Opening of Mall of Russia postponed

2010-01-25

The Russian developer AFI Development has postponed the opening of the Mall of Russia shopping centre in the Moscow City business zone by a few months – instead of July it will now open in September or October 2010.
The company cited two reasons for the delay. The first is that the seasonal lull observed in July would not be conducive to opening the centre during this period. The other reason is the increased amount of work which the developer would need to complete after a preliminary agreement with Moscow Council to take over the city’s 25% stake in Mall of Russia in exchange for assuming responsibility for the completion of public infrastructure work adjacent to the project.
The Mall of Russia covers 179,423 m² in total (its leasable area is 114,213 m²) and is supposed to be the largest shopping and entertainment complexes in the centre of Moscow. It will house over 350 stores, a multiplex cinema, an indoor skating rink, more then 50 restaurants and cafes and a concert hall for 6,000 people.