PUTRAJAYA: IOI Properties Group Bhd said plans are already in the pipeline to add a further 1 million sq ft of retail space at IOI City Mall in Putrajaya as occupancy rate at the newly-opened complex reached 85%.
The group expects the current 1.5 million sq ft of lettable area at the mall to be fully occupied by February next year. To boost customer traffic, the mall operator is lobbying for a mass rapid transit (MRT) station to be open within its vicinity.
“We are looking at the possibility of expanding the mall under phase two of the project,” IOI City Mall Sdn Bhd general manager Chris Chong (pic) said yesterday.
He was speaking to reporters at the soft launch of the mall, which is situated in a large catchment area that includes Kajang, Seri Kembangan, Puchong, Putrajaya, and Cyberjaya.
“There are not many malls in the southern area of the Klang Valley,” he said.
The IOI City Mall is spread across four levels. The whole RM1.5bil complex includes two 29-storey office towers and the 21-storey Le Meridian Putrajaya hotel.
Construction of the office towers and the hotel is expected to be completed in 2015 and 2016, respectively.
Chong did not elaborate on the cost and targeted expansion timeline, but said the planning stage would probably take about a year to complete.
“Once we finished the second phase, we would be the largest mall in Malaysia. We have already built the bridge to connect with the second phase of IOI City Mall,” he said.
Chong said the group was currently looking for opportunity for the second mass rapid transit (MRT2) line to have station at IOI City Mall.
“We are lobbying for it,” he noted.
Chong also said that IOI Properties was also looking to open a mall in China, IOI Xiamen, between end-2017 and early-2018. This will be part of the IOI Palm City 10 billion yuan (RM5.5bil) mixed development in Xiamen, China.
The group also has a present in Singapore.
“Every knows about the current market situation in Singapore,” IOI Properties chief executive officer Lee Yeow Seng said when met at the event.
“There are some projects we would hold and some we would proceed,” he said.
Earlier this month, IOI Properties proposed to undertake a rights issue of new shares to raise about RM1.03bil for capital expenditure, investment opportunities and working capital purposes.
~ By THE STAR
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