Monday 10 December 2007

Commercial Real Estate Bubble II


Boom In Shopping Mall Construction

"A boom in the construction of shopping malls is being seen throughout Finland."

"At present there are 60 malls in the country, but the number is on the rise. Areas that are showing economic growth will see 20 large new shopping centres within the next five years. Last year, the total turnover for malls was four billion euros, and it is growing by 10% annually."

"A new mall, Revontuli, recently opened in the capital of Finnish Lapland, Rovaniemi, is the largest in Scandinavia. It is also the first mall in Finland built over a highway. Linked to the nearby Rinne shopping centre, it has some 44 000 square metres of floorspace."

Indeed it's better to build Mall than residential real estate as investors are looking for higher returns. I guess investors have committed funds in the past few years in real estate investments so this money need to get somewhere and finds home in the commercial side.

But a mall in Lapland, brings you a sentiment of sadness... or when man turn gold into lead... I would rather see some family shops than a serialization of shops (Antilla, Lindex, Halonen...) that give you the feeling that you are elsewhere than Lapland....

I think the idea was imported from the U.S. , malls allow you to stay all day in it, you can eat, shop, play etc... the next step for malls is to bring your workplace and home inside ... I have already seen some retirement house and hotel attached to malls, the question is when are we going to see a birth clinics there...so to close the loop.

Source: YLE
Related : Commercial Bubble I

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