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发表于 5-12-2007 02:05 PM
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3 Dec 2007: City & Country: New mall springs up in Kuching
While some developers dream of building houses or shophouses, James Ling has always wanted to build a mall. That dream has become a reality — The Spring, Kuching's first lifestyle retail centre, opens its doors on Jan 9 next year. He's also a proud father to have four of his five children working alongside him in realising his goal. His son, Ronald, is the quantity surveyor, while daughters Joanna is project coordinator, Christine is the assistant centre manager and Laura is a leasing executive.
Perhaps, some credit should go to his brood who contributed to his inspiration in building the mall. "My children were educated in New Zealand and I used to spend quite a lot of time there. There was nothing much to do except visit the shopping malls and I became fascinated with them," he tells City & Country.
The 60-year-old managing director of PE Land Sdn Bhd (owners of The Spring) says the lack of a lifestyle retail centre in Kuching was another factor that pushed him to build The Spring. "We're so fond of building shophouses as they are easier to sell, but I feel they are not the most efficient in terms of business. The nett area wastage is high and it's difficult to set up a fashion store in a shophouse, for example," he explains.
Ling is not new to the property industry. He started out as a civil structure engineer before he formed a construction company called Perbena Emas Sdn Bhd. The company is involved mainly in the construction of government buildings but it has also built landed homes before. Perbena Emas is now the contractor for The Spring.
First time names in Kuching
The idea for the 2½-storey mall, with 450,000 sq ft of net lettable area, was put in motion four years ago. Located at the edge of the city and near the Swinburne University of Technology and federal government buildings, it is surrounded by higher-end neighbourhoods. It will have Parkson as its anchor tenant, taking up 100,000 sq ft of space. There will be a gourmet supermarket offering exclusive imported products, an eight-screen cineplex with 1,400 seats and a food court incorporating five restaurants in it besides the food stalls.
But the buzz about The Spring is the number of first-time retailers coming to Kuching. Among them are fashion names like Guess, Esprit, Ms Read, Padini Concept Store and Bonia.
With about 70% of its retailers boasting regional and international brands, it is not surprising that many are looking forward to the mall's opening. However, Joanna, who is also PE Land's general manager, says that was not the case when the company started building The Spring two years ago.
"Many thought my father's idea was crazy. The older generation is not used to change. I consider The Spring not just a change but a quantum leap where shopping malls are concerned," she says.
But now that the physical structure is up and the mall no longer a concept, many are beginning to accept the idea, even the Kuching retailers who are used to operating from shophouses, says adds.
"I'm quite relieved that all of it is finally falling into place," she says. The landscape architect was working in Kuala Lumpur for five years before she decided to return to Kuching to join her father.
"It wasn't planned. It just happened," she says of her role in PE Land and of her siblings who are also now working with their father. The two years that it took for The Spring to come up has been a steep learning curve for Joanna, but she says she would not have had this kind of opportunity anywhere else.
"My father is a man with forward-looking ideas, but is a traditionalist when it comes to family values. He's excited that we're all working on this together," she adds.
No doubt, it's difficult to separate home and work, but it has all worked out well so far, she says.
A spring is discovered
After purchasing a 12-acre plot in 1994, Ling started planning The Spring as a 1-storey mall, which, Joanna recalls, looked like any other mall — glazed tiles façade and all. The financial crisis of 1997/1998 changed things. The project was put on hold until four years ago when Ling felt confident to move ahead. By then, he had hired a New Zealand architect Barry Dacombe of Warren & Mahoney Ltd to conceptualise the mall.
"It was something that Kuching had never seen before, so that was why Dacombe told us we needed a retail consultant," says Joanna. That was when they decided to rope in Regroup Associates.
A study on the behaviour patterns of shoppers was carried out in at least five centres to find out what they bought, the frequency of their purchase, the duration of their trips and how much they spent per trip. From the findings, Regroup recommended that they expand the mall.
According to Regroup's managing director Allan Soo, the total supply of retail space in Kuching is half the size of a megamall in Kuala Lumpur, while Petaling Jaya has almost the same total household income with six times the amount of retail space. "Kuching is definitely ready for something like The Spring," he says, adding that its good mix of trade and tenant will ensure its sustainability in the long term. There are a total of 155 shops planned, of which 30% will be for food and beverage.
"We felt that it was time to bring the city up to speed in the region and The Spring gives many retailers in Kuala Lumpur the opportunity to look outside the crowded market in the Klang Valley," says Soo.
"There's no competition for them in Kuching because the market is not saturated. It's a new frontier for them," he shares. He says over 50% of the retailers are from Kuala Lumpur, while the balance are franchisers and Kuching retailers.
Joanna says The Spring is unique in that it is one of the largest tracts of retail development land in Kuching. Out of the 12 acres, nine have been dedicated to The Spring while two have been planned for a business hotel and one acre was taken up by infrastructure. There is a tree-covered car park with 1,500 bays. There are no dead alleys.
Dare to be different
Soo and the Ling family are excited about the food court. He says it's similar to Thailand's Siam Paragon or the Food Republic@The Pavilion in Kuala Lumpur. "The whole idea is to be different. That's how we attract people."
The food court houses five restaurants and all the stalls are located in the middle. Soo says the look is seamless throughout the hall. This has attracted operators "who cannot wait to come in". However, he says Regroup is keeping a tight control on who comes in. "We want to attract the right kind of food operators to ensure the success of the food court." There are now 34 stalls, carts and kiosks.
According to Joanna, the mall is already close to being 80% leased. Soo expects it to be 90% filled by April next year and fully occupied in the later part of 2008. Both of them agree that it has not been easy to get the retailers in, especially the locals.
"Many of the local retailers have adopted a wait-and-see attitude. That is why we're setting our rents lower than the other shopping malls," says Joanna.
However, if one were to compare The Spring's rate of an average of RM5 psf with the standard 1,500 sq ft shoplots which rent for RM3,000 to RM4,000 per month, The Spring is considered expensive, concedes Soo.
Nonetheless, he is confident that The Spring will generate 1.2 million to 1.5 million visitors monthly or 15 million to 18 million a year. This will amount to 50% to 60% share of the total traffic to malls in Kuching.
For Ling senior, the next challenge is putting up the business hotel on the two-acre plot across the road from The Spring. "We have the plans but they are not finalised and at the moment, I'd like to concentrate on The Spring," he says.
The company has over 300 acres of landbank in Kuching, but Ling is in no hurry to start anything soon. "If the opportunity presents itself, I may build another mall, though," he says.
资料来源：The Edge Daily |
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