HIH Invest Real Estate (HIH Invest) has extended the lease agreement with Castorama for a large-scale retail property in Creil, about 60 km north of Paris, on a long-term basis. The French DIY chain thus continues to secure a location in one of the highest-turnover trading zones in northern France. The property has a lettable area of 18,206 square metres and offers customers 500 car parking spaces. Castorama has been the sole tenant of the property since 2012 under a twelve-year contract and ensures continuous use of the site through the extension. The retail property was acquired by HIH Invest in 2010 for a German individual fund.
Malte Wallschläger, Head of Asset Management International at HIH Real Estate, comments: “The contract extension confirms our long-standing partnership with Castorama as well as the very good quality of the location. Numerous specialist stores and retailers have settled in the industrial park south of Creil, which results in positive synergy effects and increases customer frequency. In addition, the location benefits from its central location in the Creil Sud Oise conurbation and the good connections to the surrounding cities.”
The city of Creil, together with its adjacent suburbs, forms the Creil Sud Oise conurbation with more than 90,000 inhabitants, making it a dynamic business location for commercial real estate. The retail property is located in the “Les Longères des Haies” business park in Saint-Maximin, a suburb south of Creil. In the immediate vicinity there are other retail markets as well as the “Park Avenue” shopping center. The D1016 departmental road provides a direct connection to Creil and the surrounding towns as well as to the Paris motorway network.
The property meets current French environmental and energy standards. These include the Tertiary Decree on the Reduction of Energy Consumption in Non-Residential Buildings, the BACS requirements for building automation and CRREM compliance.
