Mall stock to increase in top seven cities

Global real estate consultants, Jones Lang LaSalle (India) on Thursday said the pan-India mall stock for the top seven Indian cities — Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune — is expected to increase from 76 million square feet in 2013 to 95.7 million square feet in 2015.

Among the seven cities, Delhi and Mumbai have been leading in terms having the highest concentration of shopping malls. As of now, Delhi and Mumbai together account for 62 per cent of the pan-India mall stock. They are followed by Bangalore and Chennai, which together constitute around 20 per cent of the pan-India mall stock respectively.

According to Pankaj Renjhen, Managing Director (Retail Services), JLL, the net addition of shopping malls from 2013 to 2015 is expected to be around 24.9 million square feet. In 2010, the stock of shopping mall in India stood at around 53.3 million square feet; by the end of 2017, it is expected to reach 107.8 million square feet.

In 2013, an estimated supply of around 5.2 million square feet was registered — a 22 per cent increase over last year’s supply of shopping mall space. Chennai led with 1.95 million square feet of supply in 2013, followed by Mumbai and Pune. In 2014, Delhi is expected to hold the dominant position in terms of expected net addition of shopping malls.

Mr. Renjhen said in the coming years, the average size of malls is likely to increase as developers are focusing on project sizes that allow for a critical mass in terms of offering various formats and categories under one roof. In 2014, the average size of malls is estimated to be around 380,000 square feet, which is expected to increase to 470,000 square feet in 2015 and further increase to 660,000 square feet in 2017.

Further, he said there is also an increasing trend among upcoming malls to adopt a structured approach in planning, execution and launch. The importance of formulating an optimal tenant mix to ensure the maximum utilisation of retail space is now recognised and accepted by almost all major mall developers. Retailers are showing the highest interest in upcoming retail projects that offer not only a good location, but have been optimized in terms of design and trade and tenant mix.