Evans Randall to undertake substantial refurbishment and reconfiguration of Königsbau Passagen

Significant rental income uplift and several new pre-let agreements demonstrate effectiveness of group’s asset management strategy 

Evans Randall, the privately-held UK investment banking and private equity group, has announced a substantial reconfiguration and refurbishment project at its Kӧnigsbau Passagen shopping centre in Stuttgart, Germany. The works will see the creation of new retail units and a high quality food court, attracting premium national and international brands and providing a significant uplift in rental income of €580,000 per annum. The works are scheduled to begin in December 2012 and due for completion in June 2013. 

Kӧnigsbau Passagen was acquired by Evans Randall in 2006 shortly after its opening. The centre covers 27,000 sq metres of retail space, and 18,000 sq m of office space. It features a range of more than 70 upmarket retail, dinning and leisure outlets across five floors, including anchor tenant Saturn, Vapiano and Deutsche Post. Located alongside the historic Kӧnigsbau building, built in 1856 and formerly home of the Stuttgart Stock Exchange, Kӧnigsbau Passagen is the largest shopping centre in Stuttgart, with more than 3.3 million people living in its catchment area. 

Major reconfiguration works across the second and third floors of the centre will see the conversion of 28 existing units into 30 new units, of which 13 will be gastronomic outlets in a newly created food court. The food court, located on the second floor, will feature upmarket outlets creating increased footfall on the upper floors of the centre. Evans Randall, working closely with leading shopping centre managers ECE, has secured pre-let agreements on 10 out of these 13 food court units, ranging in size from 44 sq metres to 143 sq metres, to high profile outlets including Culinasia, QQ-Sushi-Lounge and New York Crepe. 

The reconfigured floors will feature a revamped Stilwerk concept, housing high-end furniture and interior design occupiers. Evans Randall and ECE have secured pre-let agreements on over 2,500 sq metres of this soon to be reconfigured space, on units ranging in size from 89 sq metres to 851 sq metres, to eminent brands including Rolf Benz and hülsta. 

Kent Gardner, Chief Executive of Evans Randall said: “Kӧnigsbau Passagen represents a prime retail offer in a fantastic city centre location, and features flexible and attractive retail and office spaces with diverse occupier and consumer appeal. This substantial reconfiguration and refurbishment project is the latest demonstration of our ability to creatively asset manage complex, high value schemes, adhering to our strategy to release additional value through increasing occupier appeal and growing our asset’s income potential.” 

A steady pipeline of lease expiries on existing leases, covering more than half of the centre’s retail and office space, will occur over the next five years, providing valuable opportunities for tenant re-engineering and reconfiguration of space.

PR Contact
Dominic Morgan, FTI Consulting
020 7269 9343