No. 32 E' Er Duo Si Street, Saihan District, Huhehaote, Inner Mongolia
Saihan Mall (formerly known as Jinyu Mall) is a five-level retail mall located near the heart of Huhehaote’s main retail cluster belt, and is easily accessible via the major road transportation networks. Huhehaote is experiencing rapid urbanisation and increasing income growth, with total retail spending per capita by the trade area residents forecasted to grow by about 8.0% per annum in the coming three years. This would represent a good opportunity for Saihan Mall to leverage these positive factors to establish a strong position in the retail market as a “one-stop” modern retail mall, differentiating it from the other older retail stores in the vicinity.
A comprehensive set of asset enhancement initiatives was developed to expedite the transformation. Works commenced in September 2007 with the recovery of space occupied by Beijing Hualian Department Store and the relocation of the popular Beijing Hualian Supermarket. Both the department store and supermarket were operated by the Beijing Hualian Group (北京华联集团), which was the original master-lessee of the mall.
Overall, the asset enhancement works were designed to address the shortcomings of the mall, including among others, inefficient layout and the lack of on-site car parking lots.
The popular fresh goods section of Beijing Hualian Supermarket will be relocated from Level 1 to Level 3, so as to release prime retail space on Level 1 for higher-yielding specialty tenants, and concurrently, help drive shopper traffic and raise rental value on the upper floors. Retail space occupied by Beijing Hualian Department Store and its sub-lessees on Levels 1, 2 and 3 have been recovered, and will be reconfigured and leased to specialty tenants to provide for higher rental yields as well. Car parking lots will also be built within the mall to cater to the growing population of car owners in the city.
Overall, the proposed works, targeted to be completed by the middle of 2008, will transform Saihan Mall into the first one-stop family shopping, dining and entertainment destination of its kind in Huhehaote, and is expected to generate an ungeared return on investment of approximately 10.0%.
