Shopping galore: CapitaLand has got some competition

The spotlight is on the Jurong Lake district. Hot on the heels of CapitaLand’s announcement to erect a 575,000 sq ft mall on the parcel next to the Jurong East MRT station, Lend Lease unveiled its plan to develop Singapore’s third largest suburban mall, spanning 818,000 sq ft, on the site next door. In addition, the area is home to two major malls – IMM (409,000 sq ft) and JCube (204,000 sq ft) – owned by CapitaLand’s REIT entity.

While suburban malls are getting bigger and glitzier, it is unprecedented to have not one, but three regional malls, a stone’s throw away from each other. The latest slew of supply will take the mall tally in the area to almost 1.6 million sq ft, dwarfing HarbourFront’s 1.2 million sq ft comprising VivoCity and HarbourFront Centre.

Helmed by two seasoned retail developers, shoppers can expect a whole new retail experience. The sheer size of the respective malls pose an opportunity for unique positioning and trade mix that differ from those in city areas, where land is scarce and more expensive. For example, the malls could accommodate more big-format stores and lifestyle zones, such as the water skypark in VivoCity and the pet enclave at Nex mall.

As it is, Lend Lease has unveiled that its Jurong mall, to be called Jem, will have the largest cineplex in the west with eight commercial halls and two platinum movie suites. Around 50% of the mall has been pre-let, mostly to six anchor tenants. Among them, Robinsons have committed to lease a sizeable 85,000 sq ft of space while FairPrice Xtra will operate a 70,000 sq ft hypermart.

In the meantime, IMM, JCube and CapitaLand’s latest mall could be synergised and transformed into a multi-themed megacomplex. While JCube is already positioned as an entertainment zone, IMM could feature more big-format stores. The group plans to have mini-anchor tenants for its latest mall.

In terms of potential catchment for the malls, it is said that Jurong Gateway, the newly coined name for the area around the Jurong East MRT station, will be two and a half times the size of Tampines Regional Centre.

The latter is currently home to three major malls – Century Square (200,000 sq ft), Tampines 1 (260,000 sq ft) and Tampines Mall (328,000 sq ft). Jurong Gateway is envisaged to be the biggest commercial hub outside the city with 5.4 million sq ft of office space, 2.7 million sq ft of retail, F&B and entertainment space, 2,800 hotel rooms, and at least 1,000 new homes. Meanwhile, the office towers at CapitaLand’s and Lend Lease’s projects will constitute an immediate source of shopper traffic for the malls.