The mixed-use development known as Antea Lifestyle Center broke ground in 2011 north of Queretaro near Juriquilla. It is quite an endeavor and will be the largest mall in Mexico and second largest in Latin America when completed the end of 2014.
The developers are Grupo Sordo Madaleno. I know nothing about this group but I'm sure they are similar to Hines Interests who developed The Galleria in Houston and then other locations around the world. Ironically, Hines has a major commercial park in the Queretaro area, not far from this new development.
I was involved in designing a couple of mixed use developments in Jacksonville, Florida. It is definitely the wave of the future. The one I worked on was a marina, condo housing, a 63 story highrise, a boutique grocery store, beauty salon, etc etc etc. The project was called Berkman Plaza. After completion, it was sold for a hefty profit, I don't know if it is still called by that name.
The good news about this mixed-use development is that it will bring 2000 direct jobs and 10,000 indirect jobs to the area.
Included in the development will be close to 160 stores, most high end. Also 4000 apartments, 2 hotels, office space, and a hospital, just to name a few. It is a 10 year project. The first phase opened in November 2013 with some shops and a couple of fast food restaurants.
Some of the stores that will be in the mall are Prada, Liverpool, Lacoste, Armani, Chanel, Zara, Sears, Dolce and Gabbana, Burberry, H&M, Hollister, Versace, Calvin Klein, Converse and Banana Republic.
Something for everyone. Sears in Mexico is equal to a Dillard's. Much more high end then in the USA. The above list is projected to all be open by the end of 2014.
It is located about 30 minutes from San Miguel de Allende and 15 minutes from the centro of Queretaro.
I've also been told that a huge Walmart Center will open across the freeway from Antea. Truly something for everyone, in all price ranges.
Yesterday our Koffee Klatch group was talking about the new center. We were hoping that Wendy's and Target would come to Mexico as well. In Queretaro there is already Domino's, IHOP, Applebee's, Chili's,
Burger King, McDonald's, KFC, Dairy Queen, Walmart, Home Depot and Office Depot! There are probably more American chains that I don't even know about. These are the ones I've heard about.
In the "Olden Days", like thirteen years ago, we all went to Queretaro to shop at Costco, Walmart, Alladino's and Sam's because the grocery shopping in San Miguel was atrocious. Our typical day was to do our grocery shopping, go to Chili's and then go to a movie. We didn't have a decent movie theater here in San Miguel either. Now we do, along with good restaurants.
In fact, I haven't been to Queretaro, which is 45 minutes away, in about two or three years. I will, however, go to see the new Antea Lifestyle Center, some day.........If you wish to see the interesting architecture of this new development, just type in Antea Lifestyle Center in your Search Engine and choose from the many websites or watch the You Tube video.
Mexico is growing and changing, as I write!
24 comments:
It is, indeed. I am delivering a short history of Mexico Thursday of next week. This bit of news will fit right in.
" A short history of Mexico", to who?
Interesting........
It's a pity that the City of Querétaro doesn't try to make one of its existing, beautiful plazas into someplace that those high end stores want to occupy. I rather doubt that center will show up on any UNESCO World Heritage Site Lists any time soon.
Saludos,
Kim G
MSP, MN
Where we are about to board a plane that hopefully can fly.
Kim, this development covers acres and acres. It will cause ancillary businesses to enter the area and we help development north of the city where it is not as crowded. I think it's a good thing. Not everything needs to be a UN World Heritage site....
Hopefully, hopefully you make it to Boston today!
How sad it is that you San Miguelenses are so deprived, having to drive miles for shopping, while we in Morelia are just minutes from Paseo Altozano. We think of you every week when we gather for coffee at Starbucks. May you get lucky soon and get your Sanborns.
I'm impressed. I'll have to visit it when I'm in SM. https://www.facebook.com/ANTEALifeStyle Brrr, still in Boston. Sharon
I just don't know why you are so happy to see American Corporate chain store businesses in Mexico. They are so cookie-cutter. I went to Santa Barabara, CA last year and their whole main drag is now one corporate store after another. Not one privately conceived and owned business except, if you searched, you could maybe find a real restaurant. Boring. Boring. Boring.
You forgot to mention that the new Antea "lifestyle" center is NOT an enclosed "mall" like we're used to, but open to the elements, and the day we visited it last week was a cold one, and we froze our you-know-whatsis off. But it IS big....
Have to agree with Christine on this one. Not a mall fan.
Jennifer, hopefully the new Antea isn't dependent on me for revenue. I'm not a shopper but I do think it will be well received by those who are. DF'ers pack Liverpool here every weekend. I've only been in there twice.
I'll make a trek over there, sooner or later to see the architecture more then anything.
