Riverwalk Mall eyes 80% occupancy by year-end

KUALA LUMPUR: Low Yat Group’s Riverwalk Mall along Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur, is targeting an 80% take-up of its 220,000 sq ft leasing space by year-end.

The mall is currently 65% tenanted after welcoming Carrefour Market — positioned as a mid to high-end supermarket — as its first anchor tenant yesterday. This will mark the fifth such outlet for the French retailer in the country.

The new supermarket along with the mall is expected to open for business in the first quarter of 2012, said Low Su-Ming, managing director of Sem Siong Industries and executive director of the Low Yat Group after the signing ceremony between Sem Siong and Carrefour.

She said the group is very careful about its tenant mix as they want to service the needs of people across various income levels in the area which has seen the addition of more affluent residents moving into upscale developments in the area.

Riverwalk Mall is part of Riverwalk Village, a sprawling eight-block retail development fashioned from the current old warehouses and Art Deco-style buildings on the site that go back to the 1940s. The mall entails the refurbishment of a warehouse at a cost of RM40 million, said Low.

Riverwalk Village in turn is part of the freehold nine-acre Rivercity project, a mixed-development which includes three 28-storey condominium blocks that are already completed, office suites, a serviced apartment block and a hotel.

Riverwalk is expected to open in early 2012.

“We require a point of difference (for the mall). The strategic lots around the Riverwalk Mall will be anchored by food and beverage outlets that evoke the charm of the old buildings here,” Low said.

Besides the locals from the immediate area, Carrefour Market also hopes to tap into the Bangsar, Mont’Kiara, Sri Hartamas, Taman Duta, Bukit Damansara, Ampang, Gombak and Setapak areas.

Rivercity is part of the group’s efforts to rejuvenate the Jalan Ipoh area.

This article appeared on the Property page, The Edge Financial Daily, June 17, 2011.