Investments in the real estate segment for the retail industry in Spain will amount to 4.45 billion euros in 2023. This is indicated in the report of the consulting company JLL "Retail sector: Stores as a tool for creating value for business". According to the company, this indicator will be an increase of 310% by 2022 and a record amount of growth for the sector.
One of the main factors of this growth was a large transaction for the purchase of 659 bank branches worth around 2 billion euros. If we exclude this transaction from the analysis, the volume of investments still remains at an extremely good level and may amount to 2.5 billion euros, which is 125% more than the previous year. The European market as a whole has grown by only 15% over the past year, it reached $36.5 billion in 2022.
Augusto Lobo, head of the retail sector capital markets Department at JL Spain, states that Spain is characterized by a significant pace of creation and opening of new retail space. More of them will go on sale in the coming months. With the growth of the tourism sector, a huge number of companies have the motivation to spend money on geographical expansion and the purchase of new commercial facilities.
It can be noted that 2022 has already been a positive year in terms of the opening of new commercial facilities for the retail sector. Since 7 new shopping complexes were opened last year, which added about 142,000 square meters of new leasable area (GLA) to the market.
Among the most significant projects was the shopping center "Centro Canalejas" in Madrid, developed in collaboration with OHL and Mohari Hospitality. The GLA of this project is 15,000 square meters. Another important shopping center is also located in Madrid, it is called "Espacio Caleido" with a similar indicator of 15,000 squares.
The third important project is located in Catalonia, we are talking about the "Parque Comercial Vilanova" with an area of 32,000 square meters. It is located in the municipality of Vilanova y la Geltru.
Investors' interest in shopping malls and retail parks
The report emphasizes that shopping centers, whose profitability increased to 3.75% in the fourth quarter of last year, will continue to be in high demand from investors this year.
This will mainly concern high-quality, expensive assets located in the center of key Spanish cities and popular tourist destinations that boast a stable economy, volume of demand and predictable rental rates. They will also be places where shoppers are more addicted to visiting physical stores rather than using online formats.