Jurong area to offer more retail options

The retail scene in the Jurong Gateway area is set to become more vibrant with the addition of Jem, developed by Lend Lease.

Many expect its retail traffic to be supported by the heavy concentration of people living and working in the west.

Suburban malls have always been a bit dowdy compared to the fancier malls in the city. But with Singapore growing rapidly, the retail landscape is also changing.

The Jurong Gateway area will soon be transformed, as it rides on the development of the surrounding Jurong Lake District.

Paul Walker, project development director of the Jurong Gateway Project at Lend Lease, said: “With new shopping centres, the amount of new retail space means more competition for retail, and that means suburban malls are the next wave of growth in Singapore.”

While analysts do not expect rents in suburban malls to grow at rates above city malls, competition for space has seen tenants in city malls venture into the suburban fringes.

And Singapore’s third largest suburban shopping mall will be in Jurong Gateway.

Called Jem, the new mall will open in the second quarter of 2013, with 818,000 square feet of gross floor area, half of which is already leased out to anchor tenants including Cathay Cineplex, Robinsons and NTUC FairPrice.

The development will also have an office space tower with 345,000 square feet of gross floor area. The office space has been fully leased by three tenants – the Ministry of National Development, Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority and the Building and Construction Authority.

Lend Lease is targeting 20 million visits per year when Jem opens, tapping on the 20 per cent of Singapore’s population residing in that area.

Ku Swee Yong, CEO of International Property Advisor, said: “Jurong Gateway is part of the overall redevelopment of the Jurong Lake District and the potential there is pretty good because it is a very comprehensively thought out plan to bring business and finance into Jurong district. Jem itself would have enough components within it; on its own, it can be a destination.”

Also in the pipeline for Jurong Gateway is another mall jointly developed by CapitaLand and two of its subsidiaries, CapitaMalls Asia and CapitaMall Trust Management.

Other malls in the Jurong area include the upcoming Jcube, IMM and Jurong Point.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 27 Jul 2011