Taubman Centers Unit Opens Starfield Hanam In South Korea

Taubman Centers, Inc. (NYSE:TCO) is making its impact felt around the world. Its wing in Asia – Taubman Asia – together with its partner Shinsegae Group, celebrated the opening of Starfield Hanam shopping center at Hanam, Gyeonggi Province in South Korea. This retail project, developed by Taubman Asia and Shinsegae Group, marks Taubman Asia’s first ground-up development in South Korea.

The shopping center is the country’s largest western-style mall and is nearly 100% leased. There are almost 300 stores and restaurants in this 1.7 million square foot center. It is anchored by Korea’s reputed department store brand, Shinsegae.

There has been a rapid shift in customers’ shopping preferences and patterns, with online purchases growing significantly. Hence, the mall landlords have been making concerted efforts in developing retail hubs with swanky entertainment zones, and this shopping center is no exception.

From international luxury brands, like Balenciaga, Burberry, Bvlgari and Fendi, to fast fashion choices – such as Cos, H&M, Massimo Dutti – Starfield Hanam has a vast range of stores to offer. Also, with 110,000 square feet of dining options and entertainment options like the 11-screen Megabox cinema, a Sports Monster sportsplex and an 112,000 square foot Aquafield indoor/outdoor water park, this retail property is expected to attract high footfall.

Taubman Asia is a subsidiary of the U.S. Mall operator Taubman Centers and is into retail real estate projects in Asia. It is, in fact, Taubman Centers’ platform for expansion into China and South Korea. Taubman Asia, founded in 2005, is headquartered in Hong Kong.

On the other hand – Bloomfield Hills – MI-based Taubman Centers, is engaged in the ownership, management and/or leasing of several regional, super-regional and outlet shopping centers in the U.S. and Asia. Taubman currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

A better-ranked stock in the REIT industry is InfraREIT, Inc. (NYSE:HIFR) , sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Also, investors can consider better-ranked stocks like EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) and Weingarten Realty Investors (NYSE:WRI) that carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

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