Sunway Velocity set to open Dec 8 with Malaysia’s first AEON MaxValu Prime

PETALING JAYA: Sunway Velocity Mall, KL is set to open this Dec 8. It expects to achieve full occupancy by 2H2017, said Sunway Malls and Theme Parks CEO HC Chan.

“To date, we have achieved 90% sign-up. When we open in December, we should be achieving an 80% shop opening rate,” Chan told TheEdgeProperty.com.

Sunway Velocity Mall is part of the 23-acre Sunway Velocity integrated development comprising residential, commercial, healthcare and retail components. The RM4.5 billion development is located near Cheras, about 3km away from the Kuala Lumpur city centre.

The mall has a gross floor area of 1.5 million sq ft and a net lettable area (NLA) of 1 million sq ft.

According to Chan, there will be 12 key tenants occupying 40% of the NLA of which three are anchor tenants and nine are mini anchor tenants.

The mall’s key partners include Parkson, AEON MaxValu Prime, TGV Cinemas, Uniqlo, Padini Concept Store, JD Sports, Harvey Norman, CHi-X Fitness, Home’s Harmony, Popular Bookstore, Toys “R” US and Grand Imperial.

“AEON MaxValu Prime will be a new concept store by AEON and the one at Sunway Velocity Mall will be the third in the world after Japan and Hong Kong.

“On top of that, TGV Cinemas will be opening its fifth IMAX cinema, offering what is expected to be the biggest IMAX screen in Peninsular Malaysia. The third CHi-X Fitness, a sister brand to the existing CHi Fitness clubs — a leading home-grown fitness chain in Malaysia, will also be here,” said Chan.

“There are many high-end supermarkets but we differentiate ourselves by embodying the AEON DNA, bringing in in-house brands and imported Japanese-made products,” AEON MaxValu general manager Toshiniro Ozawa told TheEdgeProperty.com, adding that the group expects 2,000 paying customers daily which is 10% of the projected shopping mall’s crowd.

Ozawa added that AEON MaxValu’s expansion plan is to open three new stores next year and it has identified a few other prime locations within the Klang Valley.

Meanwhile, CHi-X Fitness Sunway Velocity Club general manager Low Kang Sheng highlighted that their latest addition at Sunway Velocity will feature upgraded versions of their existing CHi-X Nexus Bangsar South and CHi-X Da:Men USJ’s GRID functional training zones and Power House main studios.

“We expect a great response from the local community just as our CHi-X Nexus Bangsar South did and I believe existing fitness goers as well as newcomers will find our CHi-X experience fun, refreshing and affordable,” Low added.

Sunway has invested some RM500 million to improve the infrastructure surrounding the development as well as to build more than 6,500 car park bays.

On whether there are too many malls being developed, Chan noted there will be enough demand by Malaysians for the new tenants and shops in Sunway Velocity Mall. “If you look at the Cheras market today, there is a void in terms of a world-class mall, carefully integrated developments and a mass cluster of retail brand offerings covering fashion, leisure and entertainment, and food and beverage. There are easily more than 100 tamans in Cheras itself and I think Cheras is underserved despite the largely affluent urbane market,” said Chan.

Chan stressed that Sunway is not just a shopping mall developer but a lifestyle community developer.

“You know, when I first started out in this industry some 33 years back, the F&B section constituted less than 5% of a mall. Today, they take up more than 30% of space in the mall. Not only that, the leisure and entertainment section has hit more than half of the mall space. So, I wouldn’t call it a shopping mall anymore. It is a lifestyle mall, whereby people are coming for the experience and that is what we want to give them,” said Chan.

“What is important in this current market is that we continue to meet the needs of our customers. It is not about what Sunway wants, but what the market wants today. We also want to make sure our tenants continue to trade profitably and sustainably,” Chan concluded.

This story first appeared in TheEdgeProperty.com pullout on Oct 21, 2016, which comes with The Edge Financial Daily every Friday. Download TheEdgeProperty.com pullout here for free.