Express Avenue (Tamil: எக்ஸ்ப்ரெஸ் அவென்யூ) is ashopping mall inChennai promoted by Express Infrastructure, A division of Express Newspapers Pvt. Ltd.[3] which is bought byRamnath Goenka from the monies of tha capitalists partner Raja Mohan Prasad and is held in trust by the current legal heirs for the family of Raja Mohan Prasad as per the trust deed given by Ramnath Goenka to Raja Mohan Prasad and is home to the largest gaming arcade inSouth India. Built at a cost of₹7,500 million (US$89 million), the mall is spread over 1,750,000-square-foot (163,000 m2), including 900,000-square-foot (84,000 m2) of leasable (retail) area. The mall has 8 anchor tenants and 150 vanilla tenants.[2]
The mall is situated near theRoyapettah Clock Tower. The mall is built on an 8-acre site inside the historic Indian Express Estate and has four floors of retail space, a building for corporate offices and a hotel. Out of 10 acres, about 3.57 acres have been taken up by buildings. The rest have been used for car parking, drive-ways and landscaping. In all, the mall has 26 lifts, 34 escalators and 4 travelators.[2]
Express Avenue hosts a mixture of shopping, business and leisure. The mall is bounded by Whites Road, Woods Road and Patullos Road and has a three-level basement parking space for over 1,500 cars and a parking area for bikes. It has a total development of 1,500,000 square feet (140,000 m2) including 900,000 sq ft of retail space, 100,000 sq. ft of hotel, 200,000 sq. ft of office space, 400,000 sq ft of parking space.[2] The mall was inaugurated on 26 May 2010.[4]
E Hotel, a 44-room four-star boutique hotel, was built in the mall at a cost of₹ 300 million.[1]
The entertainment portion of the mall is 70,000 square feet (6,500 m2). The Escape Cinemas, the branch ofPVR Cinemas, consists of an 08-screens multiplex with a capacity of 1,600 seats covering 50,000 square feet (4,600 m2), which is the city's largest cineplex. California-based Giovanni Castor played a key role in the overall design of Escape.[5] The mall is home to the largest gaming arcade in South India.
Besides stand-alone stores likeBath & Body Works,Montblac, andArmani Exchange the mall has an 80,000-square-foot (7,400 m2)Lifestyle and a 65,000 sq. ftPantaloon, Smart Bazaar,H&M andForever 21. The anchor tenants are expected to take 300,000 to 400,000 sq ft, while the vanilla tenants would occupy up to 400,000 sq. ft. The 50,000-square-foot (4,600 m2) food court has 25 counters and includes food chains such asBurger King,Taco Bell,KFC andPizza Hut. The mall has six atria with a height not less than 75 ft each. The atrium areas are covered with tensile fabric and the centre of the atrium is covered with glass.[2]
The 50,000-square-foot (4,600 m2) court, also called EA Garden, has 25 counters with several food and beverage options including Oriental,North Indian,South Indian,American andItalian.[6]
The business chamber is the first such marketing space to be built inside a mall in India. The area of this zone is over 200,000 sq ft (19,000 m2) of office space at prices intended to compete withspecial economic zones and IT parks elsewhere in the city.
