The current wave of shopping centre development that will open this year and in 2017 has taken a total of more than 100 years to bring from first planning application through to delivery, according to data analyzed by Colliers International. The company looked at the “gestation period” of 13 developments with more than 100k SF and shopping centre extensions of more than 50k SF that are set to launch before the end of next year.

Colliers found that on average, new developments take around 11 years to be delivered while extensions take about four years from start to finish. The schemes comprise more than 3.7M SF of shopping space.

Colliers’ Head of Shopping Centre Agency Rupert Long says the figures illustrate what a brake was put on shopping centre development during the recession and also how complex it is to bring projects to completion.

Rupert notes the delay in development is good for the "equilibrium of the sector", citing the impact of online retailing and the curtailed expansion plans of retailers.