DIC Asset AG creates shopping experience with feel-good factor: “TO HUUS” shopping centre in Mönchengladbach-Rheydt

Press release

DIC Asset AG creates shopping experience with feel-good factor: “TO HUUS” shopping centre in Mönchengladbach-Rheydt

• Amount in mid-double-digit millions invested in upgrade
• Venue creatively modernised and repositioned
• “TO HUUS” name picked by shoppers
• Long-term lease signed by grocery anchor tenant

Frankfurt am Main, 22 September 2022. DIC Asset AG (“DIC”), ISIN: DE000A1X3XX4, one of Germany’s leading listed property companies, completed its comprehensive modernisation works at the “TO HUUS” retail property on Stresemannstrasse in the centre of the Rheydt district of Mönchengladbach today. Formerly known as “Rheydt-Galerie” and held in DIC’s proprietary portfolio, the property extends over a total floor area of about 10,300 sqm and, following its upgrade, offers a shopping experience that emphasises the feel-good factor.

“More than ever, the creativity that goes into upgrading and positioning measures defines the value and the acceptance of a retail venue among customers and tenants. Our approach to the ‘TO HUUS’ shopping centre demonstrates that we are well aware of this fact and know how to proceed accordingly. We have created value-added for the local population here, and a place where shoppers feel at home. At the same time, we created value-added for all of our tenants. And we have shown that by developing our portfolio we always also create value-added for our investors and shareholders,” commented Christian Fritzsche, Managing Director at DIC Onsite GmbH, a subsidiary of DIC.

People in the region were asked to propose names for the shopping centre and to vote on the proposals. More than 600 suggestions were eventually submitted. The name “TO HUUS” (meaning “at home”) shows that the property is being embraced by the local community. The effort to reposition the property was flanked by a cross-media marketing campaign that included live activities in town, social media posts and local radio ads.

On the whole, DIC invested a figure in the mid-double-digit millions in the upgrade, which started in 2020. In addition to the business centre, the upgrade also included the annexed multi-storey car park of 187 spots. The numerous structural alterations of the interior, of the multi-storey car park and of the exterior façade were supplemented by a new lighting design, an easy-to-follow routing system and energy upgrades to the mechanical and electrical engineering system. The installation of façade advertising successfully concluded this phase today.

The general focus of the property is on the grocery segment. The grocery anchor occupying the ground floor signed a long-term lease for 1,200 sqm and already opened for business on 18 August of this year. The incumbent tenants on the ground floor and in the basement of the mall will continue to occupy their premises. The third floor of the centre, which is mainly occupied by doctors’ surgeries, remains as it was, familiar to locals. For the units on the first and second floor, talks with tenant leads have progressed to an advanced stage.

About DIC Asset AG:

DIC Asset AG is Germany’s leading listed specialist for office and logistics real estate with more than 20 years of experience on the real estate market and access to a broad-based network of investors. Our business is based on a regional and inter-regional real estate platform with nine offices on the ground in all major German markets (with VIB Vermögen AG included). We currently manage a total of 357 assets with a combined market value of EUR 14.2 billion on site, always close to our properties and their occupiers.

The Commercial Portfolio segment comprises real estate held for our own account. Here, we generate steady cash flows from stable rent revenues on long-term leases while also optimising the value of our portfolio assets through active management, and realising gains from sales.

In the Institutional Business segment, we earn recurrent fees from real estate services we provide to national and international institutional investors by structuring and managing investment products that return attractive dividend yields.

DIC Asset AG has been SDAX-listed since June 2006.

IR/PR Contact DIC Asset AG:
Peer Schlinkmann
Head of Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
Neue Mainzer Str. 20 • MainTor Primus

D-60311 Frankfurt am Main
T +49 69 9454858-1492
ir@dic-asset.de