CapitaLand

CapitaLand group of companies: The upcoming Westgate mall development in Jurong East has seen healthy interest a year ahead of its targeted opening in Dec next year. CMA, CMT and CapitaLand, which own the mixed development through a JV, said that to date, about half the retail space has been pre-leased. This is despite rents being generally higher than at CMA's two other Jurong East properties, IMM Building and JCube. Westgate commands rents of $16 - 18 psf pm - at the upper end of the $10 to $18 psf pm for all three properties. Among the Westgate mall's anchor tenants are Isetan, which will run its first supermarket outside Orchard Road, and Food Republic; other tenants include Yamaha music school, Paradise Dynasty restaurant and Paul Bakery. The mall will have a net lettable area of 416k sg - about the same size as the retail area in Raffles City Singapore. The venture said that the mall would tap a captive market of more than a million people living or working in western Singapore, though its catchment will come from across the island. That the mall will be connected to the Ng Teng Fong General Hospital and LendLease's JEM mall will bring it traffic; its link to the Jurong East MRT station and proximity to the Jurong East bus interchange will also bring some 1.8 m. Besides the seven floors of shops of this family and lifestyle mall, Westgate will have a 20-storey office building called Westgate Tower, into which the CapitaLand Group will move from end-2014. The Westgate development is part of Jurong Gateway, which the URA has earmarked as one of three key commercial hubs outside the city centre that will provide jobs closer to where people live.