ECE was founded in 1965 by mail order pioneer Werner Otto (1909-2011) and is owned by the Otto family. Alexander Otto, son of the company founder, has been leading the company since 2000. ECE, based in Hamburg, has been developing, building, renting and managing large commercial properties in the commercial sectors of shopping, office, transport and industry and is also the European market leader in the field of inner-city shopping centres. For decades, ECE has been realizing very successfully large group headquarters, office buildings, industrial buildings, logistics centres, transport-related properties, hotels and other highly complex building types. ECE offers all real estate-related services from one source and thus creates a major benefit for its clients, customers and partners by bringing together its complete know-how. With regard to many projects, ECE acts as an investor and keeps the projects in its portfolio for decades. In addition, two of ECE's funds focus on the acquisition of shopping centres with value-added potential. ECE has successfully established numerous subsidiaries and joint ventures across Europe.