Sunway Pyramid building into the future

The Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall plans to be Malaysia's biggest mall by size within the next five years

The Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall in Selangor is likely to overtake the Mid Valley Megamall in Kuala Lumpur as the country's biggest mall by size within the next five years as it adds two new phases to the mall.

Called "SP3" and "SP4", the two phases form part of Sunway City Bhd's (SunCity) planned development on a 2.35ha open car park land adjacent to the existing Sunway Pyramid and the Sunway Lagoon Theme Park.

Currently, Sunway Pyramid has a total gross floor area of 4.5 million sq ft, with a net lettable area (NLA) of 1.7 million sq ft.

Chief executive officer of Sunway Group of Shopping Malls, H.C. Chan, said SP3 will see 500,000 sq ft added to the gross floor area of the mall.
He did not say what the NLA will be, but typically 65 per cent to 70 per cent of a mall's gross floor area makes up the NLA.

"SP3 and SP4 have been planned and should be ready within the next five years ... it is a sizeable addition," Chan told Business Times in an interview.

He said timing of their launch would depend on economic conditions.

Phase SP3 of Sunway Pyramid features a small-office-home-office (SOHO) suites development to be built on 0.73ha.

While Chan declined to reveal details about Phase SP4 of expansion, it is understood that it will include retail, office blocks and residential units on 1.62ha.

"Integration and physical connection is our first priority," Chan said of the mall. The two new phases will be linked to the existing mall.

"We are building into the future, the mall is already big. So, we have to think of niche and innovative ways to attract consumers," Chan said of the concept the mall may have.

The new project will also increase the number of parking bays in the mall, hotel and theme park area by 2,000 to 9,500.

Today, Sunway Pyramid's larger rivals include the Mid Valley Megamall and the Gardens with a combined NLA of 2.5 million sq ft and 1 Utama Shopping Centre in Petaling Jaya at 1.85 million sq ft.

Its smaller rivals are One Borneo in Kota Kinabalu with a NLA of 1.5 million sq ft and Pavilion Kuala Lumpur at 1.37 million sq ft. Suria KLCC together with its upcoming space will have some 1.18 million sq ft of NLA.

Apart from Sunway Pyramid, SunCity also manages Sunway Carnival in Seberang Prai, Penang and Sunway Giza in Kota Damansara, Selangor.

By Business Times