The complex, with 400 plus outlets, was officially opened by the then Mayor of Budapest Gábor Demszky and a youthful Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, in November 1999 after 16 months of construction by the developer, TriGranit.

Retail and shopping center development in the established Central and Eastern European markets remains constrained, given a background of the increasing use of e-commerce and worries about demand fueled by consumer spending power.

There are no significant mall projects in the pipeline. In response to changing tenant and customer expectations, owners are concentrating on redeveloping and upgrading the retail, leisure and service offerings of earlier generation centers and looking to enhance the “retail experience” to meet more sophisticated demands from tenants and consumers.

ESG and EU Taxonomy demands and requirements are also coming to the fore. All of these are reflected in changes made to the Westend since its opening. 

At the end of the third quarter of 2024, there was more than nine million sqm of retail space under construction in the CEE region (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia), with much of this (2.8 million sqm) located in the Poland market.

“However, this does not mean other retail formats will not develop. In addition to traditional shopping centers and retail parks, the development of mixed-use projects is also observed in the region,” says Dominika Jędrak, market insights director for Poland & CEE at Colliers.

Cushman & Wakefield Echinox has traced 180,000 sqm of retail space under construction in the booming Romanian retail development market. A notable recent delivery is the 51,000 sqm Arges Mall in Pitesti by Prime Kapital-MAS Real Estate.
 

The consultancy has traced as many as eight pipeline projects across Romania of 30,000 sqm plus, most of which are in regional towns and cities. The largest of these is the 130,000 sqm Transylvania Mall in Cluj-Napoca, also by Prime Kapital-MAS Real Estate.

In Hungary, retail development is dominated by smaller parks and strip malls as the retail sales are not there to support more significant developments.

Looking at the existing shopping center stock in Budapest, the first-tier centers have very low vacancy rates of around 1-2%, and there is a waiting list of existing tenants in the malls who are waiting to relocate within centers.

In the current demand environment, a number of shopping center owners have improved their F&B and food court offerings. Leed and Breeam “In-use” sustainability accreditation is seen as a necessity for owners to obtain finance while, from the tenant perspective, the demand is for lower energy and service charges, comments Anita Csörgő, head of retail at Colliers Hungary.

“As the retail stock continues to age, the trend of redeveloping and modernizing shopping centers is expected to become increasingly prevalent,” says Colliers Jędrak.

“This process ensures that shopping centers remain relevant and competitive in a rapidly changing market. The focus on energy efficiency, sustainability, and enhanced customer experiences will likely drive further innovations and improvements in the sector,” she says.

“The proportion of centers requiring renovations or redevelopments is significant, and this trend is anticipated to grow as the retail landscape continues to evolve,” Jędrak adds.

Across CEE, the total stock of traditional shopping centers and retail parks exceeds 26 million sqm. According to Colliers, retail parks dominate the market, with more than 900 projects larger than 1,500 sqm.

MTI Stock Photo - for illustrative purposes only

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