March 2021
Making appointments for shopping - it‘s still slow.
Click services have been
rather restrained so far
IFH KÖLN: Appointment shopping still little used
The new Corona Consumer
Check from IFH COLOGNE
analyzes Click & Collect and
Click & Meet and shows that
appointment shopping is still
little used. The online channel
remains the steady winner of
the crisis with a new record
value.
The coronalage continues to
come to a head shortly before
Easter with steadily rising infection
figures and changing political
decrees, also in the retail
sector. While online retail continues
to be the channel of choice
for many, the situation remains
difficult for brick-and-mortar
retailers. Relaxations around
new services such as appointment
shopping - Click & Meet
- are no longer possible in many
places due to rising corona infections.
Online purchases
at all-time high
Latest data of the Corona Consumer
Check of the IFH COLO-
GNE show a rather restrained
use. Click & collect offers were
perceived significantly more
frequently. The deliberate shift
from stationary purchases to the
online channel reached a new
high in March 2021. Currently,
43 percent of consumers surveyed
say they now make purchases
online that they would
normally have made in stores.
At the end of January, this figure
was still just under one-third.
The online shift has thus increased
by nine percentage points
within six weeks.
The two cross-channel services
Click & Collect and Click &
Meet are currently still being
used only moderately by consumers.
Click & Collect is not
only better known (82 percent),
but is also used more often (17
percent).
Popular with
younger people
Click & Meet, on the other
hand, is known to 75 percent of
respondents, and only eight percent
have already shopped with
an appointment. Both services
are much more popular with the
younger target group of 18- to
29-year-olds.
Relevant for
fashion purchases
A comparison of Click & Collect
and Click & Meet in the
various retail sectors shows that
the consumers surveyed can
imagine making an appointment
to store for fashion and accessories
(42 percent). Click & Meet
is also attractive for consumers
in the areas of fitness & sports
and home & furnishings. Conversely,
the Click & Collect
pick-up service is particularly
popular in the DIY & Garden
(51 percent) and Leisure &
Hobby (46 percent) sectors.

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Page 9 T O M
NEWS March 2021
Endless lockdown is no solution
Survey: German Hotel and Restaurant Association sees high sales losses
The current Corona decisions
have met with massive
criticism from the hospitality
industry. 63.0 percent of establishments
describe the decisions
of the last federal-state
conference as „disastrous“,
24.9 percent as „bad“. This is
the result of a survey by the
German Hotel and Restaurant
Association (DEHOGA-
Bundesverband).
„Among entrepreneurs and employees
in the industry, despair,
lack of perspective and fears
for the future are increasingly
spreading,“ says DEHOGA
President Guido Zöllick. „At
the end of March, businesses
have been in lockdown for seven
months since the pandemic
began.“ He added that the prospect
of opening up outdoor catering
was not a real prospect.
83.2 percent of the establishments
surveyed pointed out
that the profitability of their
business would not be given if
outdoor catering were opened
alone. In addition, many establishments
do not have an outdoor
area.
The situation in the hospitality
industry is dramatic. Participants
in the DEHOGA survey
report sales losses of 77.9 percent
for February. Since March
1, 2020, sales have plummeted
by a total of 63.0 percent
year to date compared to the
same period last year. As a result
of the massive losses, lack
of prospects and insufficient
government aid, 72.2 percent
of entrepreneurs fear for their
existence. One in four companies
(24.8 percent) is specifically
considering closing down.
„The promised aid is still flowing
far too slowly and is not
sufficient to survive a lockdown
lasting months,“ explains Guido
Zöllick. It is true that 76.3
Center operators and large
retailers rely on luca app
Contact tracking for uncomplicated shopping
ECE plans to use the new
luca app, which enables secure
tracking of contacts via
smartphone, in a good 10,000
stores in its shopping centers
nationwide. Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield
announces the
same.
Many large retailers such as
Breuninger, Deichmann, KiK,
s.Oliver and Thalia, as well as
Katag, Europe‘s largest fashion
service provider with 350 retail
partners at 1,600 locations,
and ANWR Group, which represents
5,000 companies with
10,000 locations, are also backing
luca. In addition, the German
Council of Shopping Places
(GCSP) supports the model.
The app is known, among other
things, because rapper Smudo
from the Fantastischen Vier
Especially at Easter, gastro businesses had wished to be open
again.
The luca app is expected to
make contact tracking easier at
shopping center operators such
as ECE and Unibail-Rodamco-
Westfield, as well as at many
major retailers.
band participated in its development.
