KUCHING: Sarawak is seeing a continuous increase in space in the retail sector, with new malls to be completed in Kuching soon and with several new malls in the pipeline for Bintulu and Miri.
According to CH Williams Talhar & Wong (WTWY) in its Property Market 2015 report, after an active year of retail additions in 2013 in Kuching there was a lull in 2014 with only Emart Hypermarket, 150,000 square feet (sq ft), at Jalan Batu Kawa completed and opened in July 2014.
“However, there are a number of malls currently under construction and due to be completed by 2015/2016.
“When completed, these will add about 1.74 million sq ft of retail space to the current Kuching market,” it said.
WTWY noted that there is fear of saturation in the retail sector as occupancy rates for shopping malls have decreased somewhat compared to the previous year and expected to decrease further.
It said that due to the increased supply of retail space in the market, rental rates have had to stay competitive with rates of not more than RM20 per square foot (psf) in order to secure new tenants and maintain old ones.
“Retail prices have also not gone up much as seen from recent launched retail units at not more than RM2,000 psf which is on par or even less than rates commanded a few years ago,” it added.
On Miri, WTWY noted that the city witnessed the opening of a new mall – the Permaisuri Imperial City Mall in early 2014.
It further noted that the seven storey premium shopping mall is strategically located in Miri’s central business district.
With net lettable area of 300,000 sq ft, the retail mall offers 112 retail lots with rentals ranging from RM6 to RM 12 psf, while the yield is 4.5 per cent, WTWY said.
As for Bintulu, WTWY said the market is expected to become competitive with some retail mall developments in the pipeline.
It further noted that the retail projects are Times Square Mall, Commerce Square and Bintulu Paragon.
“Rental rates and the yields for retail malls in Bintulu have remained at RM6 to RM15 psf and 4.5 per cent respectively,” it added.