BNP Paribas Real Estate’s Capital Market Department has been selected as the strategic advisor and promoter of marcredo Portfolio Fund, which invests in shopping centres operating under the brand of marcredo and situated in some of the most prospective locations in Poland – dynamically developing cities with populations up to 100,000 inhabitants.
“Our role in this undertaking will not only be the involvement in distribution of the marcredo Portfolio Fund’s shares but we have also estimated market values of the marcredo retail properties having been transferred into the Fund. We are convinced that investing into the marcredo retail schemes in Poland is a very good strategy for international and Polish domestic equity capital holders, taking into account the macroeconomic environment and the growing retail purchasing power in Poland,” said Dr. Piotr Goździewicz, Director Capital Markets, Central and Eastern Europe, BNP Paribas Real Estate.
“The Polish retail market is clearly polarized. On the one hand, the markets of the largest Polish cities are much saturated with modern shopping centres, and on the other, regional and local markets are underdeveloped and their demand for modern retail space is growing rapidly,” said Małgorzata Gajuk, Associate Director at BNP Paribas Real Estate’s Capital Market Department and an active member of the Retail Research Forum at the Polish Council of Shopping Centres.
“This results from the development of regional markets and the growing purchasing power of consumers living at such locations – their requirements grow as they become richer. The founders of the marcredo shopping centre concept were among the first ones to notice the potential of small and medium Polish cities. Based on a precise analysis of local markets and their experience, they created a balanced portfolio of perfectly organised shopping facilities, tailored to the needs of local markets and communities and having tenants with an established market position, operating on the basis of long-term lease agreements,” added Małgorzata Gajuk.
Currently, the portfolio of the marcredo fund includes 6 marcredo shopping centres and an option for one more shopping centre with the total leased area of more than 63,000 sqm.
