Shopping centre growth to stay muted – C&W
New research from Cushman & Wakefield has concluded that shopping centre development is to remain subdued this year. The Times reports that C&W says the amount of new space in shopping centres is likely to slide about 40% below the annual average over the past ten years.
During the first half of the year, about 80,000 sq m of gross lettable area was added to the market, and the completion of a handful of small to medium-sized schemes should bring the total for the year to about 215,000 sq m, C&W says. This would be 1.3% higher than the total available shopping centre space in 2009, but far smaller than the 830,000 sq m in 2008.
The Times quotes Darren Yates, an associate in C&W’s European research group, as saying that some large developers were considering restarting projects that had been put on hold. He added that there was some cautious optimism regarding the prime retail property market. “A gradual reduction in availability over the next 12 months should support rental levels and modest rental growth as retailers compete for a diminishing pipeline,” he noted.
