Benjamin Bettoun, Group Head of Asset Management at NEPI Rockcastle, talked to Property Forum at MIPIM about the company's investment strategy in CEE and the trends that are shaping the future of shopping centres. He also talked about the increasing demand for retail space in the company’s new mall in Craiova, Romania, slated for delivery at the end of 2023.

Property investment group NEPI Rockcastle will open its new Promenada Craiova shopping centre this October, following an investment of more than €125 million. The project will include more than 150 stores and will create over 1,500 jobs in the city based in southern Romania. 

Property group NEPI Rockcastle has raised the equivalent of €143 million equity from its latest scrip dividend, corresponding to approximately 85% of the final dividend payment for 2022, while also completing a secured green financing of €200 million for a 5-year term with Erste Group Bank and Raiffeisen Bank.

With scheduled retail deliveries of around 260,000 sqm across Romania, this year may turn out to have the heaviest pipeline calendar since 2011, which would add to the existing stock of more than 4.1 million sqm, according to real estate consultancy Colliers. 

NEPI Rockcastle, the biggest owner and developer of shopping centres in CEE by market value, said its net operating income soared by 17% to a record of €405 million compared to 2021 over strong tenant turnover and base rental growth.

NEPI Rockcastle, through its subsidiary, has acquired all the issued shares in the Forum Gdańsk shopping centre from a company ultimately owned by Blackstone-managed funds. The transaction encompassed the repayment of all the asset’s outstanding debt. Forum Gdańsk is a 63,500 sqm GLA shopping centre, situated in Gdańsk, the sixth largest city in Poland by population, with over 470,000 inhabitants.

Mega Mall, the shopping centre in Bucharest owned by NEPI Rockcastle, will be expanded with new stores and a residential component that will include around 180 apartments. 

NEPI Rockcastle has entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares in Atrium Copernicus, the entity that owns Atrium Copernicus Shopping Center in Toruń, Poland, from Atrium Retail Ltd. 

Nooka Space, a start-up that operates smart flex offices, has announced a partnership with NEPI Rockcastle for the implementation of flexible workspaces on the premises of the group’s retail portfolio in Romania. 

Investment fund NEPI Rockcastle has taken over the stake held by Carrefour in Ploiești Shopping City for an undisclosed sum. Following the transaction concluded in September, NEPI Rockcastle has become the sole shareholder of the shopping centre.