Forum Coimbra opens its doors on the 26th of April, with 48,000 m² of shops, restaurants, leisure and cultural facilities that will bring new life to the left bank of the river Mondego. Forum Coimbra is developed by Multi Development Portugal. Owner is ING Real Estate.
The project
Situated on the east slope of the Planalto de Santa Clara with splendid views of the whole city, Forum Coimbra opens with all its 146 shops fully let, including some brands coming to Coimbra for the first time such as FNAC and H&M (Hennes&Mauritz) and large shopping and leisure facilities such as a Carrefour hypermarket (18,000 m²), Zara, C&A, Rádio Popular, Norauto and a 6-screen Lusomundo cinema (with 1,500 seats).
Its gross leasable area of 48,000 m² also includes 28 food outlets offering a wide range of international and traditional Portugues food, with a shared seating area (700 seats) and terraces overlooking the river and the city. All these facilities are supported by 6 car parks offering 2550 underground and 330 open air parking spaces, but many other infrastructures have been installed to make Forum Coimbra a comfortable place where visitors will find everything they need to feel at home.
These include fixed Internet access points and Wi-Fi connections; a Kids Zone a play area where children can be left while their parents do the shopping -; and all the necessary facilities for children and babies: identity bracelets for greater security, baby rooms where parents can change and feed their children (on all floors), high chairs enabling toddlers to eat at table with their parents and pushchairs so that babies can be taken shopping. Wheelchairs are also available.
More jobs and investment for the cityForum Coimbra has involved an investment of €130 million underwritten by the ING Real Estate investment fund which acquired the project at the construction stage and is now managed by Multi Mall Management, the company that manages shopping centres developed by Multi Development: Forum Aveiro, Armazéns do Chiado, Forum Algarve, Parque Mondego, Almada Forum, Forum Montijo, Forum Madeira and Forum Viseu.
Like all these centres, the new Forum will have direct effects in terms of increased employment, countering the decline of retailing, attracting new visitors to the city, and on the improved infrastructure, aspects that confirm its role as an engine for the development of the city and the Planalto de Santa Clara.
The project will create 1,500 direct jobs and 3,000 indirect jobs, and 34 local businesses traditional retailing or franchises are reinforcing their investment in the city through their presence in Forum Coimbra, occupying around 23% of the total shop area.
The Forum Coimbras catchment area covers some 345,000 people living less than 30 minutes away by car, who will now have new reasons to visit the city. Also enhancing the transformation of the left bank of the river Mondego into a new focal point in Coimbra are the new public infrastructures.
A modern, functional space carefully set in a historic cityThe concept was developed by T+T Design and architects are Broadway Malayan. With Forum Coimbra they have created a modern, functional and comfortable place characterised by distinct, original spaces but perfectly in harmony with a city that respects its history and architecture. Forum Coimbra is designed around three spacious plazas set in a triangle and connected by malls. Each of the plazas has a different geometry circular, square and rectangular and rises to the skylights set in the roof, flooding all the floors and even the underground car park with natural light.
Source: Multi Development
