Helaba Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen and the ECE European Prime Shopping Centre Fund II, managed by ECE Real Estate Partners, are extending existing financing arrangements totalling €205 million for two shopping centres in Poland. The loans, which cover the Forum Koszalin centre in Koszalin and the Felicity Lublin centre in Lublin, are each being extended by five years.
Both properties have undergone refurbishment and modernisation in recent years, including the redesign of food courts and fit-outs for new and existing tenants. Primark has been secured as an anchor tenant in both centres. In Koszalin, brands including Stradivarius and Mango are joining the tenant mix, while in Lublin a large lease agreement with a high-revenue retail group is described as imminent.
"We are delighted to be able to extend the financing for two established and modern shopping centres on behalf of our long-standing client ECE, and we would like to thank them for their continued trust. Poland is an important market for Helaba, and one in which we are very happy to be active," said Georg Blaschke, Head of Real Estate Finance CEE and BeNeLux at Helaba.
"Through the successful implementation of our value-add strategy, we have developed both shopping centres into core assets that are delivering very strong operational performance. The long-term refinancing underlines the quality and earnings power of both properties," said Christian Müller, Principal at ECE Real Estate Partners.
The ECE European Prime Shopping Centre Fund II currently holds eleven shopping centres across Poland, Germany, Italy and Spain, backed by institutional investors. The ECE Group manages around 200 shopping centres with a total retail area of approximately seven million sqm, eight of which are in Poland, where it has been active since 1997.
