Mall by Mitsui Fudosan in Bukit Bintang City Centre by Ecoworld

Mitsui Fudosan will develop a nine-story, 45 billion yen ($397 million) mall in Malaysia with local partners as part of an effort to solidify its overseas earnings base for the future.

Mall by Mitsui Fudosan in Bukit Bintang City Centre by Ecoworld

Costlier than the company's outlet malls in Taiwan and the Chinese city of Ningbo, this will likely mark the biggest project for a commercial facility abroad by a Japanese real estate developer. The plan is to open a LaLaport mall like those of Japan in Kuala Lumpur in 2021.

Working with Eco World Development Group and two other local partners, Mitsui Fudosan will set up a special-purpose company as early as this year.

The mall will sit on the 78,500-sq.-meter premises of the Bukit Bintang City Centre, a project co-led by Eco World that includes residential and office space.

The mall will boast five above-ground floors and four underground floors. Construction will begin in 2017. Retail space will likely total 80,000 sq. meters -- close to the 102,000 sq. meters of a major LaLaport mall in Chiba Prefecture. The plan is to draw about 300 businesses to the new facility, among them restaurants, household goods stores and fashion retailers. Tenants focusing on middle-income consumers, including Japanese businesses gaining popularity in Malaysia, will be solicited. Annual sales are targeted at 42 billion yen.

Mitsui Fudosan intends to apply Japa
nese know-how to running the mall through such steps as training store managers and introducing a system to track daily sales of each store. In this way, it seeks to distinguish the facility from the competition.

Malaysia has enjoyed relatively high real gross domestic product growth among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. With the ranks of the middle class seen continuing to expand, the Japanese company expects demand to stay strong.

Mitsui Fudosan opened an outlet mall near an international airport in Malaysia last year. Tenants catering to middle-income consumers are faring well, and sales have beaten initial expectations. An expansion is now planned, driven by popular demand.

Mitsui Fudosan's wide-ranging business domains include commercial facilities, housing, office buildings and hotels. In Japan, the shrinking population limits prospects for demand growth in housing and office buildings. The company is thus strengthening commercial establishments, such as outlet malls, in Asia. And in the London area, it is working on mixed-use facilities.

The company plans to invest 550 billion yen overseas from fiscal 2015 to fiscal 2017 and to spend about as much on office building and other projects in Japan. Mitsui Fudosan hopes to generate about 12% of its overall operating profit abroad in fiscal 2017, up from just 6.4% in fiscal 2014.


(Nikkei Asian Review, March 26, 2016)

Too much retail space? Klang Valley has 59 million sq ft but some small towns have only a single mall.

THERE are a few issues facing shopping mall space in the Klang Valley today. The first is the amount of space, the second is retail spending which has a direct effect on rental and yield.

The Klang Valley, which includes Selangor and Putrajaya, has a total of 59 million sq ft of mall space, according to statistics from the National Property Information Centre (Napic).

That is equivalent to 51 Suria KLCC malls, which has 1.14 million sq ft of net lettable area. Napic includes arcades and older buildings in the outskirts as shopping mall space.

If one were to consider non-government statistics, property consultancy CBRE says Greater Kuala Lumpur has a total retail space of 48 million sq ft, equivalent to 41 Suria KLCCs malls. This excludes arcades and retail space in older buildings in the Klang Valley outskirts. Greater KL has a population of 7.2 million, according to Economists Intelligence Unit.

Neighbouring Singapore in December 2012 has 56 million sq ft of retail space, of which 25 million sq ft (or 44%) are shopping floor space in the city state of 5.3 million people, according to CapitaMall Trust website. A local property consultant considers 25 million sq ft as rather low as Singapore thrives on shopping and tourism.

The question is… will retail spending continue to expand? As it is, retail rentals have not shot up but have only been maintained.

Retail sales in Malaysia are expected to grow at a faster rate this year – up 6.4% to RM94.4bil from a growth rate of 5.5% to RM88bil in 2012, driven by domestic demand, says RGM Retail Group (M) Sdn Bhd retail consultant and managing director Tan Hai Hsin. Tan is Henry Butcher Retail managing director.

He says the oversupply and overbuilding situation is only apparent in the city, but not in the smaller towns.

“This does not mean there is no room for growth,” he says in an email. He says the retail scene industry in Malaysia will remain healthy for the rest of this year, supported by sustainable domestic demand.

