McArthurGlen arrives in Spain with a project near Malaga

By

Bruno Joly

Published
Nov 19, 2014

Mapic, which opened its doors on Wednesday morning, is still the place for developers to announce big projects. McArthurGlen is no exception to the rule. Already active in Europe with 20 centres in 8 countries, the British developer is heading to Spain. The developer of outlet centres is partnering up with Spanish Sonae Sierra with the Malaga Design Outlet project. According to our information, the two partners are creating a joint-venture for the occasion.

Located near the Andalusian city, the brand village, the first one in the south of Spain, will open in 2017. It will neighbour the Plaza Mayor shopping centre and leisure park, owned by The Sierra Fund and managed by Sonae Sierra.

"The brand village will be much more upscale than the current shopping centre, which is of course not going anywhere. Our Design Outlets are located in highly frequented tourist zones," McArthur Glen points out. And in fact, the Malaga airport is the fourth largest airport in Spain, with 13 million passengers per year. Andalusia is a very popular tourist destination.

The two partners have mentioned a combined investment of 115 million euros (£92 billion/$144 billion).

The construction and space planning operations will take place in two phases: the first one will concern 183,000 ft² of sales space, and the second one will be aimed at an additional 140,000 ft². The launch of the work for the first phase is scheduled for the second half of 2015, with the finished space to open in 2017 with 90 high-end and luxury fashion stores.

McArthurGlen is also otherwise continuing with its internationalisation. It will open its first centre outside of Europe in the spring. The McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Vancouver Airport, on Canada's west coast, will be the first designer outlet of its kind in North America.