Business View Caribbean - January 2016 89
the Caribbean Sea to the south, and very close to the
French border, sits the Blue Mall and Blue Residences
St. Maarten, a complex designed and built by Fondo de
Valores Inmobiliarios, a Caracas, Venezuelan-based
company that was founded by Luis Emilio Veluntini in
1992. In 2002, Veluntini directed his company toward
building more malls and shopping centers, in addition
to its portfolio of office building and commercial cen-
ters.
Stacy Paul, Blue Mall’s Marketing Coordinator, re-
counts the genesis of the St. Maarten enterprise: “Be-
fore Blue Mall, there was not a shopping center of that
caliber on the island,” she says. “We had various little
commercial centers comprised of business offices and
retail outlets, but nothing of this kind.” So, Blue Mall’s
developers decided to fill the void with an ultra-mod-
ern looking edifice that would house a combination of
retail outlets and residential condominiums.
“Construction started in 2005, but we were not able
to finish until 2011,” Paul continues. “The residences
were finished, but the commercial sites took a little
longer. We had a progressive, soft opening in Decem-
ber 2012, just with a few shops, because we wanted
AT A GLANCE
WHO:
Blue Mall St. Maarten
WHAT:
A modern shopping mall with retail out-
lets, restaurants, and condominium apartments
WHERE:
Cupecoy Bay, St. Maarten
WEBSITE
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