Although Klang Valley’s oversupply of mall space has been apparent 10 years ago, the drive to build is relentless.

Jordan Lee & Jaafar executive director Yap Kian Ann says developers like to go into mall developments because profits from malls tend to be higher than condominiums and offices generally. Average mall rental is RM12 per sq ft compared with RM7.50-RM8 for office space.

In August, Sunway REIT Management Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Jeffrey Ng hit the nail on the head when he said “there is no shortage of condominiums, office, retail and hotel space.”

The story of KL malls is not just oversupply but the disparity between the successful malls and the struggling ones.

The two main downtown malls are Suria KLCC and Pavilion KL. Both thrive on fashion. Then there is the big suburban malls like Mid Valley and Gardens, 1-Utama and Sunway Pyramid.

Then there are the smaller neighbourhood malls like Bangsar Village and Bangsar Shopping Centre. Each of them serves a certain niche market. Then there are newer malls like the SS2 Mall and Paradigm Mall.

Popular malls like Pavilion KL, Suria KLCC and 1-Utama enjoy nearly full occupancy while struggling ones suffer from poor visibility and anaemic traffic.

Mall focus

While the abundance of mall space and retail spending are important issues, the focus on mall space came about because there seems to be some interesting developments in this sub-segment of the property market.

In August, a Singapore-based fund, ARA Asset Management Ltd, linked to Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-Shing said it would be divesting five neighbourhood malls in Malaysia.

These being Aeon Bandaraya in Malacca, Klang Parade, Ipoh Parade, 1MK in Mont’Kiara and Citta Mall in Ara Damansara. Granted, two of them are not in the Klang Valley, the sale of malls in today’s challenging and uncertain economic and financial environment only underscores the opacity of what lies ahead.

ARA Asset Management is one of the largest mall managers in Asia. One of its fund managers, ARA Managers (Asia Dragon) Pte Ltd’s director of portfolio investmentThomas Kong says it is divesting because the fund under which the malls are parked are winding down.

The five malls has a total built-up area exceeding 2.7 million sq ft. Kong says they would like to retain management rights for all five, which are part of a series of assets in Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Malaysia.

Malaysia has under a fifth of the whole fund’s portfolio.

Another mall for sale is Tropicana City Mall in Petaling Jaya. Tropicana Corp Bhd, its owner, offered the four-storey mall to CapitaMalls Malaysia REIT Management Sdn Bhd, which manages the Capitamalls Malaysia Trust (CMMT). The due diligence has just been completed, a source says.

Also on the grapevine are the possible sale of two other malls, Encorp Strand Mall in Kota Damansara and the Empire Shopping Gallery in Subang Jaya. There is a net lettable area of 750,000 sq ft between them. Attempts to get in touch with Encorp’s top management failed.

Mammoth Empire Holding Sdn Bhd (MEH) executive director Datuk Danny Cheah says he has no intention of selling Empire Shopping Gallery for the next one year.

“If you talk about the future, we (will) never know,” he says. “Instead, we are building more malls. Empire City in Damansara Perdana will have a mall of about 2 million sq ft. We also have Remix Mall of about 1.5 million sq ft. We are gearing towards a REIT (real estate investment trust) and you need to be sizeable for that.

For a REIT to be successful, there must also be attractive yields. Mall rentals are not shooting up, they are being maintained currently, property professionals say.

Despite that, developers continue to have a penchant for malls. The Sime Darbygroup will be building its first mall in Melawati in a joint venture with CapitaMalls Asia Ltd. It will have a net lettable area (NLA) of about 620,000 sq ft.

Malton Bhd is said to be planning to replicate its success with Pavilion KL by building a mall in Pusat Bandar Damansara on a smaller scale and another larger one in Bukit Jalil.

Guocoland (M) Bhd, the developer of Damansara City in Pusat Bandar Damansara, is also building a mall there. That means within the triangular 46 acres known as Pusat Bandar Damansara, there will be two malls and possibly two hotels.

Another developer is planning to build a mall in Bukit Jalil, so they will be giving Malton a run for its money. Who opens first is important. This will be located between Overseas Union Garden and the Kesas Highway.

These are just some of the known projects in the pipeline.

Rent-free period
But even as developers plan for these future projects, some shopping centres are giving long rent-free period to their retailers, says Henry Butcher Retail managing director Tan Hai Hsin. Despite this, they still fail to attract sufficient retailers.

