As the latest edition of Savills Impacts magazine notes, demographic, cultural, economic and technological changes are all driving massive shifts in how we spend our time and money. A new ‘experiential’ aspect to shopping is putting the onus on landlords and developers to come up new concepts to draw people in. One of Prague’s projects in this vein is Savarin, which developer Crestyl Group calls a “public space with retail and offices”.

The mixed-use project to develop the historical site in downtown Prague was purchased by Crestyl from Irish developer Ballymore four years ago. In an area known as the Golden Cross, the 1.5-hectare site is bounded by the main shopping streets of Wenceslas Square and Na Příkopě on two sides, and Jindřišská and Panská on the others. Users will be able to access the site from all four sides of the square when it is completed in 2021-2022.

Initially a covered shopping centre concept, the project was totally revamped by Crestyl to leave the square open and make almost four times more space (now to be approximately 6,700 sq m) available for publicly accessible outdoor areas compared to the original plan.

Bringing Back Baroque

All of the historical buildings facing the street – including the Baroque Savarin Palace designed by Bohemian architect Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer that gives the project its name – will be completely renovated, not just the facades themselves, as will the historic riding hall, which has been hidden to the public for decades. The Baroque gardens will also be restored to their natural beauty. The studio of Jakub Cigler has been retained as architect for most of the buildings, while Crestyl brought in the renowned UK designers Heatherwick Studio for the interior design and to create a special environment in the inner courtyard centred on the riding hall, including numerous walkways and terraces open to the public.

“Savarin is a mixed-use project situated on the high street of Prague with an existing exquisite atmosphere, so instead of trying to impose a new structure, we tried to emphasize the current location and develop the different parts of the project to benefit from the uniqueness of the location, as well as from the direct access to the underground and from the existing high footfall,” says Omar Koleilat, founder and CEO of Crestyl.

TAKING TIME OUT

Eschewing the traditional ‘anchor tenant’ approach of a shopping mall, Crestyl has pulled off the commendable feat of making Prague one of only three European cities to have a Time Out Market and just the second management agreement signed by the global media and entertainment business after Montreal. The first Time Out Market opened in Lisbon in 2014 and is today Portugal’s most popular attraction with a record 3.6 million visitors in 2017.

The concept of the market by Time Out – which will have primary responsibility for branding, curation and day-to-day operation in return for a guaranteed management fee – is to have upwards of 14 chefs, ranging from those with Michelin stars to upcoming local ones, cooking local and international fare at reasonable prices, not only for tourists but also locals and people who live and work in the area. A generous 10,000 sq m of Savarin’s lettable space is expected to be given over to gastronomy, with 20,000 sq m allocated for offices and 39,000 sq m for retail.

It is the ability of developers and owners to come up with clever ways to attract (and re-attract…) shoppers – whether it be public space, urban golf, escape rooms, or fitting rooms equipped with imaging technology – which promise to keep retail in the real world relevant in the age of e-commerce. As Kiran Patel, Global Chief Investment Officer at Savills Investment Management, has noted, there will continue to be a place in portfolios for the retail sector because consumers will continue to do the bulk of their shopping, eating and leisure activity in a ‘bricks-and-mortar’ outlet, albeit one that is changing in format.