ZENIA BOULEVARD TO CREATE 1800 JOBS

On Friday morning the Mayor of Orihuela, Monica Lorente, and the Director General of Immochan Spain, Valentín Serrano, laid the first stone at the new shopping mall Boulevard Zenia (Orihuela Costa), which will open its doors in November 2012 creating 1,800 direct and approximately 3,000 indirect jobs in the region.

The introduction of this modern centre will lead to an investment of more than 185 milion and authorities are absolutely delighted that it will prove to be a real commitment to job creation.

The centre will accomodate 150 shops and there will be over 5000 parking spaces available, half of which will be underground. Most importantly, the mall will also have excellent visibility from the motorway AP-7.

Of the 180,000 m2 to be built, 80,000 m2 will be lettable and despite the economic climate the centre has already attracted a large number of household names. National and International chains that have already confirmed space are Alcampo, Leroy Merlin, Decathlon, Norauto, Worten, Primark, Zara Inditex Group and C & A.

Zenia Boulevard will be a comfortable open plan centre full of shopping and leisure facilities. The design will be sympathetic to the local area blending open spaces both indoors and out.
The center has also set ambitious goals for sustainability and it will be a center completely committed to the environment.

Developers Immochan are a commercial real estate company within the Auchan Group. The company operates in 11 countries with 312 shopping centers and nearly 2 million square metres. In Spain, it already manages 30 shopping centres spread across the entire country..

Monica Lorente, the Mayor of Orihuela, expressed her joy at the new Project. She said "This is an opportunity for our región. It is a project that will bring employment to many of our citizens, which is an important priority for us all, and it will house space for businesses and many local traders local so we can all once again look to the future".

Lorente applauded the private initiative which is an important landmark in the development of the Orihuela Costa

"We are privileged because a large multinational company has decided that we are a good location wher they can develop an exciting centre that will feature many the best retail companies in Europe, selling the very best brands. When companies such as the Auchan Group decide that such initiatives are worthwhile they give us all hope for the future.

It is now up to us all to make sure that their faith is well founded. We are all so immensely grateful."