Things you didn't know about CapitaMalls Asia's Grand Canyon Mall in Beijing

Its monthly footfall is over 1m.

According to DBS, CMA has announced it has won the right to buy the Grand Canyon Mall in Beijing for RMB1.82b from Capital Airports Real Estate Group Co Ltd. This works out to be RMB26,000 psm, close to the estimated replacement cost of properties in that area.

The deal is subject to approval by Ministry of Finance and Commerce in China.

Here's more from DBS:

CMA will offer CRCT to buy the asset via a right-of-first-refusal (ROFR) and CRCT has simultaneously exercised the ROFR to purchase the property. If successful, this will be the group’s 10th asset in Beijing, giving it a platform of scale in the region.

The Grand Canyon Mall is located in Fengtai, one of the six core districts in Beijing. According to details furnished by management, Fengtai has an existing population of 2.2m. Retail sales grew at a 5 year CAGR of 11.7% between 2007 to 2012, and urban disposable income per capita grew 11.5% to reach c.Rmb 34,200 in 2012.

The mall will also stand to benefit from government support of the region: the 2nd South Beijing 3-Year plan details a Rmb 130bn investment programme for Fengtai. The Lize Business Centre, located 3km from the mall, will be developed to become Beijing’s 2nd major financial and business district.

Good connectivity and accessibility, with large catchment. The mall is located within a 5 minute walk of the Majiapu Subway Station of Line 4, the main line connecting Beijing’s north-south bound traffic.

It is 1 subway stop from the Beijing South Railway station, which is a major terminal for high-speed trains to and from Shanghai, Tianjin and Qingdao.

It is also in close proximity to 4 major bus stops serving c.40 bus services. Management estimates that there are >55,000 residents and office workers within a 10 minute walking distance, and >650,000 residents and office workers within a 5-km radius.

According to management, the mall has an average monthly footfall of >1million – a noteworthy detail given that it is only 3 years old. The anchor tenant is Carrefour, which occupies c.15-20% of the mall by NLA. Other key tenants include Poly Cinema, H&M, Gap Sephora and Watsons.

As competing shopping options in the area are mainly traditional department stores and hypermarkets, management intends to position this mall as a one-stop mall for necessity shopping and essential services.