On the site of the former Pudu jail, a new retail mall will be built jointly by the developers of the Bukit Bintang City Centre (BBCC) project and a Japanese real estate giant, Mitsui Fudosan Asia. Total project would have an estimated gross development value of RM1.6bil. Anything above 1 million sq ft is considered a big mall and this mall called the Mitsui Shopping Park Lalaport will have a built-up area of 1.4 million sq ft when completed. It will take 4.5 years to complete. By the way, Mitsui Fudosan is also the 70% owner of the Mitsui Outlet Mall.
Mitsui Shopping Park Lalaport aims to be an attraction for KLites and tourists with its indoor retail space, as well as an outdoor lifestyle street featuring high-end brands, restaurants and cafes. On the rooftop would be a four-acre landscape park. As this will be in Malaysia, there would also be a retailing commercial space called the Malaysia Grand Bazaar showcasing Malaysian goods, handicraft and souvenirs. To encourage tourists, there will be parking facilities for unto 40 coaches. Three tunnels (from Jalan Changkat Thambi Dollah, Jalan Hang Tuah and Jalan Galloway) would also bring shoppers directly into the mall. There would also be 2,400 parking bays underground.
When there’s an integrated plan to bring people into the mall, I think it should be able to sustain itself as the number of tourists into Malaysia is increasing and Bukit Bintang area is certainly a hotspot. As for KLites however, I think the diversity of the retail shops available would be far more important than the Malaysia Grand Bazaar. One thing is very certain, when competition heats up, only malls with unique shopping proposition would be successful. Get more international brands which are value for money into Malaysia instead of only the luxury brands. Only then would it attract more middle income Malaysians. For a 1.4 million sq ft mall, it has to appeal to the masses and not just the exclusive few. Happy following.
written on 14 Oct 2016
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