The Starling Mall expects 100% occupancy by end of the year

PETALING JAYA (May 25): See Hoy Chan Sdn Bhd Group, the developer of The Starling Mall located in Damansara Uptown, Damansara Utama, is confident of achieving full occupancy for the mall by the year end.

The mall is currently 90% tenanted, with 80% of the tenants having opened their shops.

“The remaining tenants will be opening their shops in the next two months after the fitting out process. We already have very strong food and beverage tenants of about 30%, so we are looking to bring in more service-oriented tenants such as beauty and wellness to serve the needs of the community living here,” See Hoy Chan CEO Joe Tan told the media after the official opening of the mall today.

The five-storey mall with a net lettable area of 451,000 sq ft boasts a 50,000 sq ft landscaped rooftop park and a 27,500 sq ft ground level park. Its tenant mix so far includes Jaya Grocer, CHi-X Fitness, Oriental Group’s Tang Room and MBO Cinema. The mall has a gross development value of RM600 million.

According to Tan, the group went ahead to open the mall despite the current retail mall glut in the Klang Valley. It is confident with the location of the mall that offers a strong shopper catchment in the vicinity. The group is expecting a yield of 6% from the mall.  

“We have some 20,000-strong white-collar office workers in our existing four fully populated office tower blocks as well as from the 394 existing four-storey shop offices in the area. We also have an upcoming 31-storey office block, Uptown 8, with a net lettable area of approximately 500,000 sq ft, set for completion three years from now. That will add some additional 5,000 working population into the area,” said Tan, adding that there are some 30,000 visitors to the mall on an average day.

He also noted that the surrounding residential neighbourhood including its 380-unit residential condominium block, Uptown Residences, as well as the recently completed 211-room Somerset Damansara Uptown, linked to the mall will add more footfalls to the mall.

The group also recently completed a RM12 million beutification project including landscaping and upgrading of the kerb and road systems in Damansara Uptown to promote a greener, pedestrian-friendly environment.