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Plaza Las Américas starts $12M improvement project

Plaza Lás Americas announced Tuesday the start of a $12 million renovation project that includes improvements to the Hato Rey mall’s exterior, a new, wider entrance and 300 additional parking spaces. Work begins this week and should wrap up by November, in time for the busy holiday shopping season.

“An integral element of Plaza’s success since its inception is that we are reinventing ourselves all the time and under ongoing improvement to respond effectively to the changing needs of our customers and the latest trends in the industry,” said the mall’s General Manager Franklin Domenech.

The improvement project entails: expanding and redesigning the mall’s east entrance, between First Bank and BBVA, facing the Las Américas highway and adding a new and wider three-lane access area; expanding the multi-level parking facility facing Roosevelt Ave. to add 300 new spaces; repaving all parking areas; and new landscaping for the mall’s main gated entrance.

The east entrance of the mall, in front of BBVA and FirstBank will be expanded forward, closer to the Chardon Avenue entrance, to make room for a new canopy roof with room for three lanes of cars, an upgrade from the current two-lane access that is shared by taxis and valet parking service. The design allows the possibility of adding two new businesses, if necessary, in the future, Domenech said.

The east entrance of the mall, in front of BBVA and FirstBank will be expanded forward, closer to the Chardon Avenue entrance.

“Vehicular traffic will be able to flow more easily with these changes that will more effectively meet the needs of the traffic that visits us, pickup and delivery of taxi passengers and the pickup and delivery of cars at the valet station,” said Domenech.

Later in the summer, Plaza will begin expanding the multi-story parking located in the southern area of the mall, on the corner opposite the area where Borders was formerly located. The extension calls for extending the parking facility’s five levels to add more than 300 parking spaces.

“To make way for these projects, we will be temporarily relocating the taxi stop to the front of the Banco Santander entrance and the valet station to the east entrance of the Sears store, next to Ponderosa,” said Domenech.

“Throughout this process we will be enabling temporary access for both vehicles and customers and employees, so that the regular operation of the mall and its stores continues as usual so that in November we can all enjoy a renovated and more comfortable Plaza,” he said.

Author Details
Author Details
Business reporter with 30 years of experience writing for weekly and daily newspapers, as well as trade publications in Puerto Rico. My list of former employers includes Caribbean Business, The San Juan Star, and the Puerto Rico Daily Sun, among others. My areas of expertise include telecommunications, technology, retail, agriculture, tourism, banking and most other segments of Puerto Rico’s economy.
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