The new Alto Palermo.
After the pandemic hit, which kept shopping malls closed for eight months, the shopping centers were reorganized to reclaim the land. With more investment, new stores and more gourmet proposals, the arrival of clients is growing, but they are still 10% below the maximum visitors they reached before the advent of Covid-19.
IRSA, the owner of major shopping malls in the country, began reconversion of shopping centers in 2020, withAlcorta and DOT renewal.
Now it’s the turn of company flagshipAlto Palermo, the mall that attracts 20,000 visitors daily.
Five years ago, IRSA bought the building next to the mall with plans to expand the mall. Work stopped for a few months due to the pandemic, but it was reactivated at the end of 2020 and now they plan to inaugurate the new spaces by the end of June.
The expansion includes nearly 5,000 new square meters and own investment of US $ 25 million, including US $ 20 million deposited by tenants.
“After buying an adjacent building, we started designing the new Alto Palermo, which includes the replacement of the traditional food court with a new gastronomic concept”, Said Arnaldo Jawerbaum, director of operations of IRSA. “There the locals added a variety of items. The idea is that our malls are places where you do ‘everything’: shopping, entertainment, food, etc.”.
The mall expands in width and height, with a total of a new level developed where previously there was only a closed dome. In that space they will set up a kind of gastronomic market with 14 locations to offer a variety of proposals.
The new gourmet offer will be called BASE and will be managed by the same economic group that manages Mercat de Villa Crespo and Caballito, for which IRSA has sealed a contract that will last more than three years.
The BASE proposal focuses on offering “cooking by ingredients”: each location specializes in one meal. So there will be someone offering potatoes, one who specializes in fish, another in rice, along with various proposals.
BASE will have 1,800 square meters, including an outdoor terrace, with beer bar and cocktail bar. On weekends it is open until three in the morning.
Only in the current food court will there be three brands of hamburgers: the current Mc Donald’s and Mostaza and another. The remaining space is occupied by four proposals for clothing and other items, including Cuk, which sells decoration products and chic bazaar. On the middle floor continues the current KFC and Wendy’s.
In addition, shopping increases new brands including Puma, with more than 400 square meters, and Adidas with a “concept store” of more than 600 meters. The renovation includes a mural on Arenales street that will be directed by artist Martín Ron.
“This work in Alto Palermo is part of the necessary restructuring of the sector. We have already integrated innovative measures in almost all of our shopping centers, and we will continue to do so ”, added Jawerbaum.
In Alcorta they added two new gastronomic offerings: the Selvatica and Arriba restaurants. And they also include a Volvo dealership.
At the DOT they reorganized the massive space left after the departure of Wal Mart and Falabella. Part of the footage occupied by the North American supermarket chain is used by Santander and also has a medical center and 5-a-side soccer field, among other measures. To the space occupied by Falabella, they added decor stores such as Patagonia Flooring and Fontenla.
The DOT also has a car dealership, the Kavak, which allows visitors to buy and sell used cars from the mall.
Although attendance is still 10% lower than pre-pandemic, the occupancy of the area is very high, there is almost no space for vacancies beyond the temporary closure for jobs. In the pandemic, 10% of the areas of various shopping malls were empty.
The renovation of Alto Palermo still has some future projects. Last year IRSA bought $ 20 million the Berutti and Coronel Díaz buildings, where the Civil Registry now operates.
Eduardo Elsztain’s company still hasn’t made many of its plans for that building. But they clarified that they were long -term: in the purchase contract that was established the City Government has the right to use the building – without paying rent – until the spring of 2025.
AQ
Source: Clarin
