Spain's biggest department store owner, El Corte Inglés, has signed up to join Spain's largest retail and leisure scheme, Puerto Venecia in Zaragoza, Spain. The El Corte Inglés department store will encompass 40,000 m² with 1,200 car park spaces and will be the anchor for the shopping center.
Puerto Venecia is being developed by a joint venture formed in May last year between British Land, a group of European private investors and the Spanish construction company, Copcisa Corp.
El Corte Inglés expects to employ up to 1,000 people at the department store. Construction work is planned to begin in spring 2008 and the store is programmed to open for business at the end of 2009.
Ikea will start trading at its 30,000 m² unit in May this year. Other retailers opening in the retail zone include Porcelanosa, Decathlon, Conforama, REY, FLY, Miro and Leroy Merlin.
Puerto Venecia, the largest scheme of its kind underway in Europe, is located in 60 hectares on Zaragoza´s main ring road. The shopping and leisure scheme comprises an 87,000 m² retail park, a 61,000 m² shopping center, 'Lifestyle Big Box Retail' of 10,400 m², a multiplex/leisure complex of 31,000 m² and a hotel/convenience retail of 5,000 m².
Source: British Land