Sharon, it's not too far but just far enough not to add to our traffic situation in San Miguel. TRY to stay warm in Boston, as I try to stay warm in San Miguel......
Christine, it will be nice, IF I want to shop, to be able to go to one place to find something, something as simple as bedding or things like that. When you live outside the USA, you would be surprised how many things you can't find in Mexico! It can be quite frustrating.....from time to time.
Ron, I did see the layout on the website. That's why I suggested others go to them to see all of the proposed layout.
I do like the layout of our little mall here. I think they did a great job architecturally. The new big one looks very interesting.
Just think of how much money they save by not having an enclosed mall!
Calypso, me either, but it is a new and exciting development for Mexico, especially with the amount of jobs it will provide.
I sure hope those crap US chains you mentioned do not go there. Taco Bell tried in Mexico City in the 90's and didn't last a year.
Tom, many of those companies are French and Italian as they have a close connection to Mexico. Hollister and Converse are made in the San Miguel area as well as some of the others, I'm not surprised to see them.
I've learned you can't stop what the people want.
HEB is in Monterrey and Delores Hidalgo - they sell Blue Bell. It makes us Texans happy......
BTW, when I refer to "the people" in my last comment, I"m NOT referring to ex-pats, but to Mexican Nationals who love all these companies, especially the high end ones!
I had heard that it's another Carlos Slim project, but then aren't they all? The WalMart across the street has been open for some time and I believe there is also a Sirloin Stockade in Queretaro. There is also one in Morelia and Guadalajara. Mexico is changing!
Shannon, as far as I can determine, Carlos Slim is not involved. This would be small potatoes for him.
However, he does own the Sears franchise in Mexico. AT least at one point he did. Not sure about now.
I'm looking forward to the experience as I doubt you have to shop to appreciate the architecture!
It's not that I object to malls, per se. It's just that in the USA, 60 years ago, malls started to suck the life out of old downtowns. People and traffic migrated out, and the center died. Atlanta is a great example of that, but there are plenty of others. Now, downtown Atlanta, nice enough, was never nice enough to be a World Heritage Site.
But what happens to a place like Querétaro if all the life drains out of the city center?
I truly don't think that a lot of Mexicans really appreciate the cultural heritage they have in their old cities. The country is so rich in such things that it's easy to be blasé, especially if you haven't lived in an American suburb where all the stores and restaurants are exactly the same as in every other American suburb.
So that's my worry. It's not that I want to deprive Mexicans of convenient places to buy bath towels. I'd just like to see them work harder to preserve the economic vitality of the Centros Historicos and if they can do that, they will ensure their relevance.
And a lot of high-end stores don't require lot of square footage, so they are especially appropriate to locate in a city center. Think Tiffany, Coach, Pottery Barn, Hermes, Burbury, etc. None of them need more than a 10,000 square foot store, and most could probably get by with something smaller. That footprint would fit very nicely into the existing city center in Querétaro. And the shoppers they would attract would do a lot for the rest of the area.
Now if they're parking their BMWs fifteen miles away, what happens to the pesos they might have spent downtown?
Saludos,
Kim G
Boston, MA
Where we got home Tuesday night, largely without incident. There's hardly any snow here.
I totally disagree with you that Mexicans don't appreciate the heritage of their cities and towns. I"m absolutely astounded at the amount of people that come to the Centro Historico in San Miguel every single weekend, not to shop, but to spend time walking, eating, visiting all the churches and museums. WAY more then the tourists from America and other places. San Miguel, for example was named a Mexican Historical Place in 1938, long before any ex-pats were ever here. The malls won't suck the breath out of downtown Queretaro. The one we have in San Miguel certainly hasn't. Each has its place. IMHO, with the heritage of the buildings, having all that traffic and people in the historic areas would affect the quality of life not only for the people but for the buildings themselves.
Everything can't be crammed into one place, IMHO. Glad you're home safe and sound.
My concern, if the high-end stores went in to the centro historico, is this. Those stores can pay so much more rent, they would soon drive out the local tenants. If only you could walk down the main street of Santa Barabara you would see what I mean. There are NO locally owned stores. All high end corporate. One thing I recall about San Miguel were many interesting shops selling locally made items...
Christine, franchises cannot come into the Centro Historico by law.
McD wanted to come in on Canal st. and there was a hue and cry, mostly from ex-pats.......
I don't know about other cities Centro Historico. I saw Burger King and others like that in Centro Historico in Merida and other places.
I guess its up to the local governments.
Somehow Starbucks DID slip in and when I go by there 90% of the people in there are Mexican nationals.
I couldn't agree more. It's like all this expats are trying to get all the "commodities" from back home to make their lives more enjoyable. Might as well just move to California. At the same time I'm not opposed to economic development in the area at all.
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