Sonae Sierra and ING Real Estate Development have announced the signing of agreements with the international clothing chain Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) and the electronics chain Media World to open stores in Le Terrazze, an innovative shopping center that they are jointly developing in La Spezia, Italy.
H&M is one of Europe's leading clothing and accessories chains in terms of turnover and one of the best-known brands worldwide: founded in Sweden, the company operates with over 2,000 stores in 38 countries worldwide and enjoys a position of leadership in the pret à porter clothing market. Le Terrazze will host the chain's third store in Liguria, with an area of approximately 1,800 m² GLA.
The Media World store in Le Terrazze will be its second in the region and will cover an area of approximately 3,000 m² GLA. Media World is part of the German group Mediamarkt Saturn Holding GmbH, the leading consumer electronics chain in Europe and the second largest worldwide with 877 stores in 17 countries. In Italy, the group is present with 89 stores, located primarily in major shopping centers.
These two new agreements represent further confirmation of the value and quality of Le Terrazze project which, with a gross lettable area of 38,500 m², will be the largest shopping center in the province of La Spezia.
Besides Ipercoop who will be owner and manager of the hypermarket, many other brands have already signed agreements including: Tonic Fitness, Play Park Entertainment Centre, Scarpamondo, Cisalfa Sport, Den Store, Deichmann, Kiko, Yamamay, Nara Camicie, Game Stop, Salmoiraghi&Viganò, Motivi, Oltre, Fiorella Rubino, Swarovski, Z, Golden Point, Limoni, Celio, Abruzzese, Le Firme In, Mc Donald's, Rosso Sapore and Old Wild West. To date, 75% of the GLA (gross lettable area) has already been let.
Le Terrazze shopping center, whose opening is scheduled for the first quarter of 2012, is the first phase of a wider urban regeneration project, which includes further 100,000 m² of residential areas and offices to be developed by third party.
"We are confident that Le Terrazze project will represent an important achievement for the companies involved and, above all, for the city of La Spezia. The new shopping center, designed in compliance with the partners company's environmental concern, will become the largest in the Province and will strongly improve the offer of shopping and entertainment for La Spezia citizens," said Jerry Boschi, General Manager responsible for Sonae Sierra Developments in Italy.
"Both partners create innovative and sustainable developments in many European cities and we are proud to present the high quality of our offer and our high architectural, commercial and leisure standards to La Spezia city and province's citizens.
"The entering of H&M and Media World reflects the quality of our tenant mix, focused on bringing new and innovative brands to La Spezia and represents a very important step in the commercialization of the project," added Michele Latora, Country Manager of ING Real Estate Development in Italy.
Source: Sonae Sierra
