Spencer Plaza 6.52

Spencer Plaza is a shopping mall located on Anna Salai in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, and is one of the modern landmarks of the city. Originally built during the period of the British Raj and reconstructed in 1985 on the site of the original Spencer's departmental store, it is the oldest shopping mall in India and one of the biggest shopping malls in South Asia when it was built. It is one of the earliest Grade A commercial projects of the city, which were developed in the second half of the 1990s. As of March 2010, it is the 11th largest mall in the country with a gross lettable area of 530,000 sq ft.HistorySpencer Plaza was built in 1863–1864, established by Charles Durant and J. W. Spencer in Anna Salai, then known as Mount Road, in the Madras Presidency. The property originally belonged to Spencer & Co Ltd. Spencer & Co opened the first Departmental store in the Indian subcontinent in 1895 and the store had over 80 individual departments. After a few years, Eugene Oakshott, owner of Spencer's, shifted the department store to a new building, which was an example of Indo-Saracenic style of architecture. The building was designed by W. N. Pogson. In 1983, the original building was destroyed in a fire. The present Spencer Plaza was constructed on the same site measuring about 10 acres and was opened in 1991. Spread across a million square feet built in three phases with parking space for 800 cars, the plaza is one of the major hangout for the people of Chennai. The mall was developed by Mangal Tirth Estate Limited in January 1993.