MAPIC Interview: Sonae Sierra Commercial Director Europe & Emerging Markets Marta Costa
Portuguese-headquartered Sonae Sierra has a well-established, vertically-integrated approach to real estate, delivering everything from investment, development and asset acquisition to property management, leasing and operations for over 35 years.
This year at MAPIC, Sonae Sierra Commercial Director Europe & Emerging Markets Marta Costa says that there is a strong sense that retail is back, both from more active investor interest and increasing expansion plans from retailers.
“There is definitely far more confidence back in the market. We have seen the recovery, the key metrics at out centres in Portugal and across Europe are ahead of pre-pandemic levels now and that is bringing investors back to retail,” Costa said.
At the heart of Sonae Sierra’s asset management strategy, the company has embraced digital tools and has a diversified asset management approach across marketing, architecture, engineering and urban-planning integration through to ESG benchmarking and technology-driven operations.
“We are a little different in that we have taken a lifestyle approach to our centres and the digital tools are there to help our customers from before they visit and while they are with us,” she said. “That means social media, highlighting what is on offer, plus pre-booking parking or bike places and so on. We also have a strong loyalty and rewards programme and we use that data to help improve our services.”
Sonae Sierra Commercial Director Europe and Emerging Markets Marta Costa
In line with this, Sonae Sierra’s acquired Unibail Rodamco Westfield’s German third-party shopping centre management business, which initially saw the company take on a portfolio of 12 shopping centres. By early October 2025 the German platform had expanded to 19 centres, almost 1 million sq m GLA, catering to over 130 million annual visitors, making Sonae Sierra the second-largest third-party shopping-centre manager in Germany.
Sonae Sierra’s pan-European footprint also extends across Portugal, Spain, Italy, Morocco and Romania totalling about 70 assets and 3 million sq m. Costa said that the domestic market is performing well, underpinned by strong consumer demand and a growing economy, while further expansion will be based on where the company identifies opportunities.
“For us it is about looking at places where we feel we can add value. So that is not just the country and location but also the nature of the asset,” Costa added. “Because we take a specialised approach to asset management, we want to expand where we see the opportunity to improve the assets.”
