Above: a rendering of the Mall of San Juan

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Puerto Rico Governor Luis Fortuño and San Juan Mayor Jorge Santini laid the foundation stone this week on the new Mall of San Juan luxury retail centre project.

The facility includes a $405 million private investment, and could create about 5,000 jobs, including 2,000 in the construction phase.

It is set to open its doors in 2014.

The two-level project will include a Nordstrom and a Saks Fifth Avenue, along with other famous brands such as Blue Martini and the Cheesecake Factory. The Nordstrom and Saks will be the first of each in the Caribbean.

It is the brainchild of Taubman Centers and New Century Development.

“These stores not only represent the expansion in the supply of high-quality products on the island, but they are a tourist attraction that will result in increased investment in our economy,” Fortuño said.

Fortuño said Puerto Rico’s commercial sector had seen a 2.2 percent increase in retail sales in the first half of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011.