The Legaspi Co. has plans to build Latino-themed shopping centers in Ogden and Salt Lake City and is looking for more properties in other cities.

Company President José de JesSs Legaspi promises the centers will be inclusive.

"Most people have an understanding of what they think Hispanic architecture is, or retailing. It's not," Legaspi said. "It truly is a first-class effort . . . where people other than Hispanics will find it to be very nice. Because of the niceness of the center and architecture, and even the types of tenants, the people will feel very comfortable coming and just visiting."

In Ogden, the company is buying property between 24th and 25th streets, and Quincy Avenue and Monroe Boulevard.

Tenants include the Mexico City-based Gigante grocery store and FAMSA, said John Patterson, Ogden's chief administrative officer.

Gigante, according to Shopping Center Business magazine, uses wider aisles to cater to Latinos with extended families who want to shop together. They have butchers and bakeries, where items are made from scratch. And the produce is fresher because Latinos shop more frequently.

FAMSA allows immigrants to buy electronics and furniture and have it delivered to their families in Mexico, Patterson said.

"I love it," Patterson said of FAMSA. "It's going to enable the hard-working people that we have here the opportunity to improve the lives of their family members down in Mexico."

Ogden has the state's highest percentage of Latinos, almost 24 percent.

In Salt Lake City - where Latinos, according to the 2000 census, make up almost 19 percent of the population - the company is negotiating to buy about 10 acres near Sutherlands at North Temple and Redwood Road.

Legaspi didn't name potential tenants for the 160,000-square-foot center, though he said the "town square" will be anchored by a grocery store and the project will have colonial-Spanish architecture.

"It's an excellent project for the city," said Alison McFarlane, economic adviser to Mayor Rocky Anderson.

McFarlane, along with Community Development Director Louis Zunguze and Councilmen Carlton Christensen and Van Turner traveled to Los Angeles last year to visit other Legaspi projects. Legaspi is seeking assistance from Ogden and Salt Lake City in the form of loans or subsidies.

Christensen, who has seen other developers come and go without making a project near the Sutherland site work, was impressed with Legaspi's plan.

"They're willing to think outside the box and not be in a rut of development thought as to what could work. They understand the Hispanic market and what they want. It's more sophisticated than what current retailers do," Christensen said.

Legaspi, whose company has projects in California, Texas and Arizona, said Utah's existing Latino shops are "30 to 40 years behind."

Carlos Linares, executive director of the Utah Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said Legaspi's plans are a sign of Utah's future.

"We're now in the scope of the country as a place of Hispanic growth, of commerce," Linares said, adding that Utah Latinos are estimated to have a buying power of $5 billion. "People just want to be a part of this."

hmay@sltrib.com