To date, the app has already
been downloaded over one
percent of the companies have
now received the November
aid. However, 21.1 percent of
December aid is still waiting to
be paid out in full. 61.0 percent
have received December aid.
„Given the seven-month shutdown
of our industry, it is incumbent
on policymakers to do
everything they can to ensure
that establishments in distress
through no fault of their own
have a chance to survive and
do not remain closed a day longer
than is necessary for health
policy reasons,“ Zöllick said.
„The endless lockdown is not a
solution.“
million times. The luca principle
works very simply: each store
digitally stores its location and
hangs a QR code in the shop
window. Customers download
the app to their smartphones,
enter their contact details, scan
the QR code and check in at
the store. If infections with the
Corona virus are now reported,
the local health department can
trace the contacts in the store
via the encrypted system within
a very short time and quickly
interrupt chains of infection.
Joanna Fisher, CEO ECE Marketplaces:
„We are looking forward
to our customers and are
now preparing intensively together
with our tenants for the
reopening of the stores - with all
necessary preventive measures
and requirements.“
Deka acquires retail
property in Milan
Deka Immobilien has acquired
the headquarters of the Italian
branch of the fashion company
„Dsquared2“ in Milan as part
of a sale and leaseback. The
property is to be contributed to
the open-ended mutual property
fund Deka-ImmobilienMetropolen.
Following acquisitions in
Paris, London, Berlin, Dublin
and Prague, the portfolio can
thus be diversified by a further
European metropolis. The parties
have agreed not to disclose
the purchase price. The prestigious
„Ceresio 7/9“ property
covers a total area of around
8,200 sqm. In addition to the
headquarters of the fashion label
„Dsquared2“, the property
houses the popular rooftop
restaurant „CERESIO 7“ with
a view of the Milan skyline as
well as an exclusive fitness studio.
FCR Immobilien
looks back on
another successful
business year
FCR Immobilien AG has successfully
concluded the 2020
financial year as expected. The
audited annual figures 2020
according to IFRS confirm the
published preliminary figures.
Earnings before taxes, EBT,
amounted to €11.5 million last
year, only slightly below the
previous year‘s figure of €11.9
million.
Consolidated net income reached
9.6 million euros, up from
9.7 million in 2019. The successful
business development
with an increased focus on portfolio
management was clearly
reflected positively in FFO,
funds from operations, which
improved by 8.1 million euros
to 5 million euros.
Hahn: Sustainable
earnings strength
HAHN-Immobilien-Beteiligungs
AG has been able to
demonstrate its sustainable earnings
strength in a challenging
financial year. Consolidated
earnings before taxes (EBT)
amounted to 7.5 million euros,
compared to 9.2 million euros in
the same period of the previous
year. Stable new business and an
increase in recurring as well as
non-recurring management income
contributed to this positive
development.

Page 11 T O M
NEWS March 2021
HBB opens center between the
Rhine and the Ruhr
Local supply center in Heiligenhaus (NRW) was realized quickly
An asset for the city center of
Heiligenhaus: HBB and the
construction company Bauwens
have opened the Forum
Hitzbleck local supply center
with the tenants akzenta, Lidl
and dm opposite the city hall.
Michael Beck, mayor of the
town, which is located in NRW
between the Rhine and Ruhr rivers,
and Kai Steindl, technical
managing director of HBB, cut
the symbolic ribbon for the ceremonial
opening. State Secretary
Dr. Heinisch, who initiated
the project as former mayor, representatives
of the tenants, the
architects from RKW and the
future owner ILG from Munich
also attended the small opening
ceremony.
The project on the site of the
former Hitzbleck metal company
was implemented in just a
few years from the initial project
idea to the opening. The investment
volume including leasehold
improvements amounted
to 40 million euros. Kai Steindl
of HBB thanked all those involved
in the construction of the
complex building project: „I am
very pleased that we implemented
the project so quickly. This
was only possible because the
city of Heiligenhaus decided
so quickly and we worked so
well with the administration.
All the companies involved in
the construction, the Moß and
Bauwens companies, and all the
craftsmen did a great job under
difficult conditions.“
The local shopping center,
which is managed by HBB
Centermanagement GmbH &
Co. KG, offers an attractive and
diverse range of products for
daily needs on more than 9000
square meters of leasable space
and with 260 free, ground-level
parking spaces.The full-range
retailer Akzenta, under the umbrella
of Rewe Dortmund, and
the discounter Lidl are looking
forward to once again offering
customers in the city center a
first-class range of food products.
