Place dArmes shopping center opens for business in Valenciennes (FR)

Inaugurated today, the Place dArmes shopping center will open for business in the heart of downtown Valenciennes on Wednesday, April 19, 2004 at 9:30 AM.

Chosen in 1997 by the city of Valenciennes to operate the shopping center, Ségécé, which is now Europes leading shopping center manager, began design work on this project in 1989. Ségécé also handles lease-up and management of the shopping center for Klépierre, its parent company, which owns the center.

The Place dArmes shopping center represents an investment for Klépierre of €51.8 million, and will generate €4.6 million in net lease income full year.

New retail anchors to strengthen the downtown area
Covering 16,000 square meters of GLA over two levels, the Place dArmes center offers shoppers 60 new retail outlets. The latest concepts of FNAC, H&M, the supermarket Match, Zara, Armand Thiery, Au bout du Quai (household goods), Séphora, Nature & Découvertes, Loisirs et Création, Grand Optical and 50 shops will enhance the appeal of the downtown area, located near a catchment area of 420,000 inhabitants.

Some 35 of the retail anchors selected by Place dArmes will be locating in Valenciennes for the first time, thereby gaining access to a rapidly expanding urban area.

Shopping center that measures up to the newly renovated Valenciennes
The Place dArmes shopping center is part of a broader urban transformation program undertaken by the city, known as Valenciennes 2007. It is the flagship project within the multi-purpose Coeur de Ville program, which also includes the construction of 140 residences, more than 1,800 square meters of office space and nearly 630 underground parking spaces located beneath the shopping center.

Located next to the town hall on the restored Place dArmes square, the shopping center will be accessible as of this summer by the first line of the newly rolled out tram system.

Designed by the architectural firm Alluin & Mauduit, the two-level shopping center integrates materials that have great cultural significance for Valenciennes: brick and metal, the symbol of industrialization and the department stores built in the 19th century. A large glass canopy signals the principal entrance on the Place dArmes square.

Source: Klepierre

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