Once the new occupants have moved in, Belval Plaza should have 2,600m2 of vacant space, of which 1,400m2 could be rented to a sports retailer. (Photo: Romain Gamba/archives Maison Moderne)

Once the new occupants have moved in, Belval Plaza should have 2,600m2 of vacant space, of which 1,400m2 could be rented to a sports retailer. (Photo: Romain Gamba/archives Maison Moderne)

Owner Firce Capital has announced the signing of new leases on 1,658m2 of retail space at the 24,000m2 Belval Plaza shopping centre. It aims to welcome an additional 1 million visitors by 2023.

Sidestep, Foot Locker, Dida Kids, BD World, Claire's, La Boutique du coiffeur, Medi-Market and Hello Kids are to open units in the Belval Plaza shopping centre, Firce Capital, announced on Monday.

"These new partnerships will enable us to offer a complete range of specialised shops, shops, restaurants, cinemas, drugstores and nurseries for the whole family," said Christophe Fournage, chairman of Firce Capital, in a press release.

The new stores are expected to open by the end of this year, or in early 2022, says the group, which has owned of the premises since March 2020. Its director, Thierry Debourse, aims to make the complex, which opened in 2007, a reference for southern Luxembourg. Within two years, he wants to increase visitor numbers by 14% to reach eight million visitors.

Currently the centre attracts seven million annual visitors. "Belval Plaza has made up for the slight delay in pedestrian traffic observed following the health crisis in 2020, and sales figures are in the process of exceeding those of 2019," Debourse told Paperjam. The centre benefits from commuter flow from the Belval-University station as well as from students and employees of the new town, coupled with families living within a 10 to 15 minute travel time radius.

Saturn stays, but downsizes

The new leases cover a total of 1,658m2 of retail space, ranging from 67m2 for the independent fashion chain Dida Kids to 409m2 for the Hello Kids daycare centre, announced last February in the wake of the renewal of the Kinepolis lease for a further 15 years.

In addition to these new leases, Saturn has chosen to stay for another 25 years, but to reduce its occupancy by a quarter, to 3,300m2. As a result, these forthcoming openings and adaptations represent 638m2 of net new occupied retail space. The complex has 66 units spread over approximately 24,000m2 of retail space (and a total of 37,150m2).

"Once the announced new occupants are installed, there will be 2,600m2 of space left to let,” says Debourse. He is currently in talks with two sports brands to occupy 1,400m2. There should then be 1,200m2 left to be divided between several occupants, including Post, which is expected to move in on 1 April 2022.

In addition, the centre is to be equipped with a food hall next year. Between 10 and 15 restaurateurs are expected to occupy 2,500m2 of space. Development work is expected to start in the spring of 2022.

Firce Capital is an asset manager for institutional investors such as the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, Adia and Amundi. It manages more than €2 billion of assets in over 400,000m2 located in Paris, Lyon, Portugal, Spain and Luxembourg. Its portfolio includes the Royal Hamilius complex and the Place de l'Étoile.

This article was originally published in French by , and has been translated and edited by Delano