Hysan Development, the biggest landlord in Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay district, said on Tuesday that the 17-floor retail mall of its major redevelopment Hysan Place at Causeway Bay will open on 10 August 2012. With an area of 450,000 square feet, the new shopping destination offers a wide selection of shops and restaurants featuring fashion, beauty, culture, lifestyle and dining.
About 98 percent of Hysan Place’s retail space is already filled with tenants including GAP, Hollister, REDValentino, and New York fashion brand Nanette Lepore, according to Irene Lee, Chairman of Hysan. She’s confident that the retail space will be leased out by the time the mall opens next month. Average rent of the 17-floor retail mall is HKD150 (USD19) per square foot and the property development company is estimated to bag HKD67.5 million (USD8.7m) rental proceeds per month.
The occupancy rate of office space is not as optimistic as the retail space as only 40 percent of office space has been leased out according to Lee.
There are over 120 retail stores in the mall, including Taiwan’s book retailer eslite. The largest bookstore chain in Taiwan is expending outside the island by opening its first overseas store in Hysan Place, adding more culture appeal to the new mall. With an area of 41,000 sqf spanning three floors, eslite Hong Kong store is divided into several areas – culture, art, children’s books, magazines, creative stationery as well as lifestyle elements.
"What’s more, eslite reserved some space for small lecture hall which’s able to accommodate dozens of people when it’s planning the space use," said Cissy Chan, Director of retail portfolio and marketing at Hysan Place. "We can therefore have culture exchange by joining culture events and forums in the store," said Chan.
Hysan Place also distinguishes itself with its "concept floors" that are tailored for the special needs of savvy shoppers. The "Garden of Eden" on the sixth floor, themed on ladies’ secret indulgence, houses a myriad of lingerie, fashion, beauty and dessert brands. The seventh floor, on the other hand, features a shoe-lovers paradise.
Hysan Place boasts a plethora of all-day dining options. They include the "Kitchen 11" concept – 11 self-service restaurants on the 11th floor – as well as a wide variety of international cuisine choices offered by new concept restaurants on the twelfth to fourteenth floors. A convenient, centralised restaurant electronic booking system will allow customers to continue shopping with the peace of mind that their bookings will not be missed.
The Sky Garden on the fourth floor, among the many sustainability features of the LEED Platinum pre-certified building, allows shoppers to enjoy a refreshing moment surrounded by lush landscape right in the heart of the bustling district.
"Hysan is constantly innovating its retail portfolio. The new Hysan Place style hub not only offers architecture that is at the forefront of international design standards, but also demonstrates that environmental friendliness, business and fun can co-exist. With this new approach, it will provide today’s fashion savvy and fun-loving consumers with access to a world-class mix of brands in an environment they want to come back to time and again," said Siu Chuen Lau, Deputy Chairman and CEO of Hysan.