Westgate – a new mall for S’pore shoppers

January 13, 2012

Residents at Jurong will soon have a retail mall that’s more than half the size of ION Orchard right at their doorstep.

Located at Jurong Gateway, Westgate – a mixed development project is expected to offer international and high street fashion, dining options as well as office space.

The S$1.5 billion project broke ground on Thursday.

Jointly developed by CapitaMalls Asia, CapitaMall Trust and CapitaLand, the project is slated to open by end-2014 and it’s expected to serve some one million people living and working in the area.

Lee Yi Shyan, Minister of State for Trade and Industry & National Development, said: “In the next 10-15 years, Jurong will become the largest commercial hub outside the city centre. Along with Tampines Centre, Paya Lebar Central and Kallang Riverside, Jurong will be the regional commercial centre for western Singapore.”

The industrial estate’s turnaround will get a further boost when a hotel site under the Government Land Sales Programme’s Reserve List is released in May.

The one-hectare hotel site at the Jurong Town Hall Road is expected to yield over 500 rooms and have 3,150 square metres of commercial space.

To date, several commercial developments are coming on stream and a residential site in the area was also sold recently.

And despite the uncertain economic outlook, Westgate’s developers are confident about the prospects for retail and office tenancy.

Lim Beng Chee, CEO of CapitaMalls Asia, said: “By itself, it’s a very attractive proposition plus also in terms of the overall cost and ambience, it’s going to be a lot better.

“The combination of the work-play will actually attract a lot of office users to come over to this location.”

CapitaMalls Asia said rents at Westgate mall could hover around S$16 to S$18 per square foot.

The seven-storey shopping mall will open by the end of next year.

Design firm Benoy and RSP Architects Planners & Engineers – both consultants for ION Orchard and Jcube – were tapped to work on the development on the 594,000 sq ft mall.

Westgate will have direct connection to the MRT and bus interchanges.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 12 Jan 2012