London was yesterday, the official home of Britain’s largest shopping mall with the launch of the $2.8 billion Westfield London Shopping Centre in Shepherd’s Bush , a massive 265-store, glass-roofed shopping center. The centre’s owners, Westfield and Commerzbank AG are confident that the looming British recession, the worst since 1991 will not negatively affect the potential profits of the centre’s future.

Steven Lowy, managing director of Australian based Westfield said that the project was built with the future in mind. The new mall is targeted to serve 20 million shoppers per year and Westfield aims for sales of £1 billion ($2 billion).

One reason why Westfield managers are so confident about the success of their new mall is the fact that London’s 7.5 million residents were only served by four regional shopping centres. Source overseaspropertymall

The new Westfield Mall which opens on Thursday will cover 43 acres of space and cost £1.7 billion ($2,65 billion) to build. As the Telegraph reports the mall will have 265 shops, a 14-screen movie theater, 50 restaurants, a gym, spa, a library and 4,500 parking spaces.

For the luxury-minded shopper the mall has a concierge team of 60 who speak 14 languages total. Valet parking is available as well as handsfree shopping and chauffeur service.

Although the immediate economic forecast is bleak, Westfield’s executives remain cautiously optimistic. Keith Mabbett is senior leasing executive at Westfield, and has been responsible for getting the retailers into the centre. “We’ve been sounding out the retail market for six years, seeing what they need. And there is a need for this centre,” he said at Westfield’s site office overlooking the development.