Buoyant over the success of its multi-utility commercial property projects City Centre-I (at Salt Lake) and City Centre-II (at Rajarhat), Ambuja Realty has now come up with its third City Centre, this time round at Siliguri, on the foothills of the picturesque of Darjeeling district. More importantly, it has lined up three more City Centres — all beyond Kolkata and in fact two of them are outside West Bengal.

Harshavardhan Neotia, chairman, Ambuja Realty, said that while City Centre at Siliguri has come up with a capital outlay of Rs 280 crore, the three other City Centres at Haldia, Raipur and Patna would involve an investment of close to Rs 550 crore. Patna City Centre will be ready by the end of the current year, Raipur City Centre will be ready by December 2011 and City Centre Haldia will be up and running by 2012, he said.

Ambuja Realty has already teamed up with leading chains and leading brands like Shoppers Stop, Spencer’s, Big Cinemas, Max Lifestyle, KFC, Hangout – the Food Court, Lilliput World, Planet Fashion, Subway, Crossword, Timezone, Adidas, Aawrun, Bata, Biba, Café Coffe Day, Gini & Jony, Converse, Golden Tips, Hoffmen, Jockey, John Players, Levi’s, L’oreal, Metro, Music World, Moustache, Nike, Peter England, Planet M, Prapti, Samsonite, Tea Junction, Success, Titan, Turtle, Wills Lifestyle, to mention a few. And Neotia’s enthusiasm stems from this.

“Some of them are coming for the first time while others are already there with the existing City Centres. Siliguri, by and large untapped, has tremendous potential as a retail hub. Siliguri is not just a major trading zone; it is also a gateway to the hills of Darjeeling, Sikkim and the Northeast. We are tapping all by offering this new plush retail platform,” he said.

Located in Uttarayon at the city’s Darjeeling Mor, City Centre Siliguri is spread on a sprawling 8 lakh sq ft are, incidentally is the biggest of all the City Centres (existing and upcoming ones). City Centre Salt Lake and City Centre New Town are spread across 3 lakh sq ft and 3.52 lakh sq ft, respectively. “In City Centre Siliguri, we have tried to create an offering that appeals to every aspiration and need of the residents in and around Siliguri. We sincerely hope that City Centre Siliguri with its entire bouquet of offering makes a positive difference to the lives of residents of Siliguri and beyond. We hope it will truly become a family destination,” said Neotia. The developers are in fact extremely bullish about the City Centre-Siliguri and Neotia hoped that it would generate overall business turnover of over Rs 300 crore in the first year itself.

The other advantage is that it is coming up at the entrance of ‘Uttorayan’, the 400-acre modern and integrated township developed by the group. City Centre Siliguri, the first phase of which will be thrown open in December, this year, will house departmental stores, a 4-screen cineplex with a seating capacity of 1,000, food courts, banqueting facilities, fine dining restaurants, gaming zone, kiosks, business centre with state-of-the-art office spaces and over 200 branded and unbranded shops.

“It will also boast of 75,000 sq ft of atrium lobby and an open air entertainment area called ‘Celebration Square’, which promises to be a perfect venue for get-togethers and hangouts. It will also be pulsating with regular events and promotions, designed and executed by our in-house dedicated division and is sure to cater to a large footfall,” said Neotia.

Spread over 10.5 acres, City Centre Siliguri will comprise the mall, office space and a five-star hotel. “While a large part of the mall will be opened in December, it will take another 12 months for the rest of the mall, the hotel and the office space to be fully functional,” said Neotia.

The new City Centre will be architecturally similar to the Salt Lake and New Town ones, which means it will also house AC and non-AC spaces, seamless connectivity and a hangout zone called Celebration Square inspired by the popular kund area.

“The structure may vary, but the philosophy of being a family destination providing wholesome entertainment remains the same,” said Neotia.

With an investment of Rs 200 crore, Ambuja Realty is eyeing an annual turnover of more than Rs 300 crore from City Centre Siliguri. The mall is likely to bring a number of international and national brands to the parched Siliguri shopper.

With Shoppers Stop to Subway, KFC to Big Cinemas set to open doors at City Centre Siliguri, it is positioning itself as the one-stop retail and entertainment destination. “We want both residents as well as tourists on their way to the hills to spend a few hours at City Centre Siliguri, eating, shopping and watching films,” said Neotia. Ambuja Realty will next have City Centre malls at Haldia, Raipur and Patna.