The International Council of Shopping Centers held its European conference in Barcelona at the end of April and the outlook for new construction in 2009 is not very good. Several banks and investment groups indicated that money for new projects will remain limited until the recession has eased, which could be late in 2010. Financing new developments and shopping centers is “not a priority,” according to several speakers at the conference.
Some at the conference thought that a more controlled development pattern would be good for the health of shopping centers in general. The CEO of German developer ECE, Alexander Otto, said that the recession offered a chance to stop the uncontrolled expansion of shopping centers: “It is now obvious that some shopping centers that have been built in the past should not have been. Developers believed this upward trend would continue forever.”
With the fall in property prices, particularly for inner-city locations, Otto indicated that now is the time to look at these areas for better planned projects. “The industry now has the chance to create “integrated shopping centers” in inner-city locations. This can support the current renaissance of city centers and profit from the trend.”
