Page 36 - RLI December 2019 - January 2020

MARK FAITHFULL

Following

the Money

Back from MAPIC 2019, Mark Faithfull reflects
on some of the key schemes showcased in Cannes

urban speCialist developers pledge to Create europe’s “first world Class resort”
foCused on enhanCing etail developers intu and Eurofund announced in guests across two levels, the multi-purpose 4,000sq m theatre
City Centre vibe Cannes that they had agreed Heads of Terms with is being designed to attract world class entertainment.
psys CEO Fabrice Bansay said Rthree major operators for its 235,000sq m global Ian Sandford, Project Director for intu Costa del Sol and
that the urban development resort project intu Costa del Sol in southern Spain. The President of intu’s JV partner Eurofund, said: “intu Costa
Aspecialist “loves the city” as he announcement follows from the €800M project receiving del Sol will be Europe’s first world class resort. We’re
laid out plans for the company to continue its General PGOU License (Plan General de Ordenación talking of it as alongside Dubai Mal, or Mall of America. It’s
to focus on city-centre schemes under its Urbana) in September. that type of scale.”
new ‘Making Cities Vibe’ initiative. Yelmo Films, trading as Yelmo Cines, has signed detailed Sandford said that hospitality design specialist WATG had been
The French-based developer has completed Heads of Terms for a 9,500sq m, 16-screen state-of-the-art brought on board to execute the Broadway Maylan masterplan
a number of flagship urban schemes in French cinema located in The Lakes area of the resort – one of its because “we wanted designers from outside the retail sector”
cities and has achieved planning approval for eight themed and designed neighbourhoods. to create an environment based around hospitality.
its ambitious Bordeaux project, Bordeaux The second agreement is with San Diego-based Wave House “For me it’s not about the mix of uses, it’s about the guests.
Saint-Jean, which is expected to begin International, which has signed detailed Heads for Terms for its In a digitised world we need to give people reasons to come
construction in mid-2021, with completion surfpark concept – to be located in The Hood. Wave House’s and then look after them,” he said. “That also involves a new
in late 2023. The 70,000sq m project includes concept will include a full-size 4,300sq m surf pool, offering management culture, because we don’t want this to be like a
45,000sq m of retail and 25,000sq m of everyday surfing, special event competitions, a Wave Club and shopping centre and we want to embed this new philosophy
residential, office and hotel space. Surf School, as well as capacity for live music entertainment. throughout.”The new European destination is set to begin
Bansay said that he expects the mixed-use The third agreement is with Gran Teatro Bankia Príncipe Pío, construction in September 2020, with a projected opening
project, which integrates with the city streets, Santiago Segura, José Mota y Luis Álvarez, trading as Gran of September 2023 and is positioned to the north of
to become “a reference for French city- Teatro Costa del Sol, for the resort’s theatre which is to be Torremolinos, 3km from Malaga’s international airport and
centre schemes” upon completion and said situated in The Lakes neighbourhood. Seating some 1,500 is expected to attract 29 million visitors annually.
that it would “reshape the way people live in
the city, because you will be able to work, live,
shop and be entertained in the same area.”
However, he also stressed that while mixed-
use is now a common approach to new
developments, it is something that Apsys has
been actively promoting for over a decade,
with a variety of completed projects around
France that “put community first”.
He said: “We were one of the first to take this
approach and we believe that projects have
to be about much more than retail, because
these schemes have a cultural role within their
communities. They need to be places which
add to the vibe of the urban environment.”

CityCon looks to densifiCation and transport hubs to boost Centres

innish-based developer Citycon is looking to densify its centres and optimise
its retail portfolio as the company continues to establish a new platform for
Ffuture growth, according to CEO Scott Ball.
The American joined the company in January of this year as head of a largely new
management team and has spent much of 2019 realigning the business with a pan-Nordic
outlook – rather than country-specific management – optimising assets, renegotiating its
debt and divesting non-core properties to enhance its loan to value rate.
Having largely achieved his objectives, Ball said that the company is now seeking to
densify its shopping centres, with the initial focus on residential. It is currently determining
the most effective way to do this and is likely to trial different models, including selling
residential rights, running its own developments and entering into joint ventures.
“The first part of our transformation was really to try and squeeze everything we
could out of our current assets,” he said. “The malls have been very stable, with
occupancy rates remaining very high over the past years. So the next stage is not to
replace the retail with other uses but to add to the retail.”
Ball said that Citycon is focusing on top two cities within each Nordic country and assets in
the most densely populated areas of those cities. While the company is open to adding any
sort of appropriate real estate use, interest from residential developers in the Citycon sites.
50 RETAIL & LEISURE INTERNATIONAL NOVEMBER 2018 The initiatives are part of a five-year plan which Ball hopes will see the company change
its market perception from a shopping centre developer to a mixed-use operator.