Retailer support and capex are key to shopping centres’ future

The pandemic lockdowns have intensified the pressure that the retail sector was already experiencing, but according to Karel Zeman, head of portfolio management, CBRE Global Investors, it is essential to support tenants to ensure that they remain resilient.

“Our aim is to keep occupancy high and that goes with actually supporting the tenants to survive this very difficult situation, because we honestly believe that retail will come back and we want to be relevant when it happens,” he told Real Asset Insight’s Richard Betts.

Zeman said that the past few years have demonstrated that the shopping centre market is oversupplied in many countries and regions, so some assets will not survive and he said that more vacancy can be expected owing to some retailers’ bankruptcies and others consolidating .

Asset management is key, however. “All the time you have to invest and improve retail,” Zeman said. “You have to invest in the assets so that they remain really physically attractive to the customers because their expectations are bigger and bigger.”

Click on the video above to watch the full interview or listen to the podcast below.

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