Skidôme Terneuzen

The indoor ski slope forms the main attraction of this broad multipurpose real estate development. The total land area for the ski slope, the retail centre and the parking accommodation encompasses 6 hectares. The site is located on the periphery of the city of Terneuzen, 200 meters south of the regional highway connecting Terneuzen to Ghent, Antwerp and Rotterdam.

A catalyst for growth in the leisure market is the emergence of new and exciting leisure venues. These new venues stimulate demand by creating attractive entertainment experiences in secure environments with accessible locations. The schemes are becoming larger and more sophisticated in terms of lay-out, scale and flexibility, being multi-facility venues providing diversity, variety and convenience. They collect together a mix of leisure uses, which may include elements of retailing and create a broad based customer appeal.

The leisure market has emerged in much the same way as the out-of-town retail. Both have progressed significantly since the first generation schemes of the early 90’s. These were often converted industrial buildings whereas the latest generation are ‘state of the art’ open parks. The market situation for the implementation of an indoor ski slope combined with a retail centre in Terneuzen has been assessed favorably for the following reasons:

• The growth of the leisure market in general. Simultaneously the market for mono-functional formulas has decreased;
• The broad operating formula of the retail centre whereby several target groups are reached;
• A large catchment area with a high population density on the Flemish side;
• There are no indoor ski slopes within the trade area and no large retail centres within the catchment area.

The building combines and integrates a large and coherent program of entertainment, sports and recreational retail activities. This synergy is achieved as follows:

• Synergy in Time: beside the ski slope as a trigger of this multipurpose development it is important that there is always an activity in the centre.
• Complementary Synergy: the ski slope is reinforced with leisure and retail activities that complement each other.
• Nourishing Synergy: food & beverage corners as well as large-scale retail activities stimulate the animation of the centre.

Commercial leisure has been a fast growing property sector in the 2000s. Rapid development has been driven by leisure spending which has outperformed growth in consumer expenditure and is expected to continue to do so over the medium term.

Several of the major operating companies in the leisure industry are reporting good trading results and are now developing those divisions which they consider to be faster growing. Scheme layouts and unit sizes continue to evolve as operators refine and improve their trading formats.
Changing demographics towards an increasingly affluent population, with a growing economic importance of women and an increasing propensity to spend on entertainment away from home, is helping to drive the market.  Planning restrictions continue to curb out-of-town development, restrict supply and are expected to underpin values.

The location of Terneuzen was chosen for the following reasons:

• Economic: Very strong economic potential that will enhance further by the development of the Canal zone Terneuzen-Ghent and the increasing interaction between the harbors of Antwerp, Ghent and Rotterdam. In the near future this area will become one large economic axis.
• Catchment area: Terneuzen lies centrally between the cities of Antwerp, Ghent and Bruges and hence embraces a large and wealthy population.
• Infrastructure and accessibility: good infrastructure, easy access to the site and a large free car park.

The indoor ski slope opened its doors in July 2008. After several years of operations, the number of visitors continues to increase. Numerous regional companies are organizing events in the centre. Moreover the turnover of the Perry sports shop located in the centre has outperformed the other Perry shops in the Netherlands by achieving the highest turnover per m².

The whole site has a gross surface of 520.000 m². Health Invest owns and controls 180.000 m². In a second phase Health Invest plans to proceed the development of the site by envisaging a large garden and do-it-yourself (DIY) centre for the whole region.