Dutch mall developer eyes Thailand, VN
ECC Intl budgets $500m for six properties after project in Chiang Mai
Netherlands-based mall developer ECC International Real Estate yesterday announced a five-year plan to invest between US$400 million and $500 million (Bt12.5 billion to Bt15.6 billion) to develop five or six malls in Thailand and Vietnam.
The move follows ECC’s existing investment of Bt2.9 billion to develop its first resort-style mall, Promenada, in Chiang Mai, which is scheduled to open in December next year.
Tjeert Kwant, president and chief executive offficer of ECC International Real Estate, said the company would announce details of its second mall-development project in Thailand, a community mall in Bangkok, in the second week of January. The community mall will also be called Promenada.
“In addition to our first resort-style mall in Chiang Mai, there are two mall projects under consideration. One of these is the development of a community mall in Bangkok,” Kwant said.
The Chiang Mai mall, located on a 58-rai (9.3-hectare) plot on New Chiang Mai-Sankamphaeng Road, will cater to about 350 retail tenants in a two-storey, low-rise complex. The mall will occupy about 90,000 square metres in gross area, of which 50,000sqm will be leaseable space.
Construction of the main building is 20 per cent complete.
The company has already signed lease contracts of more than 20 years’ duration with several major tenants. Next year, it will focus on smaller tenants with leases of between three and six years.
“We expect the break-even point on our investment in the first Promenada shopping mall in Chiang Mai to come in about seven or eight years,” Kwant said.
“Chiang Mai is a very creative city. Shoppers in Chiang Mai like to go to shopping centres and hypermarkets that are easy to access, as they want to avoid traffic congestion in the city area.
“They have rated our Promenada shopping mall at the top of their list,” he said.
The strength of Promenada shopping centre is its combination of a resort-style mall with a large outdoor garden, he said.
Kwant said ECC International Real Estate would announce its first project in Vietnam, a mall in Ho Chi Minh City, in the next three months.
“Vietnam is recognised as a different kind of market from Thai-land, and our first shopping mall in Ho Chi Minh will have a ‘downtown mall’ concept with a small footprint and maximum utilisation of retail space,” Kwant said.
The company decided to shift its investment focus from Europe to Southeast Asia about six years ago as the shopping-mall market in Europe is reaching saturation. As an entrepreneurial business, the company wanted to be in on the growth market in this region.
“We’re entrepreneurial, and we have started our business in Thailand with a good feeling. We feel the potential is 100 per cent both in Thailand and Vietnam,” Kwant said.
