#Mapic2014 Sonae Sierra, McArthurGlen develop outlet in southern Spain

Portuguese shopping centre specialist Sonae Sierra and designer outlet developer McArthurGlen are to build an outlet centre in the southern Spanish city of Málaga.

The McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Málaga will cost €115 mln to build and be the first designer outlet in southern Spain, offering 30,000 m2 of gross lettable area once fully opened.

The centre will be developed in two phases, with the first comprising 17,000 m2 of GLA and the second an additional 13,000 m2. The first phase will open in 2017, with works due to start in the second half of 2015.

The JV marks the entry of the McArthurGlen Group into the Spanish market. The group’s portfolio includes 20 designer outlets located near key tourist destinations in eight countries across Europe.

Málaga Designer Outlet will be located next to the Plaza Mayor Leisure Park & Shopping Centre, owned by the Sierra Fund and managed by Sonae Sierra. Plaza Mayor is Málaga’s most-visited shopping centre. It offers 143 stores and restaurants, and 3,200 parking spaces. The centre welcomed nearly nine million shoppers in 2013 and registered more than €95 mln in sales.

Commenting on the project, Fernando Guedes Oliveira, CEO of Sonae Sierra, said it was part of the group’s growth strategy for the Spanish market. ‘With this initiative, Plaza Mayor reinforces its position as a commercial and leisure benchmark in the Málaga area. In addition it enhances the quality of its retail offer thanks to an important investment that is going to generate 1,000 new jobs when fully developed.’

Julia Calabrese, CEO of McArthurGlen Group, commented: ‘The location in Málaga offers everything we look for when creating a new designer outlet: it is easily accessible, with strong tourism potential and fashion-loving customers within the local catchment.’

Click on #Mapic2014 for all of PropertyEU's news stories from 20th Mapic the retail real estate property fair in Cannes.