• Woolworth opening new concept shop on 1,400 square metres
• Full facelift of mall and façade underway
• Fantastic reception for fitness studio FitX
• Work on second entrance to begin spring 2020
• Food court with area of around 1,000 square metres in planning

Giessen/Frankfurt/Hamburg, 28 October 2019. The revitalisation of the “Galerie Neustädter Tor” shopping centre in Giessen / Hesse has reached its next milestone as planned. Today, Woolworth opened its new store and range concept on an area of around 1,400 square metres. To date, leases have been signed for more than 5,000 square metres of vacant space during ongoing operations. Furthermore, several tenants, such as Bastler Zentrale, Vero Moda and Jack & Jones, have changed and optimised their units, and contracts have been renewed with a number of key existing tenants. The fitness provider FitX, which has been a tenant of Galerie Neustädter Tor since early 2019, is being very well received and proving highly popular. The property was acquired at the end of 2018 by an investment vehicle managed by the CORESTATE Capital Group. Prelios is in charge of the centre’s management.

The repositioning includes various structural and design activities. The entire interior of the centre and its façade are being remodelled and modernised. For example, where there used to openings in the ceiling between the individual floors, these have now been closed in favour of larger rental areas. On the first floor, there are plans for a food court with area of around 1,000 square metres. An additional entrance is also being created for the building.

For Dr Ralf Klann and Guido Beddig, Heads of Commercial Asset Management at Corestate, the most important thing is to increase the appeal of the shopping centre for tenants and customers alike. The necessary steps have been implemented very successfully together with Prelios. Construction work on a new entrance coming from the new town district and the mall’s modernisation will begin at the start of next year. Above all, it was possible to renew various existing leases. For Klann and Beddig, this is an excellent foundation on which to rebuild an attractive tenant base, which will in turn allow them to secure new tenants. This will increase the mall’s range, ultimately benefitting customers and the local area.

Fabiola Peiniger, Prelios Immobilien Management’s centre manager for Galerie Neustädter Tor, said: “After a conversion phase lasting several months, we are delighted that Woolworth has now taken up residence at Galerie Neustädter Tor. Woolworth is an excellent fit for the centre and expands its range significantly. The food court on the first floor will also be good for business, encouraging people to spend more time here. We are currently looking at new tenants and concepts in all areas, and we are having constructive talks with potential tenants.”

The benefits of the approximately 32,000 square metres Galerie Neustädter Tor shopping centre include its excellent accessibility, the more than 1,000 parking spaces in the built-in car park, the large retail catchment area, its positioning as the only shopping centre within the city and the unusually high share of young people in the university city of Giessen. Alongside Woolworth and FitX, tenants include H&M, Media Markt, Müller Drogerie, Tegut, Penny, Kult, Tally Weijl, Vero Moda, Jack & Jones, Bastler Zentrale, Apollo Optik, Reno, Shoes & More and Intersport Begro in addition to a large number of food outlets. The repositioning concept now also offers the possibility of more anchor tenants setting up shop in larger areas.

With a centrality index of 197.7 (national average: 100), the university town of Giessen is highly attractive and has a catchment area of around 870,000 inhabitants.

Prelios Immobilien Management is in charge of centre management, technical property management, letting, car park operations and the redesign of Galerie Neustädter Tor.