Project data

Mixed-use centers are the solution for vacant department stores and deserted city centers

Many German towns and cities are suffering from department stores that are dying out in prime locations

According to Fortress Immobilien AG, many municipalities are having to deal with empty department stores in prime locations in their city centers. And this problem is only set to increase, as further department store closures are likely. Germany’s leading developer of multiservice centers (MSC) has therefore expanded its product portfolio and will henceforth also develop mixed-use centers (MUC) at prime locations in German city centers.

“Empty department stores do not only create a negative image – they often also ruin the consumers’ city center experience and do damage to the retailers in the city because of a drop in customer footfall. It is our aim to assign a new use to these buildings, improve them architecturally, and design them in accordance with modern-day consumer demands,” explains Ulrich Henssen, CEO of Fortress Immobilien AG.

“The new mixed-use centers developed by us offer a mix of in-demand services usually comprising retail outlets, residential units, eateries, fitness facilities, and office space, and sometimes also a hotel. Mixed-use centers are additionally a way in which to respond to online retail, which now accounts for 30 percent of retail, as they create a ‘realm of experience’ for the consumers and improve the ambience making consumers stay for longer,
,” explains Henssen.

A current example of this is the new StadtQuartier Schloßstraße complex in Mülheim an der Ruhr, which Fortress Immobilien AG will develop between now and 2017 on the city center site of the former Kaufhof department store together with its partners, the architecture and planning agency AIP, GRS Beteiligungen GmbH, and Mülheimer Wohnungsbau eG (MWB).

Henssen: “This project proves that working together with a municipality is immensely important. We were supported by the city authorities in Mülheim, so we were able to talk to potential tenants and business operators early on, allowing us to take their wishes into account during the planning stages and clarify these wishes in terms of building permission in advance.”

“Mixed-use centers can also accommodate community facilities or residential units designed for the elderly, as diversity and heterogeneity are now very important in terms of consumer demand,” Henssen adds.