2016 RETROSPECTIVE – Investments in TRADE CENTERS which have caused the greatest interest among eKapija users

The investment team of eKapija has performed the analysis and formed the list of investments and investment ideas which caused the greatest interest among our users in 2016. The results are very interesting, some of them expected, though there are lots of surprises as well, which is why we’ve decided to share the information with you.

We present the most interesting projects in the TRADE CENTERS category.

As an unwritten rule, the opening of shopping malls, stories about the arrival of new shopping mall chains, as well as new retail brands, have a nearly magnetic effect on readers.

Aside from foreign ones, certain local investors started investing in this sector in 2016. The investors didn’t focus solely on Belgrade, but on other cities in Serbia where there was demand for modern retail space as well. Still, the largest amounts of money are still invested in big shopping malls in the capital of Serbia.

Among the investments on our list are those whose realization has been expected for years, but it does seem like they will finally be completed in the next two to three years.

As was the case in 2015, the arrival of the German store chain Lidl, the opening of which is eagerly expected by everybody, attracted the most attention. Nevertheless, we will have to wait until 2018, when several stores will open on the same date.

Judging by the works currently in progress, it is likely that Lidl will have discount stores in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Bor, Zrenjanin, Smederevo, Nis, Subotica... The store network will be supplied by a distribution center currently being built in Nova Pazova.

The latest piece of news from the German company pertains to the purchase of land in several cities – Sombor, Kragujevac, Krusevac, Pancevo...

The vice-champion on the list of investments in shopping malls is Ada Mall, which should be built on the location of the former factory Minel in Radnicka Street in Belgrade. The plan is for the mall to start operating in 2018. The company GTC, which is building this shopping mall, bought the land in 2016, and Ada Mall, as announced, will encompass close to 33,000 m2 of lease space, with around 1,000 parking spaces. During 2016, GTC worked on preparatory activities for the construction of this facility.

The Austrian company Immofinanz accomplished all its 2016 plans on time, contributing to the fact that their Stop.Shop retail parks placed third on our list. They opened a retail park in Nis in April 2016, whereas Stop.Shop Valjevo opened in August. Immofinanz announced that they would build retail facilities in Pozarevac, Lazarevac and Vrsac in 2017.

The fourth spot is shared by two Israeli investors, AFI Europe and Plaza Centers Management.

AFI Europe is planning to build a business complex on the location of the former Federal Ministry of Interior in Kneza Milosa Street, and they bought the land from Plaza Centers Management in May 2016. The project has only just begun, as the demolition of the old complex is in progress and is scheduled to be completed by May 2017.

Plaza Centers Management is investing in Belgrade Plaza Visnjica, a shopping mall whose construction is close to completion, and whose opening is expected in the first half of 2017. More than 1,000 workers are involved in the construction of this facility, and the lease agreements are already being signed.

The projects of the construction of retail complexes Capitol Park Rakovica and Capitol Park Sombor placed fifth on our list. These are investments by the British company Poseidon. The official opening of the Rakovica retail park is planned for April 2017, and EUR 30 million has been invested in it. The Capitol Park Sombor project is in the early stage of construction – last year, the land was prepared and the factory which used to be located there was torn down.

The sixth place on the list belongs to the new shopping mall of the company NEPI, which is to be called Promenada Novi Sad. The shopping mall at the heart of Novi Sad will be one of the largest shopping malls in the region, with a total area of 150,000 m2. The investment is worth around EUR 100 million and will secure jobs for 1,500 people. The plan is for the shopping mall to open in late 2018. One of the main innovative elements will be the shopping mall’s 10,000 m2 green roof, providing a view to the Petrovaradin Fortress and the Danube. The visitors will have at their disposal trim tracks and sports fields, as well as coffee shop gardens, on the roof.

The long expected IKEA placed seventh on our list. The good news is that the company has announced the opening in June 2017. Let us remind that the construction of an IKEA facility on the Belgrade-Nis highway at Bubanj Potok began in April 2016 and that local companies are employed on the project exclusively. The facility will be built in line with the latest standards and principles of sustainable development and energy efficiency. The first phase of the project of the construction of the shopping mall is worth EUR 70 million, and IKEA has bought more land at Bubanj Potok than necessary for the project, and an additional investment of EUR 70-80 million in a retail park is thereby planned.

The shopping mall is planned to have an area of 35,300 m2. A total of 9,500 home equipment products will be available to customers at affordable prices, as well as a 550-seat IKEA Food restaurant, a Swedish food store, an IKEA Bistro, IKEA for Children and a playroom and a 1,375-space parking lot.

The Sava micro market in Kragujevac is next on the list. The works on this shopping mall in the Aerodrom neighborhood were completed in December 2016, and the opening of Sava is planned for February 2017. This shopping mall will employ 80 people. The plan is to open the largest private modern kindergarten on 1,200 m2 within the Sava mall, which will be able to take in 260 children and will be developed in line with the highest world standards. This is the first investment of the Kragujevac-based company Sava Building.

Shoppi Retail Park, which opened in October 2016 in Borca, placed ninth. The company MPC Properties invested EUR 15 million in this project and employed 500 workers. The Borca shopping mall was built in seven months, and it encompasses 13,000 m2 and a parking lot for 350 vehicles.

The investment of the Israeli company Aviv Arlon in Pozarevac placed tenth on our list. The construction of 15,000 m2 of retail space on 6 ha of land is planned in the first phase of the project, and the works have been announced for the spring of 2017. The company is projecting the works to be completed in a short amount of time, and the opening is planned for late 2017.

Next on the list is the investment of Univerexport, which started building a distribution center in Novi Sad in August 2016. The company is planning to invest EUR 16 million in the center. The 30,000 m2 facility should be completed by May 1, 2017.

The long awaited construction of Delta Planet at Autokomanda, which placed twelfth on our list, should finally begin in the second quarter of 2017. The value of this investment is EUR 200 million. The new shopping mall in Belgrade will have around 200,000 m2 and will secure more than 4,000 jobs. As the company says, they are currently completing the project and the filing of the request for the location permit is expected to take place soon.

The store chain Inter Aman, which bought nine hypermarkets of the French Interex in Serbia last year, placed thirteenth. The company also acquired the majority share in Visnjica Ducani last year.

Next on the list is the shopping center and hotel in Rajiceva Street, which will spread on 60,000 m2, and this Israeli investment, worth around EUR 80 million, is the only shopping center in the country located in the main pedestrian zone. The opening is scheduled for September 2017.

There is also the first Kort market, which opened last year in Novi Sad on an area of 800 m2. This is the biggest store chain from Republika Srpska and its Novi Sad branch is currently the only one in Serbia. The company has, however, announced that it will open more markets in Serbia and employ at least 200 workers by the end of 2017.

The list is rounded up by the Subotica Shoppi Retail Park, an investment of MPC Properties. Its value has been estimated at EUR 10 million, and the retail park takes up 10,000 m2. A very important fact for Subotica is that 200 people have been employed at the retail park. Shoppi Retail Park was built within eight months and a day from the laying down of the foundation stone.

Take a look at the complete list of investments in TRADE CENTERS and compare it to your thoughts, estimates and projections.

Also, have you seen the list of projects which you’ve found the most interesting in the INDUSTRY, REAL ESTATE and AGRICULTURE AND FOOD INDUSTRY categories?