Wednesday 8 October 2014

Quill City Mall signs AEON as anchor tenant

KUALA LUMPUR: Quill City Mall, a new shopping mall in Jalan Sultan Ismail that is due for a soft opening later this year has signed on leading general mechandise store-cum-supermarket chain AEON as its anchor tenant.

“Quill City Mall will probably be the last of the major downtown shopping centres in KL. It forms part of an integrated development comprising a 36-storey luxury residential tower and a 40-storey office tower, on 7.2 acres (2.9ha) of land,” said Datuk Michael Ong, group executive director of Quill Group of Companies at the signing ceremony held on Wednesday.

“We are going to see quite a number of innovative retail concepts being introduced. This morning, I’m pleased to announce that AEON, the leading general merchandise store and supermarket chain will be the main anchor tenant at Quill City Mall. It is set to occupy aproximately 225,000 sq ft over five floors of the 800,000 sq ft net lettable area shopping mall,” said Ong.

The Japanese retail giant intends to showcase its City Lifestyle Store concept in Malaysia, with a premium positioning. Being more commonly found in suburban shopping malls, this will be the first AEON branch in the city centre.

Representatives from mini anchor tenants also present at the signing ceremony were Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC), H&M, Food Junction, LifeSprings Pharmacy, Original Classic, and Best Denki. These tenants form part of the 320 brands coming in.

To date Quill City Mall has achieved more than 70% occupancy and is targeting 80% to 85% occupancy when it opens before Christmas. Food and beverage outlets make up 28% of total occupancy and include brands such as Red Lobster Seafood Restaurant and LongHorn Steakhouse.

The developer has declined to share rental prices and gross development cost but states that they are on par with the market rate in the area.

Quill City Mall consists of eight retail floors with a gross floor area of 1.35 million sq ft. As of now it is 98% complete and is in the process of being inspected by the authorities. It will feature the longest frontage façade of any shopping mall in Malaysia. The 300m frontage façade incorporates ample window space and has been designed with the intention of creating a more inviting exterior allowing for greater exposure for the brands.

Other features include a floating LED media pod in the atrium, the largest of its kind in Malaysia; al-fresco dining space over seven floors, which offers a different dining experience on different floors with cityscape views on the higher floors; and an integrated retailtainment hub, which offers a variety of recreational activities for all.

The shopping mall will be linked to the Medan Tuanku monorail station by fully air-conditioned link bridges on the second and third floors and is within proximity of the Kelana Jaya LRT line.

“In KL there are only two major shopping centres, Pavilion and Suria KLCC, and we believe there’s room for a third mall that’s positioned differently. We did a market survey and there’s actually a market for this location to support a mall. Furthermore, there are a lot of tenants who are not able to get a place within the two malls but would like to be in the city centre and we are catering for that,” said CK Ng, chief operating officer of Quill Group of Companies.

The mall will cater for the office workers in the area as well as offer a new contemporary concept that will revamp the area and lure in further people.

Quill Residences, which is to be built next to the shopping mall in the future, will offer 522 units of serviced apartments and will be Quill Group’s first solo residential project. The entire integrated development will be collectively known as Quill City.

From left: Quill Group managing director Datuk Dr Jennifer Low, Ong, Aeon Co (M) Bhd executive director Poh Ying Loo and general manager Yoshiro Kaya at the signing ceremony in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday

 This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on June 20, 2014.

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