Tan says there is a clear disparity between successful malls and struggling ones. Tan says shopping centres that have been suffering from low shopping traffic will continue to face challenges in attracting crowds moving forward while the more successful ones will thrive with retailers waiting in line.

Jordan Lee & Jaafar executive director Yap Kian Ann says there are four criteria that help a mall to succeed. Those with 1 million sq ft of net lettable area seem to do better, although there is a place for neighbourhood malls as seen in Bangsar Village 1 and II and Bangsar Shopping Centre.

A second criteria is developer must retain control and must not sell the units individually. The mall owner will be able to control the tenant mix and management. The third criteria is location, says Yap.

He says the mall outlook will be challenging in the next two to three years when new malls are completed.

“We have not felt the full effect of it yet. But we will in another two to three years,” he says.

How did Kuala Lumpur come to a stage where is an abundant supply of office space, condominiums and retail space but affordable housing? The short answer is profitability. The long answer will take up more than these two pages.

If it is any indication, CBRE in a second quarter 2013 report said prime retail rents in the city centre was at RM155 per sq ft at the KLCC. Traffic flow is an important criteria.

“This is not average rental but the rental of the unit itself,” says a source. In the suburbs like Bangsar and Petaling Jaya, average prime retail rent is RM48 per sq ft.

The report says further increases are expected.

Routine selling?
The buying and selling of malls may well be routine by funds and developers. Or it could be an indication of something else brewing. Owners cash out, or monetise, due to expected weak yields going forward, or as in the case of the ARA Dragon Fund (ARA), a winding down of a fund.

Monetising is clearly the case with the Quill group who is building Quill City Mall in Jalan Sultan Ismail, Kuala Lumpur. The Employees Provident Fund is buying for RM1.2bil under certain conditions.

The number of For Sale signs is food for thought.

Ironically, despite the oversupply, more malls are built. Will there be takers for Malaysian malls?

Henry Butcher Retail MD Tan Hai Hsin says there will be local and foreign interested parties.

“Size of the mall, the current yield and potential for higher increment are the main considerations,” Tan says.

Which explains why millions are spent on enhancement and refurbishment. Klang Parade is being refurbished at a cost of RM120mil. Post refurbishment, rental will go up double-digit in percentage terms to provide a net yield of 8%. ARA owns it.

1MK in Mont’Kiaram, another ARA asset, is being enhanced at a cost of RM20mil. 1MK will be relaunched in April/May 2014 with an expected yield of 6%.

Citta Mall in Ara Damansara, which the fund purchased at about RM200mil or RM600 per sq ft is currently 58% leased versus 30% last November.

“We will sell our refurbishment plan to the next fund,” says Kong. The fund acquired the five malls for more than RM1.2bil.

The last and fifth mall it will be divesting is Aeon Bandaraya in Malacca, which it bought for less than RM400mil in 2010, giving it a yield of 7%.

Other mall owners are also investing in enhancements, the Sunway group being one of them. Going forward, Kong says selling the five malls collectively as a single portfolio will be of more value than individually as “it is difficult to assemble a portfolio of this size.”

There are other exit routes, but for the time being, divestment will be the most likely, says Kong.

“If you have great malls, there will be no lack of suitors,” he says.

The Star, 5/10/2013

Leading malls expected to enjoy rental growth

SUNWAY REIT Management Sdn Bhd CEO Datuk Jeffrey Ng Tiong Lip says the company will remain focused on retail with at least 60% retail exposure as measured by asset size, revenue or net property income (NPI) over the long term. The company manages Sunway REIT.

Ng says they are mindful of the market cycle and impending oversupply of retail space.

“We have noted many sellers of assets entering the market,” he says in an email.

It bought the Yaohan Mall, later renamed Sunway Putra Mall, through a public auction in 2011. It has two shopping malls in the pipeline, namely Sunway Giza and Sunway VeloCity Shopping Mall but this depends on their financial performances and pricing by the vendor.

He shares his views on the retail and REIT industry:

What is your outlook for the retail and REIT industry? Is there any pressure on mall rentals today?

The market capitalisation of Malaysian REITs (M-REITs) has surged from RM25bil at the beginning of this year to RM36.3bil (as at Sept 30, 2013) following the listing ofKLCCP Stapled Group. We expect to see further growth with the emergence of more players in the next few years.

The trading performance of M-REITs went through a mild correction in July-August 2013 due to overall softer market sentiment and a spike in bond yields. Large-cap M-REITs were trading at highly compressed levels of below 5% prior to the correction.

