Press Release- April 7th 2003
Sonae Imobiliária wins a total of 5 awards
Plaza Mayor wins ICSC Award
The first project originally developed by Sonae imobiliária in Spain is distinguished for its quality and innovative concept
The International Council of Shopping Centres (ICSC) has distinguished the Plaza Mayor,
the first project originally developed by Sonae Imobiliária (SI) in Spain, with the award for Best Specialized Centre. This distinction was awarded during the ICSC's 29th European Convention, held in Budapest.
The ICSC Jury considered the Plaza Mayor, located in Malaga, a reference in the real estate sector under the Specialized Centres category, praising its quality and its concept's innovative character. This development represented an investment of €46,9 million and is
the first leisure centre in Andalusia with a gross lettable area superior to 33 thousand m2. Inaugurated on April 19th 2002, the Plaza Mayor has already recorded over 6 million visits.
Inspired by the region's traditional architecture, the Plaza Mayor recreates a typical Andalusia village with streets, squares, gardens and fountains, bringing together in one single site a diversified offer orientated towards leisure and spare times: cinemas, sports, bowling, restaurants, bares, disco, esplanades and shops.
Parallel to the ICSC Awards, the "ICSC Jean Louis Solal Marketing Awards" took place, which award the best Shopping Centre Marketing campaigns.
In this contest Sonae Imobiliária received the 1st prize in the "Business to Business" category, with SonaeShopping.net, a portal dedicated to communication and service providing to the shop tenants in the Shopping Centres. Sonae Imobiliária's Shopping and Leisure Centres were distinguished 3 times, with the Plaza Mayor winning in the "Opening, refurbishment or extension" category, with the campaign advertising the opening of the Centre. The Centro Colombo collected two Merit Awards in the "Consumer advertising campaign" and "Community relations", with the "In the Centre of my world" campaign and the "Lego Largest Bridge in the World" campaign, respectively.
To Álvaro Portela, President of Sonae Imobiliária "these awards enhance the quality and capacity of Sonae Imobiliária's Shopping and Leisure Centres, both in terms of Architecture, Design and Conception and in terms of Management and Marketing. It is also worth mentioning that this is the first time we have won awards concerning centres developed and managed outside Portugal, which reflects our international expansion".