With two other malls, it will make town hub an even stronger shopping destination
THE popular suburban haunt of Tampines is set to get a fresh injection of retail buzz when a new $450 million mall, now under construction, opens for business early next year.
SETTING ITSELF APART: While its anchor tenants may be familiar brand names, Tampines 1 will strive to be different by bringing in new retail concepts to tie in with its 'young, savvy and lover of all new things' theme. -- PHOTO: TAMPINES 1The arrival of Tampines 1 on the scene will alleviate a shortage of shopping space in the crowded town hub, where rents in two existing malls have risen over the years, industry sources say.
The new mall's manager has already signed up anchor tenants. It is now 40 per cent leased and is expected to be fully leased by May, said AsiaMalls Management (South East Asia).
Located beside the Tampines MRT station, it will complement two existing malls, CapitaMall Trust's Tampines Mall and Asian Retail Mall Fund's Century Square.
Tampines 1, due for completion later this year, sits on a 91,000 sq ft site and has shops spread over five storeys and one basement. It will have 203 carpark lots.
The mall has a net lettable area of 260,000 sq ft, which makes it smaller than Tampines Mall's 323,000 sq ft but bigger than Century Square's 210,000 sq ft.
When combined, the three malls will make Tampines an even stronger shopping destination, according to Knight Frank's deputy managing director, Mr Danny Yeo.
Popular suburban malls, such as those in Tampines, can command relatively steep rents due to their high levels of traffic.
This trend is growing now that the Housing Board has stopped building neighbourhood shops, as shoppers prefer to frequent bustling suburban malls, said Mr Yeo.
He added that ground-floor rents in Tampines suburban malls could fetch between $35 and $50 per sq ft (psf) a month.
That range is relatively high for outlying shopping centres, given that ground-floor rents in main shopping malls along the Orchard Road shopping belt go for about $45 to $70 psf on average.
While Tampines 1's anchor tenants may be familiar brand names, such as Cold Storage, the mall will strive to be different by bringing in new retail concepts to tie in with its 'young, savvy and lover of all new things' theme.
One of them is a fitness club and spa that will come complete with a swimming pool.
The BEYS fitness club and spa by the Amore Fitness group will take up about 17,500 sq ft of space on the fifth floor.
Cold Storage supermarket, which will be fitted out to the tune of $3 million, will occupy almost 14,000 sq ft of the basement.
This outlet will focus on high-quality fresh food and offer more than an ordinary heartland supermarket, said the mall manager.
For instance, it will have the largest range of smoked salmon and Alaskan seafood and will offer ready-to-eat steamed lobsters and shucked oysters.
Times The Bookshop is another key tenant, while Challenger, the information technology superstore, will take up 6,100 sq ft on level four.
Challenger used to be a tenant at DBS Tampines Centre that, together with Pavilion, have been torn down to make way for the upcoming mall.
Asian Retail Mall Fund II bought the two sites for nearly $289 million. Its total investment in the mall has reached $450 million, including land cost.
Apart from new retail concepts, Tampines 1 will also offer new architecture elements, such as a European-inspired Sunken Plaza and double-floor retail shops, said the mall's assistant general manager, Ms Stephanie Ho.
One of these duplex units - on levels four and five - will be taken up by Japanese restaurant chain Sushi Tei.
POPULAR RETAIL HAUNTS
Suburban malls will continue to command high rents, as shoppers prefer to frequent these places over neighbourhood shops.MR YEO, Knight Frank’s deputy managing director, on the new mall’s commercial potential.
NEW AND IMPROVED
Tampines 1 will offer new architectural elements, such as a European-inspired Sunken Plaza and double-floor retail shops.MS STEPHANIE HO. the mall’s assistant general manager.
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