ABOUT THE LIVING LIFE IN COSTA RICA BLOG

I (Vicki Skinner - aka "THE Sarong Goddess") created this blog in 2007 to share DETAILED Finds•Lists•Info•Events•Experiences to help bring more EASE to people living in, visiting or thinking of moving to Costa Rica since DETAILS are NOT easy to find!
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Sunday, November 10, 2013

New MEGA MALL breaking grounds soon in Alajuela, Costa Rica (will be one of the largest malls in the world)



PLEASE tell me this is NOT true - that someone (obviously with WAYYYY TOOOO MUCH $$$ on their hands) is getting ready to break ground (Friday November 22 at 10:30am) on what will be one of THE LARGEST Malls in the WORLD - in Costa Rica - Alajuela specifically!!!!  (but alas - it IS TRUE)

It's reported that "CITY MALL" will be HUMONGOUS!!  I've seen anything from 170,000 (the developers site) to 185,000 square meters of construction (nearly 2 MILLION square feet - WAYYY larger than MultiPlaza in Escazu (like 5 TIMES larger!!) which is currently the largest mall in Costa Rica - located on "just" 5 hectars) making this MEGA-mall one of the largest malls in the world, according to a Wikipedia ranking - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_shopping_malls_in_the_world.

The developers website (Corporacion Lady Lee out of Honduras) - CorporacionLadyLee.com/index.php/es/city-mall/city-mall-costa-rica - says they will even have a mini AMUSEMENT PARK with a FERRIS WHEEL!!!  As well as a 10 theatre Cinemark Excess with 3 VIP theatres and the first theatre in Costa Rica to have a 4D screen (MultiPlaza has 8 so I'm surprised it's not that much bigger), 100% air-conditioned (the first mall in Costa Rica to be 100% air-conditioned), a 1,500 seat Food Court (wow - imagine all the new Americana fast food places that will open up on Costa Rica thanx to this!!!), a children's play area over 3,000 m2 of the renowned arcade franchise, and 2,400 parking spaces with a VERY UNIQUE system to help them find a parking space (Smart Parking, which allows visitors to learn where there are few available parking spaces and indicates the level where it's on. Also has five hits, three for the rear facade and two front facade, with an overpass across the road Francisco J. Orlich which will have a direct entrance to the mall).  Sounds like they will have a hotel as well (now THAT's a WISE thing to do - capture those departing the next day/just arrived people!!  They may not want to leave!!).

They're creating a unique design that gives you ease in finding your way back to where you started (novel concept!!).

Stores and restaurants that have committed so far:
ANCHOR STORES (on the ends): Aliss (6,000 m²), Universal (3,500 m²) and Carrion (3,000 m²).
MNG, Springfield and OVS (new Italian clothing brand to hit the country) recently joined the list of confirmed trades represented among others by Gap, Forever 21.

NEW IN COSTA RICA:  Shasa and Bebe - carry American brands of clothing and accessories for women.  Desigual is a manufacturer of garments for men and women originally from Barcelona with stores some 72 countries.  Top Sider's carries shoes for men, women, children and youth. Another Spanish store called Shana and English Mother Care also come for the first time to Costa Rica.

Restaurants like Chili's, La Fonda Azteca, Pizza Hut, etc.


"City Mall" is set to open October 30, 2015 (-ish - since this IS Costa Rica!)

Now, I don't know about you, but, just about everywhere I look around the world and SURELY in Costa Rica, it seems like OVERALL (of course there are exceptions) - there are some pretty heavy duty "fiscal challenges" going on for a BIG % of the WORLDS population and tourism is down BIG TIME and MANY ExPats are LEAVING Costa Rica (the #1 reason I'm hearing is because of how EXPENSIVE Costa Rica has gotten and lately MANY are leaving/are talking about leaving because Costa Rica is not seeming to want ExPats as they're making it more and more difficult for many TO be here - especially to do business here), and there are shopping centers opening up all over (have you seen Escazu lately??  I was gone for a few months the beginning of the year and I was SHOCKED at ALL the new little strip malls!!) - yet I'm seeing LOTS of stores and restaurants CLOSING.


WHERE IN ALAJUELA WILL IT BE?
It's going to be built NEXT to Juan SantaMaria/SJO International Airport.
Now the irony of it is it looks like a NEW INTERNATIONAL Airport is set to be built WAYYY over in Orotina by around 2026 (ok, so that's 13+++ years away but . . . ) - LivingLifeInCostaRica.blogspot.com/2013/11/NewAirport4CR.html.

I guess some people just have tooo much $$$ and they're not real into taking that $$ and doing GOOD for the masses.  Oh well (I just feel sorry for the businesses that THINK they're going to kick tush there and have access to LOTS of clients - if/when that does not happen)!!

SOURCES:  InsideCostaRica.com/2013/11/08/construction-begin-month-massive-new-mega-mall-alajuela

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