MALLS TRANSFORM CITY

 

CHENNAI
And, there was no fresh supply of organised space in this city in the last quarter of 2012, and largely attributed to delays in completions of malls. Chennai saw an absorption of 63,000 sq ft of mall space in the quarter under review, and vacancy rates also dropped to 11.2 per cent. And, about two million sq ft of mall space are currently in advanced stage of completion and nearly 65 per
cent of this space is already pre-leased. This could result in mall rentals rising over the short term, from Rs 135 per sq currently.
 
Existing Malls
EXPRESS AVENUE, CHENNAI
One of Chennai’s largest shopping mall, Express Avenue offers nine lakh sq ft of retail space and it caters to the well heeled residents of the city. A mall with a strong emphasis on entertainment and has the largest gaming arcade in South India, coupled with Escape Cinemas, an eight-screen multiplex which occupies 70,000 sq ft and a capacity for 1,300 people. This mall also caters to the corporate sector with a two lakh sq ft business chamber, one of the first such spaces to be built inside a mall in India.
 
PHOENIX MARKET CITY
A mall spread over a million sq ft and a complete leisure destination, it offers more than 300 stores, along with a 30-room boutique hotel, an apartment complex and an amphitheatre and a club. Designed by Benoy, a Hong Kongbased company; this
mall also emphasises on design elements and has sculptures from artists all over India.
 
Upcoming
GOLD SOUK GRANDE
It will be Chennai’s first large format multispecialty mall and spread across eight lakh sq ft, this mall would be located on the bustling National Highway 45 (GST ROAD), next to Cresent Engineering College and Vandaloor Zoological Park.
It would be anchored by Gold Souk and the target audience would be consumersresiding at a distance of 200 km, including
Thiruvannamalai, Thiruchirappalli, Thanjavur and Coimbatore.
 
MARG JUNCTION MALL
This mall is expected to operational shortly and would have a suitable mix of retail, hotels and service apartments. As part of that strategy, there would be 12 lakh sq ft of retail, a four-star hotel spread across five lakh sq ft and service apartments.
Located on the banks of a perennial water body on OMR, the IT corridor of the city, this mall will target more than half a million IT and BPO professionals close by. It will also offer an ecofriendly entertainment option like picnics for the family, coupled with one of the largest atrium spaces in the city, with a food court that would serve 900 people and a nine-screen multiplex.
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