By end-September 2013, distribution yields of large-cap M-REITs have moved closer to 5.5%-6%. While there has not been a drastic change in fundamentals of the large-cap M-REITs, the decompression of distribution yield is a healthy sign and offer value to investors.

In view of the higher yields, it will be difficult to make yield accretive acquisition especially in prime areas. Operation costs are expected to marginally increase over time due to higher fuel costs, potential electricity tariff increase and minimum wage. M-REITs will need to look into strategies to mitigate rising operation costs.

In the retail sector, leading malls are still enjoying strong occupancy of 95% and above. Retail space is expected to increase in the next one to two years. Although consumption is expected to remain buoyant, (there is a) possibility of slower growth in retail spending in view of the recent rise in fuel prices resulting in higher cost of living.

Leading malls should be able to continue to enjoy rental growth… average performing malls may be pressured to maintain their occupancy rates and rental rates.

What is the impact of a rise in interest rates?
Overnight policy rate is expected to remain steady for the rest of 2013… (but) long-term interest rate could trend up. It is a matter of time before short-term rates move in tandem with long-term rates.

With this in mind, Sunway REIT Management Sdn Bhd (the Manager) has converted a large portion of its debt into fixed rate. The fixed rate portion has increased from 20% in FY2012 to 81% in FY2013. The average debt maturity for the fixed portion debt is 3.6 years. By locking in the rates, this portion of the debt is not susceptible to interest rate movement and will not be affected by higher interest cost.

Please give a brief on Sunway Putra Mall.
The refurbishment period is over 22 months. The mall will resume business by first quarter of 2015 after a refurbishment cost of about RM300mil. Post-refurbishment, it will have a net lettable area (NLA) of just below 600,000 sq ft (compared with 500,000 sq ft before).

Who are the competitors of Sunway Putra Mall?
There are numerous shopping malls in Kuala Lumpur. New malls will enjoy the novelty factor in the short term. Being able to sustain the footfall over the longer term horizon (is important). Sunway Putra Mall has a captive market with the Umno headquarters,Putra World Trade Centre in the vicinity and a residential catchment within a 2.5 km radius.

What sort of rental do you expect for Sunway Putra Mall?

The rental rates will be in line with the market positioning of the mall (mid-to upper-mid customer segment) and comparable market rental rates. We expect a stabilised yield for the entire Sunway Putra Place, inclusive of Sunway Putra Mall, to be between 7% and 8%.

Will Sunway REIT be able to maintain its distribution per unit (DPU) in the next two years?
The manager endeavours to maintain or minimise the impact on DPU for the next two years despite the loss of income from Sunway Putra Mall. This is possible if the existing assets continue to perform. It is already a bonus to be able to maintain the DPU for FY2014.

Strategies to minimise impact on DPU for FY2014:
·A major rental reversion commenced last month at Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall. About 54% (900,000 sq ft) was due for renewal.
·About RM38.4mil were invested to enhance assets. This was completed in the previous financial year and a 15% return on investment is expected. These include the retrofitting of chillers at Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall, refurbishment of Sunway Hotel Seberang Jaya and a 14,193 sq ft expansion at Menara Sunway.
·Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall’s NLA will expand by a further 20,362 sq ft and 23,432 sq ft of existing space will be reconfigured. This is expected to be completed by year-end and costing RM40.1mil.

How did we come to this stage where there is an abundance of office, retail and hotel space?
This is due to the overbuilding of investment properties. Landowners wanted to create value by building a portfolio of investment properties for investment purpose. The overbuilding phenomenon eventually led to (the current) oversupply situation. In today’s scenario, there will be a demand for new buildings due to migration of tenants from the older properties.

The Star, 5/10/2013

Jaya Shopping Centre to open in March next year, 80% of retail space leased

Mall will offer cinema and supermarket as well as retail units as small as 100 sq ft for rent.



Jaya Shopping Centre to open in March next year, 80% of retail space leased

The new Jaya Shopping Centre will open its doors in March 2014 and will feature a mix of retail outlets spread out over seven floors. This will include dining options, supermarket, cinema and entertainment outlets as well as sportswear, fashion, children’s toys and gifts shops. It will also offer beauty and wellness spas, electronics and gadgets shops plus a banking hall.

