(Caribbean Journal) There’s a major new shopping complex coming to St Kitts.

John Zuliani, president of the Royal St Kitts Hotel, will break ground this week on the new Royal Plaza shopping complex, slated to open Nov. 1, 2017.

The complex, which is located in the parking lot of the hotel, will include 11 units and more than 17,000 square feet of indoor space, along with seven outdoor patios ranging from 500 to 1,000 square feet, allowing for al fresco dining.

Zuliani said the demand for commercial real estate space in St Kitts as the driving force behind the project.

“We saw that in Frigate Bay there is a serious shortage of commercial availability for people who are interested in opening up small businesses, so we decided to build a plaza to fill that small shortage.  There will be a wide variety of different businesses; high-end jewelry stores, some boutique shopping stores, two beautiful restaurants – one has a concept around gourmet burgers and nice beer,” Zuliani said.

The Zuliani family has owned the 18-acre hotel since 1983.

The hotel underwent a refurbishment in 2007, and plans to expand in the near future with as many as 40 new condominium-hotel units.