Evolving with the times

The investment market, and in particular the shopping centres segment, has been strongly affected by the consequences of the events of the last three years. The main ones are, of course, the pandemic, the conflict in Ukraine and all its consequences, the energy crisis and the strong dynamics of inflation and interest rates in the financial markets.

A rapidly evolving retail market

The consequences affect all participants of this real estate investment market - from end customers, through tenants, developers, contractors, investors and financial institutions. They also mean that the market is trying to adapt very quickly to new challenges and is changing very dynamically. As a result, the market needs for retail facilities are undergoing
a transformation but are very large and keep growing. However, their specificity, parameters and expected features are changing.

Of course, this does not mean the end of the so far popular shopping galleries - they are and will remain an important part of the retail market. They are commercially highly successful in many locations and are in the spotlight of customers. Acteeum’s experience in this segment confirms that well-located shopping malls with a perfectly selected shopping offer are highly appreciated by the market. The good examples are the projects Acteeum developed in Inowrocław (Galeria Solna), Koszalin (Ogrody), Stalowa Wola and Krosno (Vivo!) and the latest, Galeria Chełm. All of them are fully commercialised and enjoy wide and stable recognition of clients from local communities.

Retail parks as a response to new demand

Fundamental changes, both economic and social, make customers more and more appreciate the availability of the offer, local specificity and affordability, as well as the practical ease of shopping – hence, the typical features of “convenience” – and the perfect response to these expectations are shopping centres in the retail park and ‛power centre’ formats.

Retail parks have become recently the market highlight for several main reasons. First of all, they allow comfortable and safe shopping in the context of various epidemiological constraints, because they do not have common covered areas and provide individual access to individual commercial premises. In addition, they are often smaller than large shopping malls and thus there may be more of them in a given city, which makes them closer to people and conveniently satisfying their shopping needs. At the same time, they retain a comprehensive and attractive offer of various brands and services and place emphasis on efficient and convenient shopping with the customer’s ‛one stop shop’ approach.

An additional and extremely important advantage of retail parks from the tenants’ perspective is the possibility to offer more attractive lease terms in this format, thanks to lower rents and operating fees, compared to traditional shopping malls.

At the forefront of the retail park segment

One of Acteeum’s greatest strengths is experience – we have now been 15 years on the Polish market, which has resulted in successfully developed and commercialised retail projects with a total area of over 300,000 sqm gla. This cross-sectional experience, combined with continuous observation of changes in the area of shopping facilities and excellent understanding of the specifics of medium-sized cities, allow Acteeum to adapt to market expectations.

At the same time, in addition to business aspects, Acteeum prioritizes its way of operating to deeply understand and take social responsibility related to its projects and their impact on the environment, local communities and nature.

“We are at the forefront of the huge potential of retail parks, and at the same time we have a good understanding of the factors necessary to ensure the success of such facilities. Therefore, we develop our retail parks in carefully selected locations, thanks to which they are close to the target customers, and with excellent communication. Carefully worked-out designs of facilities ensure easy and comfortable access to all commercial premises of the park and convenient parking for motorised customers, while the selection of brands and shopping opportunities fully meets the specific needs of local customers. We also place great emphasis on the environmental aspects of our projects, in particular on the efficiency of energy and land management. That is why all the facilities we develop, including the planned retail parks, are BREEAM certified,” explains Tomasz Szewczyk, the managing partner of Acteeum Central Europe.

The first Acteeum project, within the retail parks and power centres strategy was Galeria Andrychów. This was developed by Acteeum together with Equilis and turned out to be an incredible success, as was confirmed by its 100 pct commercialisation long before the opening in November 2021, its constant huge popularity among customers and the great perception of the project in the retail sector.

“We are very pleased with the success of the Andrychów project and the progress in the commercialisation of other shopping centres. It is very motivating for us to intensively search for new locations for this type of facilities,” adds Tomasz Szewczyk.

Also expanding in the residential market

Acteeum constantly looks at the entire real estate market, therefore, apart from its core activity in retail space, it develops other projects, also in the residential and institutional leasing sectors. They are an ideal response to the market demand for small, but conveniently and practically furnished, well-managed apartments with modern infrastructure, located in lively, fashionable districts of the largest cities. In addition to the features of the buildings and micro-apartments, very important is convenient access to public transport and all kinds of facilities that make everyday urban life more attractive and easier - such as restaurants, clubs, fitness centres, medical facilities, coworking spaces, etc. The huge potential of this market is confirmed by similar experience from other European countries as well as great interest in investment funds.

In the area of ​​traditional residential projects, Acteeum has recently completed several extremely attractive ventures with investment partners, such as the Vilda Park estate in Poznań and WolaRe in Warsaw. It is also currently developing further residential investments in the largest cities in Poland, including Warsaw and Gdańsk, and is constantly working on acquiring plots suitable for investments of this type.

Optimism for the future!

The changes and challenges of the last three years have introduced high risks and uncertainty to the entire economy. At the same time, they often open up great opportunities for entities characterised by openness and flexibility of operation. And these features characterise Acteeum through and through. Therefore, the Acteeum team looks to the future with great optimism. This optimism results not only from faith in own strengths, competences, experience and strategic partnerships, but also from practical aspects. As never before, Acteeum intensively develops new commercial and residential projects - precisely adapted to the new realities, and their attractiveness from the very beginning is confirmed by lease agreements concluded well in advance. This, in turn, situates Acteeum perfectly at the forefront of the retail investment market.

***

About Acteeum

Acteeum Group is a privately owned international company operating on the commercial and residential real estate market in Poland, undertaking the entire development process, starting from selecting suitable plots for development through the design, construction, commercialisation, management and sale stages. Its approach to projects is based on extensive experience and knowledge of the Polish market and the development process. The company is a business partner of large institutional companies, including CBRE Global Investors, Immofinanz, Nepi Rockcastle, BPI, Equilis as well as private investors. Acteeum manages a land portfolio and negotiates the purchase of further plots for the construction of shopping centres, retail parks, residential developments as well as mixed-use projects. For further information about Acteeum and its projects, go to: www.acteeum.pl