 

“Jaya Shopping Centre was the first trading post for many local home-grown retailers. It was at Jaya Shopping Centre where they started and had their first big break. Three decades later, many of these retailers have become retail stars. And we have the privilege of having many of them returning to Jaya Shopping Centre,” said Jaya Section Fourteen Sdn Bhd director Ismail Ani Arope.

Ismail added, “We are continuing this legacy by offering smaller units for rent as small as 100 sq ft up to 800 sq ft to passionate young retailers with their interesting and unique merchandise. Due to the compact sizes of these units which translate to affordable monthly rental charges, these young entrepreneurs may be able to manage their cash flows. We encourage young entrepreneurs who have aspirations to have a presence in a retail centre to approach our exclusive leasing agent DTZ Nawawi Tie Leung Property Consultants with their concepts.”

“As a mid-sized and mid-end neighborhood shopping centre, Jaya Shopping Centre is perfect for shoppers who have an aversion to huge malls. As a community based retail centre, we want to inspire and empower entrepreneurs to follow their passion to be part of the vibrant and connected Jaya Shopping Centre,” said Ismail.

There is a dedicated zone located on Level 4 which emphasizes fun and creativity, breaking rules of normal straight shop fronts, tiled floors and lighting in regular arrangements. According to Ismail, the shops, irregular in size and shape will become platforms for young entrepreneurs and retailers.

With 270,000 sq ft net leasable area, the new Jaya Shopping Centre offers almost the double the retail space it  had before.

Built on an island site, the shopping centre will have dedicated ingress and egress lanes built parallel to Jalan 14/17 and Jalan Dato Jamil Rais 15. The most outstanding feature of Jaya Shopping Centre is the prominent five levels of glass curtain wall facing bustling Jalan Semangat which will allow visibility and interactivity between retailers and shoppers. This vibrancy will carry through to the ground floor alfresco dining concepts, says the mall’s developer.

The “boxed-out window frame” spaces on the façade will break the monotony of a plain exterior and showcase “happenings” within.

The verandah seating space on Level 3, in the Food and Beverage zone, meanwhile, is planned to be allow tenants to add alfresco dining options.  Furthermore, the skylight, will introduce natural light into the centre and “enlarge” the internal air-space visually.

“Every design decision was made with the aim of meeting the taste, lifestyle and demographics of the new PJ generation of retailers and consumers. We want the new generation of PJ’s community to feel proud of this new retail centre and we aim to meet its reputation of being a quality lifestyle hub, shopping spot and casual hangout,” Ismail added.

“Our positioning remains– Jaya Shopping Centre will again become the favorite neighborhood shopping place; a home outside home for the PJ population who lives and works in and around PJ and will continue to create strong ties with community and the next generation,” he said.

Jaya Shopping Centre will have four levels of basement parking that can accommodate 780 vehicles.  To date, it has achieved close to 80% take up rate.

The Star, 9/10/2013

Sime Darby in JV with CapitaMalls to build RM670mil Melawati Mall

KUALA LUMPUR: Sime Darby Property and CapitaMalls Asia Ltd are jointly developing a shopping mall with an expected total development cost of about RM670mil.

Sime Darby said in a statement that under the 50:50 joint venture, they would develop Melawati Mall in the Taman Melawati commercial area. To be completed at the end of 2016, it will have a net lettable area of about 620,000 sq ft.

Melawati Mall will comprise eight levels of retail and five levels of basement car park.

“Positioned as a one-stop retail and lifestyle destination, Melawati Mall aspires to bring the city shopping experience, with its comprehensive and fashionable offerings, to the residents of Melawati township and nearby towns.

“When it is completed, the mall, fronting the Middle Ring Road 2 (MRR2), will serve an estimated 800,000 people within a 15-minute drive,” it said.

Present at yesterday’s groundbreaking and construction event for Melawati Mall were Sime Darby Bhd chief operating officer Datuk Wahab Maskan, who is also Sime Darby Property managing director, and Capitamalls Asia chief executive officer Lim Beng Chee.

“Our collaboration with CapitaMalls Asia to develop Melawati Mall is well in line with Sime Darby Property’s strategic direction to participate in joint venture partnerships with reputable companies that can further unlock the value of our landbank and further enhance value from asset managementm,” Wahab said.

“Moreover, the success of this collaboration may pave the way for other possible future strategic partnerships with CapitaMalls Asia in Malaysia or overseas.”

