Friday, July 9, 2010

New tenants sign up as Katong Mall starts $60m revamp

The former Katong Mall, due to re-open in the third quarter next year, is heading up market.

Its landlord unveiled key tenants like Golden Village Multiplex, Market Place by Cold Storage and the BreadTalk Group on Friday.

After a S$60 million facelift, its landlord Perennial Katong Retail Trust says visitors can find gourmet products and high end brands here, watch a movie in a private lounge complete with plush seats.

Pubs and bars will also stay open late into the night.

Together, these tenants will take up 32 per cent of retail space at Katong Mall.

The revamped mall will have a net-lettable area of about 207,000 square feet. This is a 20 per cent increase in space from the existing site.

Its owner says the new six-storey mall will also house a mix of retail and lifestyle shops, fetching a rent of $12 per square foot on average.

It expects F&B outlets to make up more than 30 per cent of its total tenant mix.

The mall will also increase its car park lots by over 70 per cent, with 310 lots to be built.

The landlord adds that shareholders of the mall are taking a long term view in extracting value from their investment and they are not rushing to monetise the asset.

Pua Seck Guan, CEO, Perennial Real Estate, says: “A project of this nature in Singapore, generally investors are looking at return of between 12 and 18 per cent, I would say that this is still the targeted returns that we’re trying to achieve for our investors and we’re quite confident that we can achieve within this region.”

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 9 Jul 2010

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