The market in Serbia has been re-activated and there’s a rising demand for quality business premises, and big capital projects concerning shopping centers and retail parks are also in progress, it was agreed at the panel on shopping centers held within the recent REBEC (Real Estate Belgrade Exhibition and Conference) 2018.
– Investors are increasingly interested in our country – Mia Zecevic of
Novaston Asset Management says for eKapija and adds that the fact that other markets in the region have become saturated has contributed to this.
According to the company’s data, 600,000 m2 of modern retail facilities have been built in Serbia in the past ten years, and new shopping centers and retail parks, amounting to an additional 300,000 m2, are being planned.
Delta City, Usce, Stadion, BIG Fashion, Rajiceva are only some of the modern shopping centers in Serbia.
According to Mia Zecevic, two shopping centers have opened in the past year and a half in Belgrade – Rajiceva and BIG Fashion – and another two are being constructed – BW Galerija and Ada Mall Shopping Center. Belgrade will thereby get a new 130,000 m2 of retail space by the end of 2020.
Furthermore, as said, the first big shopping center in Novi Sad, Promenada, will open by the end of 2018. It will provide 50,000 m2 of space for lease to world-renowned brands and other lessees.
The data of Novaston Asset Management also show that, since 2011, around twenty retail parks have opened, such as Aviv, Stop Shop, Capitol Park, Shoppi, Nest, whereas as many as 11 are planned for 2019.
– When this cycle ends, we are looking at a period of the “calming down” of the market, as it will take some time for the sudden increase in the supply to be absorbed. Looking at the experience of the countries in the region, it would be good for us to avoid the trap of oversaturation and to wait a bit after the first cycle before starting the next wave – Zecevic said.
That oversaturation can be a problem is also confirmed by Burc Korkmazlar, Europe Retail Director at the Turkish textile company Waikiki, who says that what made Serbia interesting to them was primarily the not-so-big competition.
– When we arrived to Serbia 7-8 years ago, I was surprised because, at the time, there were only 2-3 shopping centers in Belgrade. You could see the liveliness in the city and the need for a greater supply, but there was no competition. That’s why we couldn’t wait to enter this market – Korkmazlar said.
According to him, they do better business in Serbia than in the EU, although the opposite might be expected due to the greater purchasing power in those countries.