Madrid-based Neinver to invest €80 million in a macro outlet in Greater Barcelona

Viladecans (ACN).- The Spanish company Neinver will invest €80 million to build a macro outlet in Viladecans, in Greater Barcelona and near El Prat Airport, as it was announced by the Catalan Ministry of Territory and Sustainability on Tuesday. The new retail outlet mall will create 1,000 new jobs and should open its doors in 2016. Neinver, which is based in Alcobendas (Greater Madrid), is Europe’s second largest company specialised in owning and managing outlet retail centres. The Spanish company has bought a plot of land of 25,000 square metres from the Catalan Government to build the macro shopping centre, which will be called ‘Viladecans The Style Outlets’. The land had been reserved since 2006 for the creation of a business hub for companies related to the aero-spatial and mobility sectors, but the project was finally aborted due to the economic crisis. Neinver’s outlet will have around 150 shops selling top brands at low prices. It is expected to attract not only locals but also many tourists, as La Roca Village already does. In fact, with the new outlet, Greater Barcelona will have two macro centres of this kind: La Roca Village located some 30km north of the Catalan capital, next to the AP-7 highway and the new Viladecans The Style Outlets, located less than 15km south of Barcelona, next to the C-32 highway and a short-distance train station. Furthermore, the new outlet will be built next to Desigual’s new logistics centre for the European market, which should start its activities by 2015. The details of the new outlet will be released on Thursday.

Neinver bought 25,000 square metres of land located between Viladecans, Gavà and the C-32 highway from Incasol, the Catalan Government’s Institute managing and owning plots of land to promote public housing, industrial areas or business projects. The space had a prvious agricultural use and requires development. However, the land was owned by the Catalan Government and reserved to host a business park for companies related to the aerospace and mobility sectors, which was to be called Delta BCN. The aero-spatial project was already begun to be discussed in 2003 but it was officially launched between 2006 and 2009. The initial aim was to create a business cluster for aero-spatial companies, located near the Barcelona El Prat Airport and the Castelldefels Campus of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), where aerospace engineering studies is taught. However, the economic crisis put the project on hold. Now, the difficult economic reality, with high unemployment rates and the Catalan Government’s difficult financial position,  further delayed the project until the land for Delta BCN was finally sold to build a macro outlet.