Happy H1 for shopping centers

Since the early 1990s, when the modern retail market started to develop in the country, 1999 saw the highest level of annual supply - 690,000 sqm of shopping center GLA was delivered. Until 2000 most shopping centers were anchored by hypermarkets and DIY stores, which currently constitute over 53% of total retail GLA. Most newly constructed city-center retail schemes are anchored by supermarkets, family fashion stores, electronic equipment outlets and sport units, as well as by multiplexes and leisure/catering operators. At the end of Q2 2006 there was 1.47 million sqm GLA of shops within retail galleries (i.e. excluding hyper/supermarkets and DIY elements) in the eight main cities. Almost 31% of all Polish shopping centers are located in Warsaw, followed by Silesia (19%) and Lódz (11.7%). A relatively low amount of space is recorded in Szczecin (4.6%) and Wroclaw (5.9%). The highest ratio of shopping-center space per 1,000 inhabitants is recorded in Poznan (560.5 sqm). In Warsaw there is 554.3 sqm and in Lódz 472 sqm of GLA per 1,000 citizens. RRF estimates that the end of 2007 will see a significant increase in the concentration of modern shopping-center space in Wroclaw - from 289.9 sqm currently to 519.4 sqm per 1,000 inhabitants. According to the RRF, an estimated 377,503 sqm of GLA will be completed in 2007. The largest amount of modern retail space to be completed in 2006-2007 will be in Wroclaw (146,000 sqm) and Poznan (120,000 sqm). (WBJ Real Estate Newsletter)