Mitiska REIM, the leading specialist investor in European convenience retail estate, has opened Malinas, the most sustainable retail park in Belgium.
The new Malinas development features 19 retail units and one restaurant across a gross leasable area of 27,500sq m. The retail park is food-anchored by the first Albert Heijn XL store in Belgium, in addition to a Lidl supermarket. Other tenants represent a mix of national and international brands, including AS Adventure, Vanden Borre, JYSK, Kwantum, Ava, MaxiZoo, 4Murs, Action and C&A.
In terms of sustainability and biodiversity, Malinas features an eye-catching 1.2-hectare reed field, which also serves as a natural rainwater buffer, and over 200 native trees have been planted on site. The entire rear wall of the retail park is covered by a 7-metre-tall eco-green façade and 13,000sq m of the roof area has been sown to create a green roof. The roof area also features 6,300 solar panels which generate around 2.5MWP, the equivalent electrical requirements of 700 families, with excess solar energy stored in an onsite smart battery. The solar power generated will create annual savings of more than 1,000 tons of CO2.
Axel Despriet, Co-CEO of Mitiska REIM, comments: “Retail parks have continued to thrive on the back of their long-standing formula for success, based on convenience, essential shopping and value for money. Offering accessible locations, affordable buildings and flexible design, we believe retail parks remain an attractive and resilient asset class, and are best placed to work in tandem with e-commerce for omni-channel retailers.”
