Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/62026
U.K. retail pipeline lowest since 1960s By Brannon Boswell CENTER DEVELOPMENT IN THE U.K. has slowed to a crawl with the total for this year forecast to be just 31,500 square meters (about 340,000 square feet) the lowest annual figure since the early 1960s, according to Cushman & Wakefield. Only one new development, the Swan Shopping Centre, in Yardley (15,600 square meters), which opened in February, is included in this year's pipeline. Nine expansions make up the remainder. The amount of new shopping center space last year was up 14 percent com- pared with 2010, an additional 276,000 square meters, says Cushman & Wake- field. However, this figure is massively skewed by Westfield Stratford City, which increased total space in the capi- tal by 10 percent when it opened in Sep- tember. At 176,500 square meters, the center is now the largest in London and the second-largest in the country, after MetroCentre in Gateshead. Only two other new shopping cen- ters opened in 2011: The Parkway, in Newbury (27,400 square meters) and Trinity Walk, in Wakefield (46,500 square meters). This is in sharp con- trast to previous years: Between 2001 and 2010, an average of nine new shopping centers were completed an- nually, the firm reports. "Development is expected to continue at a restrained pace for the foreseeable future. While selected retailers are expanding, on the whole occupiers remain cautious against a backdrop of sluggish retail sales and low consumer confidence," said Toby Sykes, retail partner at Cush- man & Wakefield. "We continue to advise many landlords on refurbish- ments and extensions on existing schemes to improve tenant mix, and on revitalizing catering facilities to in- crease shopping hours." As of January, total shopping center space in the U.K. stood at 16.4 million square meters across 700 projects. Gross leasable area per 1,000 inhabitants was 261.6 square meters, up from 259.0 square meters a year ago, and above the EU-27 average of 246.6 square meters. According to Cushman & Wake- field research analyst Kristina Gorkovs- kaya: "Development projects that are likely to remain viable and in demand are those in prime locations in major cit- ies with an undersupply of retail space and a large population." SCT 148 SCT / MAY 2012