Japanese retail developmen
begins to show signs of life

Royal Ahold to quit Southeast Asia

Asia-Pacific’s largest mall set
to open in KL this October

First Courts store opens in Phuket

100 Lotus Supercenters in
China by 2006: CP Group

Revamps, renovations,
repositioning — S’pore malls go
all out to lure shoppers

HK’s CRE to slow expansion
plans in China

Schroder buys first retail
property in HK

Ikea’s largest Asian store
opens in Shanghai

Taipei 101 Mall set to open later
this year

Malls in S’pore fight back SARS
scare

OG to leave Great World City in
S’pore when its lease expires

More outlets outside Bangkok:
SF Cinema

Thailand’s Seacon Square earmarks Bt107 million for upgrades

 

OG TO LEAVE GREAT WORLD CITY IN S’PORE WHEN ITS LEASE EXPIRES

OG Chinatown opened last year after a S$30 million redevelopment

Singapore department store operator OG will vacate its 67,000 sqf outlet at Great World City in the River Valley area when its lease there expires this November.

Allgreen Properties, the mall’s developer, is currently considering proposals, such as renting the two-level space out to a single operator or splitting the area to house several junior anchors. Among the options being considered is letting the space to foreign tenants, or to a major fashion retailer in Singapore, or renting out the first level to fashion boutiques and the second level to a retail outlet that sells lifestyle products.
OG has been Great World City’s anchor tenant since the shopping center opened almost six years ago. The store is OG’s only leased premises, and sources say it’s the group’s worst-performing store. OG’s three other outlets are located in OG Building in Orchard Road, OG Chinatown—which reopened last year after a S$30 million (US$17.1 million) redevelopment that roughly doubled the size of the original building, and another at Albert Complex in the Rochor area.

Great World City was opened in 1997 amidst the Asian financial crisis. But the mall has been doing well since its opening and its 400,000 sqf of retail space is currently almost fully let.

Meanwhile at OG-owned Orchard Point mall, Australian fabric and craft retailer Spotlight will leave the mall’s third floor and move to Plaza Singapura’s fifth level. Plaza Singapura is also in the Orchard area and is owned by CapitaLand.

OG plans to refurbish Orchard Point mall, which has five levels, including a basement. With Spotlight’s impending departure and because most tenants on levels one and four will leave soon ahead of the planned renovation, OG hopes to move its retail outlet in the nearby OG Building into Orchard Point by year-end. The group is mulling options to sell or lease out the smallish freehold OG Building.

Sources say the basement of the Orchard Point mall will continue to be occupied by food outlets after the renovation, which will focus mainly on the interior, including removing the two curved escalators at its podium.

Over at Plaza Singapura, Spotlight will occupy about 20,000 sqf on the fifth floor. It is expected to open the store in the third quarter.