Product of an estimated investment of 2.5 billion pesos, La Isla Mérida, a novel concept of the Gicsa Group, celebrated its official inauguration on January 24th. During the next two days the mall will continue to celebrate: with the presence of the artists Juanpa Zurita and Carlos Rivera on Friday Jan 25, and an air show and a closing ceremony in its characteristic lake on Saturday Jan 26.
The largest malltertainment created by Gicsa consists of 170,000 square meters of development, where 150 businesses are located which created 2 thousand direct jobs on its first stage.
The CEO of Grupo Gicsa, Abraham Cababie Daniel, pointed out that the concept of malltertainment is unique. It means a space where “everything is offered”: from the possibility of buying clothes or food to different types of entertainment such as movies, ski, go-karts, ballooning, etc.
Currently the company contemplates 16 similar projects, although the one in Mérida, the largest of all, is the only one with a slope and an island.
The municipal president of Mérida, Renán Barrera Concha, pointed out that it was during his previous administration that the mega-project came to his attention in the first place, which he highlighted as something never before seen in terms of size and investment for the city. “This is like Disneyland,” was the first impression he had of the work.
The mayor said: “Here we are today, inaugurating a shopping center with an investment equivalent to 66 percent of the budget for the city of Mérida in one year. We congratulate Gicsa Group, and we appreciate their confidence in the capital of Yucatán.”
Renán Barrera stated that Mérida is “going in the right direction”. This is reflected in the 2 billion dollars that the city had in economic impact last year, as well as in projects like the one in La Isla, which show the trust of investors in the “White City’s” high level of legal certainty and security.
In the same sense, the head of the Ministry of Economic Development and Labor of Yucatan, Ernesto Herrera Novelo, declared that the whole state is in a process of transformation, in which investment both foreign and domestic has increased considerably.
As he explained, 37.9 percent more foreign investment is currently registered than in recent years, and the national investment doubles that percentage.
Mario Martín, general director of operations of Grupo Gicsa, described that during the month of December 2018 500 thousand people went to the complex. Each one of them left an economic spill average of 320 pesos, resulting in a 160 million pesos economic impact.
Herrera Novelo also noted that most visitors to La Isla arrive by car, however, he mentioned that the public transportation route to reach the shopping center is not very efficient, which is why talks are held with the municipal president and with the state development director to launch a new bus route.
Finally, Abraham Cababie stressed that Mérida was chosen as the site for his biggest project due to security, the geographical conditions and the good quality of life.
The concept of La Isla is not easy to replicate. It takes an extensive space and a lake large enough to carry out aquatic activities. La Isla Mérida artificial lake is approximately 48 thousand square meters.
“In Merida, the proposal of commercial and entertainment offer is dispersed and small sized, and La Isla comes to provide the people a space where they can go shopping, dinning and enjoying an artistic or sports event, all in one single place; the state capital of Yucatan has been ratified by international companies as one of the cities with the best quality of life not only in Mexico, but around the world”, Abraham Cababie concluded.
TYT Newsroom with information from yucatanalamano.com
