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McArthurGlen and Henderson plan €80 million Berlin designer outlet village
Phase one due to complete in May 2009
McArthurGlen Group, Europe’s leading developer, owner and manager of designer outlet villages, has joined forces with Henderson Global Investors, on behalf of its European Outlet Mall Fund (EOMF), to carry out an €80-million redevelopment project to create a new designer outlet village for Berlin.
Once complete, the two-phase redevelopment will offer a total gross lettable area of 19,000 m2 and is expected to host 120 leading retail brands. The process will include the redevelopment of the existing scheme, which offers 11,000 m2 of retail space across 40 shops and is already anchored by tenants including Tommy Hilfiger, Nike and adidas. It will also incorporate leisure facilities, including cafés and restaurants, and childcare facilities, as well as more than 2,000 car parking spaces.
The outlet village will be the first truly designer-led outlet village in this key region, which offers a catchment population of 5.6 million residents within a 90-minute drive of the village. As the country’s capital, Berlin is also Germany’s number one tourist destination and one of the top tourist destinations in Europe, attracting more than 7.5 million visitors a year.The scheme is located on the B5 motorway and is a 30-minute drive from Berlin city centre.
Phase One of the redevelopment is planned to open in May 2009 when existing tenants will transfer to the new environment.Phase Two which is due to open in the first half of 2010 will include the demolition of the current site to make way for the construction of additional village-style stores featuring a collection of luxury designer brands from McArthurGlen’s portfolio of over 700 brand partners. The architect of the new designer outlet village is Kock & Lünz of Potsdam which has based its designs on the neo-classical style prevalent across this historic region of Germany.
McArthurGlen already operates nine designer outlet villages across Continental Europe, seven of which are owned by the EOMF.This deal marks McArthurGlen’s entry into the German market. However, McArthurGlen is not unknown in the German market, given that many of the annual three million visitors to its Roermond Designer Outlet in the Netherlands are from the German region of North Rhine-Westphalia.
JW Kaempfer, Chairman of McArthurGlen Group, said: “Germany is a vital target for our unique designer outlet concept and, given the size and importance of the German market, this is an exciting and significant new opportunity for us. Our experience with German visitors to our Roermond Designer Outlet ensures that we enter the German market with the confidence that we command a strong understanding of the customer and can deliver an exceptional experience for them.”
Neil Varnham, Head of Retail and a Director of Henderson Global Investors - Property, added:“Having acquired the Berlin site in partnership with McArthurGlen in 2006 our aim has always been to both expand the amount of retail and leisure space available and also to improve both the number and quality of the tenants, to create shareholder value.
“Outlet malls continue to perform well as an asset class and the changes we are implementing with our partner McArthurGlen will transform the site into one of the best in this class in Europe, particularly given its close proximity to Berlin.”