Future shopping and leisure center 8ª Avenida, owned and developed by Sonae Sierra in the city of S. João da Madeira, Portugal, has been presented to the public on Wednesday February 7, 2007.
Under construction since April 2006, and scheduled to be inaugurated next Fall, this innovative development, the result of the expansion of the Modelo Shopping Centre, built in 1993, represents an investment of €48,6 million, and will be a valuable step towards the modernization of the shopping and leisure offer in the S. João da Madeira region, where there is no other similar development.
With a GLA of 32.085 m², 8ª Avenida will make available a complete and diversified offer, in a total of 117 shops, including the 13 that pre-existed in the current Modelo Shopping Centre. There will be 12 large shops, including a Modelo supermarket, 5 Castelo Lopes cinemas, as well as SportZone, Worten, Modalfa and C&A.
The offer is complete with 14 restaurants and 91 shops, which will host a large group of prestigious brands, namely Bershka, Stradivarius, Pull&Bear, Kiddy's Class, Springfield, Woman's Secret, Lanidor, Zippy, Livraria Bertrand, and Multiopticas, among others.
Built on a 27.620 m² site, the new shopping and leisure center is located on one of the most important avenues of S. João da Madeira, Avenida Renato Araújo, and has several access roads, including the E-1 (by way of EN227) and the IC1 (by way of EN227), besides the A1 and the IC2, two of the main roads in the country's northern region. The new Shopping and Leisure Centre will have a free parking lot with 1.700 spaces.
Located in a region with a catchment area of about 300.000 inhabitants no more than 20 minutes away, 8ª Avenida will serve an even more numerous population, since it will attract clients from surrounding areas that integrate an industrial pole, thus with a population expected to increase in the coming years. 5,7 million visits per year, and estimated sales of about 50 million in the first year of operation are expected, excluding supermarket sales.
This development should generate, once it's open to the public, a total of 1000 new jobs. The architectural theme of this new shopping and leisure center, by the Sonae Sierra team lead by architect José Quintela, and by Laguarda.Low, is based on S. João da Madeira's regional codes the fashion industry, thus establishing an emotional bond with the local community.
Safety and environmental quality
Like every shopping and leisure center developed by Sonae Sierra, the 8ª Avenida was designed and is being built according to the company's Environmental Management System, so as to comply with the most rigorous and demanding quality standards imposed by the company for all of its developments, namely in terms of comfort, safety, and environmental protection.
Therefore, this new centre will feature the most sophisticated solution in areas such as the separation and treatment of waste, or the monitoring of water and air quality. The energy management and savings system is fully computerized (BMS Building Management System).
In terms of safety, 8ª Avenida will also benefit for the most modern support systems, such as the automatic fire detection system (SADI), the closed circuit television surveillance system (CCTV), the automatic intruder alert system (SAI), the portable fire-fighting system (RIA), or the access control system.
Source: Sonae Sierra
