Trafford Centre España,Trafford Centre for Torremolinos
Peel Holdings, the property and investment giant, is set to take its Trafford Centre shopping mall international with a £500m scheme on the Costa del Sol.
After years of planning and negotiations with the Spanish authorities, Trafford Centre España has been given the green light. The development, being led by Lindsey Ashworth, one of Peel founder John Whittaker's key lieutenants, will take place on a 80-acre site in Torremolinos. With planning permission granted, the next stage for Peel will be to raise the cash for the development - which should not pose too many problems, given the outstanding success of the original Trafford Centre, which attracts more than 30 million visitors a year. Construction should begin early 2009 and will take around two years. Trafford Centre España will follow the original closely - it will offer around one million sq ft of retail, entertainment and leisure space, anchored by department stores and a cinema. It will also feature a similar style of architecture. In recognition of its location on the popular Costa de Sol, the development will also include a five-star hotel and, eventually, some luxury apartments. Mr Ashworth said Trafford Centre España would have `universal' appeal, and would not be purely focused at the large ex-pat community on the Costa del Sol, or to visiting tourists. He explained how the development came about: "John bought the land in the 1980s. The original site was 40 acres. We tried to get the scheme through planning, but had no success. About five years ago, we teamed up with adjoining landowners, who shared our aspirations.
"While there will obviously be a flavour of the original Trafford Centre, the major difference is, because it's in a warm climate, it can be outward-facing. Bars and restaurants will have terracing and some will be built around a lake."
Mr Ashworth said the site was superbly located, 10 minutes from Malaga and half an hour away from Marbella, where Mr Whittaker has a home.
"Like the original, Trafford Centre España has got excellent connectivity - a new motorway is being built right outside it," said Mr Ashworth.
"It will be aimed at everybody - local people and tourists.
"When we started, the new motorway extension was not even proposed, so time has been very kind to us.
"There's nothing like this in Spain - the nearest thing to what we have here is Xanadu in Madrid, and it's nowhere near as nice.
"There is a huge market out there and people like to shop in a pleasant environment and that is what we will provide."
He said there had been cynicism over whether the Trafford Centre - which celebrates its 10th birthday this autumn - would work.
"We proved people wrong when they said it would fail because it was too near Manchester. We all thought it would do well, but I think it has exceeded all our expectations."
Peel, which owns Liverpool John Lennon Airport, the Manchester Ship Canal and a number of other key property assets in the UK, already owns some property overseas, principally in Bermuda and Barbados. Trafford Centre España is the first large-scale, mixed use international development that Peel has begun.
After years of planning and negotiations with the Spanish authorities, Trafford Centre España has been given the green light. The development, being led by Lindsey Ashworth, one of Peel founder John Whittaker's key lieutenants, will take place on a 80-acre site in Torremolinos. With planning permission granted, the next stage for Peel will be to raise the cash for the development - which should not pose too many problems, given the outstanding success of the original Trafford Centre, which attracts more than 30 million visitors a year. Construction should begin early 2009 and will take around two years. Trafford Centre España will follow the original closely - it will offer around one million sq ft of retail, entertainment and leisure space, anchored by department stores and a cinema. It will also feature a similar style of architecture. In recognition of its location on the popular Costa de Sol, the development will also include a five-star hotel and, eventually, some luxury apartments. Mr Ashworth said Trafford Centre España would have `universal' appeal, and would not be purely focused at the large ex-pat community on the Costa del Sol, or to visiting tourists. He explained how the development came about: "John bought the land in the 1980s. The original site was 40 acres. We tried to get the scheme through planning, but had no success. About five years ago, we teamed up with adjoining landowners, who shared our aspirations.
"While there will obviously be a flavour of the original Trafford Centre, the major difference is, because it's in a warm climate, it can be outward-facing. Bars and restaurants will have terracing and some will be built around a lake."
Mr Ashworth said the site was superbly located, 10 minutes from Malaga and half an hour away from Marbella, where Mr Whittaker has a home.
"Like the original, Trafford Centre España has got excellent connectivity - a new motorway is being built right outside it," said Mr Ashworth.
"It will be aimed at everybody - local people and tourists.
"When we started, the new motorway extension was not even proposed, so time has been very kind to us.
"There's nothing like this in Spain - the nearest thing to what we have here is Xanadu in Madrid, and it's nowhere near as nice.
"There is a huge market out there and people like to shop in a pleasant environment and that is what we will provide."
He said there had been cynicism over whether the Trafford Centre - which celebrates its 10th birthday this autumn - would work.
"We proved people wrong when they said it would fail because it was too near Manchester. We all thought it would do well, but I think it has exceeded all our expectations."
Peel, which owns Liverpool John Lennon Airport, the Manchester Ship Canal and a number of other key property assets in the UK, already owns some property overseas, principally in Bermuda and Barbados. Trafford Centre España is the first large-scale, mixed use international development that Peel has begun.
It may bring jobs and revenue to the area, but what effect will it have on the small businesses in the town centre? And what about the environmental impact on the land that is currently undeveloped?
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