Rodamco Europe is to enter the Russian property market for the first time with the purchase of a 50% stake in one of Moscow’s biggest planned shopping centres
Rodamco has bought the stake in the Metropolis shopping centre development in the Voikovsky district of the city, from Kazakhstan based, private developer Capital Partners for €200m (£134m).
The shopping centre will be 861,120 sq ft (80,000 sq m) when completed in the second quarter of 2008. It forms half of a larger, mixed-use development which totals 1.7m sq ft (160,000 sq m). The remainder of the space will be offices. The development has an immediate catchment area of approximately 800,000 people.
Maarten Hulshoff, chief executive at Rodamco Europe, said: ‘This first investment of Rodamco Europe in Moscow is a very important milestone in our central European early mover strategy into new markets.’
‘The economic growth forecast in combination with the increasing presence of international retailers and the maturing of the real estate market, confirms that now is the right moment to enter the Moscow retail market with a top quality shopping centre and a highly valued partner.’