CapitaLand marks record year of 1 million square metres of retail space offering with opening of largest mall in Suzhou, east China
300,000 sq m Suzhou Center Mall is the Group’s largest mall boasting over 600 retail brands housed within an architectural masterpiece
Singapore, 13 November 2017 – CapitaLand caps a record year of shopping mall openings with the unveiling of Suzhou Center Mall, its first mall in Suzhou, east China and the largest mall in its portfolio. Located in the heart of the western central business district (CBD) of Suzhou Industrial Park, right next to the renowned Jinji Lake and traditional Suzhou city centre, the landmark retail development is the largest mall in the city, spanning close to 300,000 square metres (sq m) in gross floor area (GFA) excluding car park – more than three times the size of ION Orchard in Singapore. Held up as a symbol of close Sino-Singapore ties, Suzhou Center Mall is an urban icon set to propel Suzhou’s urbanisation drive with an innovative architectural design, highly anticipated retail offerings and extensive public spaces that uplift the quality of community life.
The sprawling Suzhou Center Mall is the centrepiece of the Suzhou Center integrated development that also comprises four Grade A office towers, two luxury residential towers and the W Suzhou hotel tower, which are all interconnected. With a total GFA of 1.13 million sq m served by a newly built 1,570-metre underground tunnel leading to its basement car park and directly linked to two metro lines, Suzhou Center is positioned as the city’s new CBD and is master developed by Suzhou Hengtai Holding Group Co., Ltd, which is owned by the Suzhou Industrial Park government. CapitaLand, through its wholly owned shopping business CapitaLand Mall Asia, is the co-owner and co-developer for the shopping mall and two 21-storey office towers. The latter began operations earlier in 3Q this year.
Mr Lim Ming Yan, CEO of CapitaLand Limited, said: “The successful opening of Suzhou Center Mall caps a record year for CapitaLand. Close to one million sq m of retail GFA across eight1 developments turned operational in 2017, marking our largest ever retail GFA offering in a single year. Suzhou Center represents a new frontier in our design, development and master planning capabilities – to provide quality real estate products and solutions that meet the evolving aspirations and needs of consumers, while embracing a community-centric approach and smart urban solutions to create a sustainable built environment that pays tribute to Suzhou’s rich cultural heritage and the site’s location next to the historic Jinji Lake. We are confident that the carefully curated tenant mix within Suzhou Center Mall and the public spaces around it will be well used and loved by the community, and accentuate the quality retail experience that CapitaLand has come to be known for.”
Mr Jason Leow, CEO of CapitaLand Mall Asia, said: “The opening of Suzhou Center Mall, an architectural masterpiece that is also our largest and most comprehensive shopping mall to date, marks a new milestone for CapitaLand. The continued confidence of our tenants in expanding their presence in the region with CapitaLand underscores the value of our retail platform in connecting retailers to ready catchments of shoppers with purchasing power. As we increase CapitaLand’s recurring income base with the opening of new malls, we will also continue to enhance our retail scale and network through acquisitions and management contracts; as well as reconstitute our portfolio to achieve an optimal asset mix that provides us with stability and a strong recurring income stream. As of 30 September 2017, about 85% of CapitaLand’s total assets contribute to recurring income, of which shopping malls and integrated developments form the bulk.”
Designed by multiple award-winning architectural firm Benoy, the seven-storey Suzhou Center Mall (with six levels above ground and one retail basement level) is a new city landmark crowned with a gently undulating roof that is the world’s largest free-form monocoque roof at over 36,000 sq m. Shaped like a pair of phoenix’s wings to symbolise Suzhou’s growth taking flight, the magnificent multi-coloured roof is made up of 6,947 pieces of uniquely-shaped curved glass.
Suzhou Center Mall boasts 60,000 sq m of lush greenery across its numerous outdoor terraces, rooftops and the landscaped cantilever bridges that extend from two ends of the mall to the lakefront. A 45-metre-wide and 25-metre-high water curtain adorns the mall’s façade facing Jinji Lake. In front of the western entrance is a 1,600 sq m semi-outdoor courtyard, the designated venue for large-scale public events. Two giant LED screens – each measuring 20 metres in height and 70 metres in width – artfully integrated with the design of the monocoque roof, offer stunning picture quality when turned on.
The strong value proposition of Suzhou Center Mall as a premium urban lifestyle centre with a strategic location in a fast-growing Chinese city has attracted keen interest from retailers. The mall opened with a high commitment of more than 90% for its net lettable area of approximately 152,000 sq m. Anchor tenants among the mall’s over 600 brands include Suzhou’s first CGV cinemas, Suzhou’s first Fanpekka children’s theme park, Suzhou’s first indoor simulated counter strike gaming centre, an Olympic-size ice rink operated by Champion Rink, OLE gourmet supermarket and Food Member foodcourt. About 30% of the mall’s offerings are new entrants to Suzhou, including Victoria’s Secret, Forever 21 and HAY furniture store. H&M and Zara will operate triplex stores in the mall – their biggest outlets in Suzhou.
In addition to the wide range of fashion and lifestyle choices, Suzhou Center Mall houses over 170 food and beverage options, with diverse cuisines ranging from Szechuan to Spanish. Renowned traditional Suzhou restaurant – Song He Lou – has an outlet in the mall. In addition, a 16,000 sq m children’s zone on Level 3 offers a wide range of entertainment and educational choices catering to families with young children. There is also an art gallery in the mall catering to art lovers.
Leveraging technology to deliver an offline-and-online experience, Suzhou Center Mall offers free full coverage Wi-Fi access. Shoppers can use their mobile devices to seamlessly connect to the mall’s online functionalities, including onsite navigation and digital payment. Interactive touch screens on each floor serve as information hubs to provide shoppers with a wealth of information.
The spacious interior of the mall has been carefully designed to maximise shoppers’ comfort and well-being. These include plenty of seating areas for the public and exclusive members’ lounge, in addition to family-friendly facilities such as nursing rooms, a sleeping zone for infants and a play area for toddlers. The mall’s ambient music has been carefully programmed and changes throughout the day. Due attention has been paid to even a minor detail as the mall’s aromatic scent, which is custom made by world-class master perfumers Christophe Laudamiel and Raymond Matts, in collaboration with the world’s only Nobel Prize winning fragrances firm Firmenich.
Suzhou Center Mall is designed as a green oasis that meets local and international design and sustainability standards. The development is dual-certified by China’s Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development as a Two-star Green Building Design Label, and by the United States Green Building Council as LEED Gold. The mall has also been conferred the Gold Award in the Best Chinese Futura Mega Project category at the 2015 MIPIM Asia Awards, and a Highly Commended Award for Retail Architecture in China at the 2016 Asia Pacific Property Awards.
With the opening of Suzhou Center Mall, 61 out of CapitaLand’s total portfolio of 69 owned and managed malls in China are operational. Across Singapore, China, Malaysia, Japan and India, CapitaLand owns and manages 109 malls, of which 95 are operational.
Opening video of Suzhou Center Mall
Fly-through video of Suzhou Center Mall
1They are Raffles City Changning, Raffles City Shenzhen, Raffles City Hangzhou, CapitaMall Westgate, Capital Square and Suzhou Center Mall in China; SingPost Centre in Singapore and Melawati Mall in Malaysia.