Suburban malls in the spotlight as retail heads to the heartlands

65% of new retail supply is in the OCR.

Retail experience in Singapore will become an increasingly suburban affair as more malls sprout up in the heartlands, according to a report by DBS.

DBS noted that majority of shopping mall completions in the past year have been located at the suburbs, such as One KM in Tanjong Katong, Big Box in Jurong East, Paya Lebar Square in Paya Lebar, and Seletar Mall in Seletar.

In coming years, new retail supply will be heavily skewed to the suburbs, with around 65% of gross floor area (GFA) located in the Outside Central Region (OCR). A large proportion of OCR retail supply will be in the East, which has lower-than-average space per resident.

Among the largest suburban retail projects in the pipeline are Waterway Point in Punggol (2015), Northpoint City in Yishun (2017) and Changi Jewel (2018).

This is in line with the government’s strategy of decentralising and creating regional “work, live, play” hubs.

“As a result, we have seen many retailers (such as Zara, Coach, Kate Spade, and Isetan) that were previously only in the Orchard Road area, moving into suburban shopping malls, in order to directly cater to residents living in the area,” said DBS.