Mall landlords look to remix tenants to entice shoppers back to bricks and mortar stores
Mall landlords are seeking out new ways to entice shoppers back to physical stores through new offerings of interactive and food-based retailers that have proven to be internet-proof.
In a new survey of 4243 Asia Pacific-based consumers across 14 countries, UBS Evidence Labs says concerns around the growth of eCommerce post the disruption of COVID-19 have weighed on the outlook for retail-focused real estate investment trusts (REITs) and real estate companies.
But the respondents said landlords that are prepared to reconfigure the tenant mix will survive amid the rise of online shopping.
The UBS Bricks and Clicks survey says online continues to take market share with growth in all categories, but the gains do not signal the end of the physical mall.
“Landlords continue to remix their centres towards e-commerce resilient retailers and experientialretailers,” the survey says.
“The focus is on creating enticing restaurant precincts and services and away from categoriesof increasing online penetration such as apparel retailers.”
Co-authors of the report, UBS REIT analyst Grant McCasker and his team, said to encouragemore shopping at physical retail, surveyed consumers would like to see more services, a greater variety of retailers, better parking and more unique or edgy retail offerings to encourage them to shop more at the mall.
“Our buy ratings across APAC retail focus on convenience/suburban. We remain cautious on discretionary focused malls over the medium term,” the report says.
To gain advantage of the demand for more convenience-based malls, the acquisitive REIT Centuria Capital Group has secured an off-market $202million Daily Needs Retail (DNR) precinct within Sekisui House’s $1.1 billion master planned mixed-use development, West Village, Brisbane.
Under the deal Centuria will co-invest in the mall with the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC’s institutional mandate. The acquisition encompasses 16,560 square metres of retail facilities in addition to hospitality, wellness and office accommodation throughout five buildings.
Centuria Capital is an ASX-listed real estate funds manager with an Australasian focus and more than $18 billion of assets under management. Its market value is $2.18 billion and its investments cover listed and unlisted real estate funds.
Bruce McCully, Centuria head of retail, said about 89 per cent of the portfolio’s income is underpinned by daily needs and non-discretionary tenants “providing a resilient and defensive income profile”.
“The acquisition includes two anchor supermarkets, which are complemented by cafes, restaurants, bars, parkland and wellness facilities,” he said.
The deal comes as the reporting season for the first half of 2022 financial year kicks off next month. Analysts are predicting that despite the macro-level headwinds, property level fundamentals remain supportive, with REIT multiples looking attractive.
JP Morgan analyst Richard Jones said a record year in valuation growth has strengthened balance sheets which could spark a fresh round of mergers and acquisitions, “with potential privatisations taking advantage of the disconnect between transaction pricing and REITs, based on the valuation spreads”.