Schlossberg Center in Marburg:
Off to the future
Modernization making great progress
Implementation of the modernization
concept for the
Schlossberg Center Marburg
is in full swing and should be
largely completed this year.
The recent reopening of Lidl
in an enlarged space is an important
milestone in this process.
In addition, various new leases
and contract extensions with
existing tenants were successfully
implemented. In the first
few months of this year, work
began on remodeling and extensive
renovations at the center,
which will continue over the
coming weeks. With numerous
well-known brands, varied gastronomic
concepts and a fresh,
new look, the Schlossberg Center
is ideally positioned to continue
offering customers an attractive
shopping experience in
A ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the official opening of Forum
Hitzbleck in Heiligenhaus.
Photo: HBB
Marburg‘s Schlossberg Center is in the modernization phase.
Photo: Prelios Real Estate Management
the years to come. The property
is managed by CORESTATE
Capital Group on behalf of the
owners.
Tenant Lidl has leased an additional
space in the basement,
taking advantage of the opportunity
to optimize the center‘s
food offering. With the conversion,
the discounter is setting
itself up for a successful future
at the location. Tenant New
Yorker has also already significantly
expanded its space in the
Schlossberg Center at the end
of 2019.
Deutsche EuroShop:
Stable key figures
despite Corona
Shopping center investor Deutsche
EuroShop has published
its preliminary and as yet unaudited
results for the 2020 financial
year. In these, the Corona
impact on the operating as well
as the valuation result becomes
clear. The negative effects currently
persist with the extensive
lockdowns also for the current
financial year. Nevertheless,
the Management Board continues
to see the company in a
solid balance sheet and financial
position.bDynamic increases in
customer footfall were observed
following the respective reopenings
of stores, even if these
were still below the level of
2019 due to the further restrictions.
Group sales fell by 3.2%
from 231.5 million euros to
224.1 million euros in the financial
year. The valuation result of
-427.6 millon euros (previous
year: -120.0 million) was dominated
by the Corona pandemic
and the associated substantial
impact on stationary retail.
Amazon plans to
create 5000 new jobs
in Germany in 2021
Amazon also plans to create
5,000 new jobs in Germany this
year and is calling on people in
particular to apply whose jobs
are in danger due to the crisis.
The calculated hourly wages in
logistics are initially between
11.30 and 12.70 euros, depending
on the location, plus extras
such as free insurance, company
pension scheme, bonuses and
employee shares. To protect
employees and customers during
the pandemic, Amazon has
adapted more than 150 processes
so far: For example, masks,
temperature controls and a twometer
minimum distance are
mandatory at all sites.
Nuveen invests
another 50 million in
logistics strategy
Nuveen Real Estate has raised a
further €50 million for its sixth
European logistics strategy.
The strategy now has more than
€300 million in equity from German
institutional investors. This
brings the assets under management
of the European logistics
strategies to 3.1 billion euros.

Page 13 T O M
CITY AND RETAIL March 2021
Düsseldorf‘s core city should reposition itself
Aengevelt makes proposals for post-Corona era
The pandemic will change
our city centers, says Düsseldorf-based
real estate house
Aengevelt. Stationary retail
has lost even more ground to
online retail than before due
to the lockdowns, gastronomy
is coming under pressure, and
banks are leaving the banking
district around Königsallee.
In view of these challenges,
Düsseldorf‘s core city must
reinvent itself, according to
Aengevelt - by returning to old
urban strengths. And that is first
and foremost a mix of uses: It
makes a city lively and attractive
and ensures high pedestrian
frequencies because it invites
people to stroll - the urban activity
par excellence. Aengevelt
Immobilien has developed proposals
that also work in real estate
terms.
Citizens can have
their say
„Raumwerk D“ is the acronym
for the new version of the overall
urban development concept
for Düsseldorf. In a participatory
process, the city planning
office invited Düsseldorf residents
to express their opinions
on various planning ideas. Aengevelt‘s
research team, together
with Professor Dr. Volker Eichener
of Düsseldorf University
of Applied Sciences, developed
proposals on how the city can
create higher qualities that are
also viable in real estate terms.
One question from „Raumwerk
D“ concerns the development
prospects of the core city.
The recommendations of Professor
Eichener and Aengevelt
Research: After the Corona pandemic,
the core city will be different.
When the months-long
lockdowns finally end, downtowns
will have changed. These
changes are not developments of
the pandemic, however, trends
have certainly intensified.
