A 6-billion-peso (US $321-million), 90,000-square-meter shopping and lifestyle complex featuring a family entertainment center bearing the National Geographic insignia will open in November in Metepec, México state.

Developed by Thor Urbana, one of Mexico’s leading real estate investment and development companies, Town Square Metepec will feature a variety of stores, multiple restaurants and a range of entertainment options.

Thor partnered with the international family entertainment and media company iP2Entertainment to bring National Geographic Ultimate Explorer (NGUX) into the project.

“We’re very proud of being the first location of the new National Geographic Ultimate Explorer center in Mexico,” Thor Urbana co-CEO Jimmy Arakanji said in a statement.

Across floor space exceeding 2,000 square meters, the NGUX center will offer “amazing” experiences to visitors such as traveling into space or to the depths of the oceans, the company said, adding that it will inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, astronauts, biologist and oceanographers.

“. . . We’re betting strongly on the local market and we know that Mexicans will continue to look for different recreational places to have unique experiences,” Arakanji said.

“Without a doubt, this will widen our entertainment offerings and it changes the way cities are planned and the way that we build real estate projects in our country.”

Construction of the center, around 10 kilometers southeast of the state capital Toluca, began 26 months ago and has generated 2,800 jobs.

Enrique Morán, Thor’s marketing and public relations director, said the company expects 1.5 million people to visit the new complex annually.

Town Square Metepec was designed by Boston-based architectural firm Elkus Manfredi, which has also designed a number of well-known shopping centers in the United States including Americana at Brand in Glendale, California, The Grove in Los Angeles and CityPlace in Palm Beach, Florida.

Source: El Sol de Toluca (sp)