TRX retail mall gets three anchor tenants
KUALA LUMPUR: More than a quarter of the net lettable area (NLA) of retail space at Lendlease’s Lifestyle Quarter in the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) has been successfully leased to three anchor tenants.
Lendlease Development Malaysia Sdn Bhd managing director Stuart Mendel told reporters at a luncheon that 26% of its 1.3 million square feet will be occupied by Seibu, a new-to-market leading Japanese departmental store, an upscale supermarket brand by Dairy Farm Group of Hong Kong, as well as a new concept in cinema and entertainment by Golden Screen Cinemas.
Lendlease, an Australia-based property and infrastructure group, has a 60% stake in the joint venture (JV) with TRX City Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Malaysian Ministry of Finance, holding the remaining 40%.
Lendlease’s lifestyle quarters occupy up to a quarter of TRX’s total 70 acres and will be the heartbeat of the financial centre.
Mendel said the total gross floor area was about 5.5 million sq ft, which means there will be a lot of open space.
“TRX will be really different (from other retail malls). There is nothing similar to it in the country at the moment,” Mendel said, adding that the team was working to secure the first 50% of the leases currently.
A number of the retailers would be opening their flagship stores at TRX, said Mendel.
By February 2018, Lendlease aims to work on the second 50% of the leases.
It is working on 20% of the NLA to be food and beverage-based, with the option to raise this to a third of NLA when needed.
On the oversupply of mall space in the country currently and the challenge posed by online retail, Mendel said the plan is to offer shoppers an experience like no other.
“We will get them out of their homes,” said Mendel.
The catalyst will be the seamless MRT connectivity which opens on to the mall’s lower level. Despite the public rail connection, there will be 2,700 car park bays for the retail portion. Three levels will sit above ground level.
The other catalyst is the 10-acre public park, said Mendel. “TRX will be a destination,” he added.
He declined to detail rental rates and the tenure of their anchors other than that the retail portion would be the first to be completed by 2020.
Besides retail, the lifestyle quarter will also have 2,400 high-rise residential units spread over six blocks. Mendel said there would be 900 units in the first phase, but it would not put all 900 on sale. Builtup areas of the units range between 500 sq ft and 2,000 sq ft.
“We will have a multi-country approach and we will launch in different countries,” he said.
Besides TRX, Lendlease has also commenced construction of phase 2 of Setia City Mall, Shah Alam. The mall is owned by Greenhill Resources Sdn Bhd, a JV between Asian Retail Investment Fund 2, a Lendlease managed fund, and SP Setia Bhd.
The extension will add 400,000 sq ft of space, bringing the combined lettable floor area to 1.2 million sq ft. Middle East-based retailer LULU will operate a departmental store and a supermarket, occupying more than a third of the extension.