Aengevelt has worked out strategies for Düsseldorf‘s core city. Symbol image: Pixabay / Michael Gaida
According to Aengevelt, gastronomy
will become even more
important after the pandemic
than before, because it brings
life, foot traffic, attractiveness
to the core city. It must not be
limited to the old town. New
gastronomy concepts are also in
demand, such as covered yearround
beer gardens, pubs with
stylish live music, rather quiet
coffee houses.
Stationary retail must specifically
play to the strengths it has
over online retail. These include
touching, smelling, tasting,
experiencing, chatting, talking
shop, humanizing, on-the-spot
service. Stores will need to offer
more experiences in the future
to compete with online retailers.
Pop-up stores are cost-effective,
flexible, trendy.
„We have to simultaneously increase
the attractiveness of the
offers and the profitability, i.e.,
the space productivity. Hybrid
combinations of use can contribute
to this, for example, the
combination of bookstore, café,
delicatessen. Furthermore, the
24/7 use of real estate is becoming
more relevant, which also
prevents the desolation of individual
neighborhoods on certain
days and at certain times,“ the
company says.
Diversity of use is
the order of the day
Multifunctional experience centers
with a diverse mix of uses
can also be a prospect for former
department stores.
Experience accumulation increases
attractiveness. For
example, a sports store in Osnabrück
offers an artificial wave
for surfing - which is also interesting
for spectators - as well
as various opportunities to test
sports equipment. The time of
monofunctional uses is over.
This also applies to public buildings
and cultural venues.
Sterility must be avoided. The
best way to do that is to revive
an old urban virtue: diversity of
use. Diversity of use also increases
the key to a city‘s success:
pedestrian frequency, because
people move between uses. The
attractive combination of living,
working, shopping, leisure, gastronomy,
culture, entertainment
and public services is crucial.
Strolling in the city
center
The core city must invite people
to stroll around. For this, it
needs boulevards, promenades,
the banks of the Rhine, multifunctional
places, visual stimuli,
but also the uneven („naturally
grown“), the uneven („day and
night“), the unusual and the unexpected.
In order for such an
urban mix to unfold, economic
niches must also be created for
uses that do not yield top returns,
but which contribute significantly
to urban quality.
Aengevelt Research and Professor
Eichener have worked out
how this can be achieved. The
city must also be visually attractive
in order to attract visitors,
to invite them to stroll, to shop,
to live. Decisive for the visual
attractiveness is the building
culture, which can be seen both
in well-kept historical ensembles
such as the Carlstadt and in
ambitious new building projects
such as the Medienhafen. An
attractive city center offers ambience,
flair and stimuli for all
the senses - this includes shopping,
leisure and entertainment.
T
TOPS
O M
OF THE MONTH
Essential News About The Players In
The Retail Property Market In Germany
IMPRINT
Publisher:
Handelsimmobilien Heute Verlagsgesellschaft
mbH
Address:
Alexanderstraße 16
45130 Essen
Germany
Tel. 0049-201-874 55 28
Web: www.hi-heute.de
Mail: tom@hi-heute.de
Frequency of publication:
monthly
Circulation: approx. 5000 copies
sent by e-mail
Editorial team: Susanne Müller,
Thorsten Müller
Responsible in terms of press
law: Thorsten Müller
Layout: K4-PR, Essen

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www.realestate.apleona.com

Page 15 T O M
NEWS March 2021
redos sells Dresden
Kaufpark Nickern
New owner is investor Kurt Krieger
The Kaufpark Nickern shopping
center in Dresden has
a new owner. The property
previously belonged to a JV
between redos and the US investment
company Madison
International Realty and was
part of the so-called Christie
portfolio.
At the time of acquisition by
the JV at the end of 2016, this
portfolio comprised four hybrid
shopping centers with a total
leasable area of around 218,000
square meters on the outskirts
of Berlin and in Dresden.
„We are very pleased to have
successfully closed the transaction
despite the very challenging
environment due to Corona,“
said Matthias Cordier, Managing
Director and Head of Investment
Germany at Madison
International Realty. „We are
convinced that in Kurt Krieger
we have found an investor who,
with his profound knowledge of
the local market, can ensure the
optimal further development of
this high-potential location and
In the first quarter of this
year, asset and property manager
GPEP GmbH (GPEP)
notarized an off-market portfolio
with ten retail parks and
supermarkets for a managed
fund in established locations.
The seller of the properties is
an international portfolio manager.
Dresden Kaufpark Nickern has passed into new hands.
