Property Hunter Magazine Property Hunter Magazine Issue 51 - February 2014 | Page 22

/// East Malaysia Property News What are the Occupancy Rates of Malls in Sabah? A recent popular mall to visit in Kota Kinabalu The mall culture has become an integral part of our lifestyle. As the number of shopping centres increases, older and less strategically located malls may struggle to attract the local crowd and tourists.. Malls are increasingly dependent on nearby hotels guests and tourists to boost business sluggishness especially after the 2014 Lunar New Year. Total retail space in malls in Malaysia has doubled since 2002, rising from 68 million sq ft to 121 million sq ft in 2001. However, the occupancy rate has hovered between 77.7% to 81.85 over the past 10 years. What is certain for sure, Star City will go into 2014, as an abandoned project, an indication that there may be too many retail floor outlets in Kota Kinabalu without an influx of foreign buyers or new business ideas, products and services. Some Star City buyers are worried that the new mall with a hotel to be built beside it will be completed even before Star City gets rescued, relegating it to the business backwaters of desirability. Suburban niche market malls like City Mall and the upcoming Grand Merdeka would be successful based o