| www.reit.com The Otto family are well-known in Europe as leading commercial real estate investors, and the family made noise in the US when they invested in US REIT Developers Diversified Realty Trust (NYSE DDR) back in 2008. At the European Public Real Estate Association's (EPRA) annual conference in London earlier this month, Alexander Otto, chief executive of Germany's ECE Group, spoke with EPRA's Steve Hays for a series of joint EPRA and REIT.com interviews. ECE Projektmanagement GmbH & Co. KG was founded in 1965 by Prof. Dr. hc Werner Otto. The company is the European market leader in the field of inner-city shopping centers. Moreover, ECE also develops and builds transport complexes, logistics centers, company headquarters, office complexes, industrial buildings, as well as other special-purpose properties. Looking at the prospects for retail and industrial development across Europe, Otto said he expected activity to remain slow for the near term as economic struggles continue. "I think there will be a lot of investment in good, existing assets," Otto said. ECE is active in 15 European countries currently. Otto said large, stable markets like Austria, France and Germany offer opportunities for new development. Whereas, he said southern Europe is a more difficult market where demand is limited and financing is difficult to obtain. Otto said he expects the economic issues in many southern European countries could linger for some time, especially in ECE's primary focus ... |