Photo: Oliver Bobel
thus achieve further enrichment
for the attractive metropolis of
Dresden.“
Oliver Herrmann, Managing
Director at redos, adds: „Following
the successful repositioning
of the shopping centers
in Eiche, Dallgow and Wust,
the sale of Kaufpark Nickern is
a further building block in the
consistent value creation for the
Christie portfolio. We will also
take advantage of further such
opportunities, whereby we see
considerable potential particularly
in the area of densification
and land utilization.“
To date, Kaufpark Nickern
comprises a total leasable area
of more than 56,000 square meters,
where the approximately
4.5 million visitors can visit
more than 75 stores. The property
also includes around 3200
parking spaces.
The parties have agreed not to
disclose the specific details of
the purchase agreement or the
purchase price. REIUS Rechtsanwälte
acted as legal advisors
to the seller in the transaction.
GPEP notarizes large portfolio
Ten retail parks and supermarkets in the fund
Herwart Reip, Managing Director
GPEP. Photo: GPEP
The occupancy rate of the 42
rental units with a rental area of
around 33,000 square meters is
100 percent. The anchor tenants
are predominantly companies
from the major German food
retail groups. The average remaining
lease term (WALT) is
around eight years. Most of the
properties are located in the old
federal states in very good competitive
positions.
„The portfolio complements
the existing portfolio with properties
with a larger individual
volume in very good condition.
It strengthens the ongoing stable
income of the investing
fund and leads to further diversification
in terms of tenant mix
and geographic location,“ explains
Dagmar Schuster, Head
of Transactions and Investment
Management at GPEP.
Herwart Reip, Managing Director
of GPEP and responsible,
among other things, for
acquisition appraisal, portfolio
management and financing,
adds: „The acquisition of this
portfolio demonstrates GPEP‘s
unchanged ability to find and
secure attractive investments in
this asset class, even in an increasingly
competitive market
with numerous new entrants.
Short decision-making channels
for all parties involved and
fast, binding and reliable action
have already been a key factor
for successful transactions in
the past. These parameters will
become even more important in
the future.“
Mipim in Cannes will
be moved from June
to September
Due to Corona, the real estate
fair Mipim in Cannes will not
take place from June 7 to 10 as
planned, but will be postponed
to September 7 to 8. Thus, it has
been shortened to two days, but
will be expanded to include digital
elements. In the meantime,
Mipim has scheduled a series of
online events, such as the „Leaders‘
Perspectives Summit“
from March 16-18. Next year,
Mipim is scheduled to return
to its regular schedule between
March 15-18.
RATISBONA commissions
JenAcon
with marketing of
retail parks
Regensburg-based project developer
RATISBONA, which
specializes in retail real estate,
has exclusively commissioned
transaction consultancy JenAcon
to market a portfolio of
retail parks. RATISBONA has
extensively modernized the properties
and reduced vacancies
through numerous new leases.
The three locations in Regenstauf
(Bavaria), Salzgitter (Lower
Saxony) and Schwarzheide
(Brandenburg) have just under
25,000 sqm of rental space,
which is let to EDEKA, REWE,
ALDI, Penny, Rossmann, Action
and Woolworth, among
others. The WALT is over ten
years.
COMFORT: Click
& Meet noticeably
boosts footfall in top
locations
COMFORT has analyzed pedestrian
frequencies since the reopening
of the stores based on
the daily frequency figures from
hystreets.com, which are collected
by laser. The evaluation of
selected German main shopping
miles for Saturday as the strongest
shopping day shows that
the top frequencies on March
13 have naturally increased
significantly compared to the
extremely low lockdown level
of March 6. And at least by double-digit
percentages, as in Hannover
Georgstraße with +14%,
Frankfurt Zeil (+44%), Cologne
Schildergasse (+54%), Dortmund,
Westenhellweg (+96%).

Page 16 T O M
MAP OF THE MONTH March 2021
GfK Regional Consumer Styles, Self-indulgers, Germany 2021
GfK’s Map of the Month for March shows the regional
distribution of self-indulgers in Germany in 2021.
Self-indulgers enjoy all aspects of life, attach importance
to an attractive appearance and want to make
the most of their lives through fun and enjoyment.
They are spontaneous, go out often and enjoy shopping
in a beautiful ambience – which is currently only
possible to a very limited extent due to the measures
taken to contain the coronavirus. But where in Germany
do most self-indulgers live? According to GfK’s
recent study on regional consumer styles, the rural
district of Gifhorn has the highest share of this group
at 10.74 percent, followed by the rural districts of
Börde (10.57 percent) and Helmstedt (10.49 percent).
In the last-placed urban district of Passau, only 6.62
percent of all inhabitants are self-indulgers.