Capitamalls Asia has interests in and manages a pan-Asian portfolio of 103 shopping malls across 52 cities in the five countries of Singapore, China, Malaysia, Japan and India, with a total property value of approximately S$34bil.

The Star, 4/10/2013

Shopping malls still in demand in Shah Alam

FILLING up shops in malls is not a problem in Shah Alam due to the limited supply in the area, despite the fact that this sub-segment of the property sector has reached its saturation point.

“The industry has reached its saturation for over the last 10 years. We are in an oversupply situation but we still have developers who are interested to build malls,” says Henry Butcher Shopping Centre Consultants Sdn Bhd managing director Tan Hai Hsin.

“However, Shah Alam does not face any serious oversupply (situation). One of the reasons is because cinemas were not allowed to operate in Shah Alam until last year,” he adds.

Tan tells StarBizWeek that generally in the Klang Valley, the occupancy rate for shopping malls is 85%.

“Some malls are very well occupied and some are empty. It depends on how it is set up, the type of properties and the management,” he says.

A mall that is 100% owned by a single owner tends to do better than a mall that is strata titled, as all the retail shops in the mall are individually owned, Tan opines.

“(The shops or outlets) are individually owned; it is difficult to manage because you are dealing with hundreds of owners, each of them chooses their own tenants.

“Hence, there is no control on tenant mix. This factor tends to effect the success of a shopping mall,” Tan says.

Meanwhile, Tan believes the upcoming CentralPlaza@i-City shopping mall has huge success potential, because of its location.

To date, there are only two other shopping centres on the whole stretch of the Federal Highway, one is Mid Valley which is in Kuala Lumpur and the other one is a cluster of shopping malls (examples are Empire and Subang Parade) in Subang.

“The next mall on the Federal Highway will be the CentralPlaza@i-City located in Shah Alam. It will cater to a sizeable market close to 700,000 of Shah Alam’s population and some 900,000 of Klang’s population,” Tan says.

He says that upon completion, the CentralPlaza@i-City shopping mall will be the largest shopping centre in Shah Alam. It is due for completion by end of 2016 with a gross floor area of around 1.5 million sq ft and net leaseable area of around 1 million sq ft.

“When it comes to malls today, size matters,” Tan says, adding that the Klang Valley “urban family” prefers to go to bigger shopping centres, particularly during weekends.

“They want to go to a place where they can spend hours, at least half of the day, there, because it offers various choices in one place for all the family members,” he says.

Having said that, shoppers between Shah Alam and Klang will soon enjoy more options because CentralPlaza@i-City is going to adopt a Thai retail concept.

Previously, according to Tan, most of Malaysia’s shopping malls adopted the Japanese retail concept, where the hypermarket, or supermarket, is located below and retail shops above it.

“Nowadays, we are moving away from that concept, although we still have a hypermarket in a mall. However, with hypermarkets mushrooming in Malaysia, more people prefer to make a short trip to a hypermarket, or to smaller malls to run their daily errands and utilise their weekend to enjoy the environment of a bigger mall,” he explains.

Nonetheless, Tan notes that having Thai retail in the country is a “refreshing” concept, because most of international brands that come to Malaysia will start their journey in South-East Asia in Singapore first, as seen in brands such as Topshop, Uniqlo and H&M.

“Brands usually establish themselves in Singapore before they come to Malaysia.

“However, many Malaysians and Singaporeans like to go to Thailand for shopping, not because of the brand but for its design and value for money,” he says.

I-Bhd signed a memorandum of understanding with Thai-based mall designer specialist Central Pattana Public Co Ltd (CPN) last year to jointly build a mall at i-City.

I-Bhd through its unit i-City Properties Sdn Bhd intends to hold 40% stake and CPN, through its local subsidiary, the remainder in the joint venture company.

The mall will be designed to cater to the needs of Thai retailers.

“Klang Valley people have always opined that most of the new malls share similar concept. Hence, Central Plaza will be able to offer a refreshing concept,” Tan says.

Adding to that, he says the accessibility of Central Plaza will be a further catalyst for its success. “They are going to build a ‘fly-over’ that will be directly linked to the mall, similar to Mid Valley.”

According to I-Bhd representative, the design for the mall is expected to be ready within a month. It will be managed by CPN.

In terms of retail space within the i-City township, Tan believes that both the commercial space outside of the mall and the retail space within will be able to complement each other.

“Some retail shops operate more suitably outside malls and this adds variety within the township,” Tan explains

Source The Star, June 22, 2013