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The
Straits Times, 24 Sep 04
Big names, big plans for largest S'pore mall
15-screen cineplex and 120,000 sq ft hypermart at VivoCity
By Daryl Loo
OPENING day is at least two years away, but Singapore's largest mall
has already signed up two anchor tenants - cinema operator Golden
Village and retail group Dairy Farm, both of which will offer new
business concepts.
The centrepiece of the 24ha HarbourFront precinct, VivoCity will include
a 300m promenade along the harbour front and a big amphitheatre. It
will be ready in late 2006. Together, the two tenants will occupy
a fifth of the space in VivoCity - previously called HarbourFront
Mall - which is being built at the former site of the World Trade
Centre.
When it is completed in late 2006, the 1.1 million sq ft mall will
boast a 15-screen, 2,500-seat Golden Village multiplex, Singapore's
largest so far. The multiplex will include a business class cinema
- where tickets will cost more and art house and film festival programmes
will be screened throughout the year. Golden Village will also hold
all its movie previews and premieres at the multiplex. Dairy Farm,
which operates the Cold Storage supermarket and Giant hypermarket
chains here, plans to set up a yet-to-be branded hypermart covering
around 120,000 sq ft.
VivoCity's developer, Mapletree Investments, revealed the names of
its first two major tenants at a glitzy event yesterday, when it unveiled
the new name for the mall. Related links Watch Channel i news clip
Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan was the special guest at the bash,
which was attended by representatives from major retailers.
According to a Mapletree spokesman, another 30 per cent of the retail
space in the mall has prospective takers, whose names will be revealed
when the deals are concluded. The company's chairman, Mr Edmund Cheng,
said that Mapletree is willing to peg a substantial portion of the
rents it will charge to the performance of its tenants. He declined
to provide further details of the rental arrangements, but said that
the percentage of the fixed and variable components will vary with
the kind of retailer.
The three-storey mall will include a 300m promenade along the harbour
front, a 1,000-seat amphitheatre, as well as a water feature four
times the size of an Olympic-size swimming pool on the top floor.
This floor will be linked to Sentosa Island by a new monorail, which
is currently being constructed. The mall will be the centrepiece of
the 24ha HarbourFront precinct, first conceived in 1997 as a world-class
waterfront city. The area encompasses offices at the 18-level HarbourFront
Towers, a luxury cruise centre at the 13-level HarbourFront Centre,
and the 969-unit Caribbean At Keppel Bay condominiums developed by
Keppel Land. |
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