The one-stop destination for electronic gadgets, Funan DigitaLife Mall, will close its shutters in the third quarter of next year as its owner, CapitaLand Mall Trust Management, has plans to turn it into a new integrated development over three years.
The redevelopment of the shopping mall could potentially increase its floor area by as much as 80 per cent, according to property firm SLP International. Property analysts have also said some uses for all that extra space could be in food and beverage retail, office leasing, and even serviced apartments.
Chestertons Managing Director, Donald Han said: “This building is about 30 years old. I think it’s timely for CapitaLand to relook into redeveloping it from scratch, rather than doing additions and alterations.
“There’s huge potential for them to look into integrated or mixed use, such as to look into potentially keeping some component of the retail, and then on the upper podium of the retail, there could be a combination of serviced apartment uses. It could also potentially be hotel use, potentially even some form of office.”
CapitaLand has remained tight-lipped on its plans, but it sees the new development as playing “a big part in the rejuvenation of the Civic District”, which is currently undergoing a S$740 million Government-funded makeover.
It is in the vicinity of the newly-opened National Gallery, which is housed in the City Hall and former Supreme Court buildings, and the refurbished Capitol Building, now known as Capitol Singapore, an integrated luxury lifestyle development.
Executive director of Research and Consultancy at SLP International, Nicholas Mak said: “Going forward, after the redevelopment, we may not see an identical IT mall, as what we have always known Funan to be. It may be a totally new building, perhaps there could be an IT component, but that will always very much depend on consumer tastes three to four years from now.”
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 11 Dec 2015