Shopping Centre Coincides With South Coast Uplift
THE new Lanterns at Hastings shopping mall slated to be opened next February is being heralded as a welcome development considering the volume of other developments being seen on the South Coast of the island.
According to Hayden Hutton, Director of Brokerage at Terra Caribbean, the real estate agents for the new mall, there have been, and are going to be a number of residential developments on the South Coast, and as a result, there needs to be an equal amount of development in the area retail and service provision.
“We are going to be delivering somewhere around 300 new condominium units on the South Coast in the next six to nine months, these being Palm Beach, Sapphire Beach, Ocean Two, and Silver Point. There has got to be an increase in the sort of site services and amenities that are available to these folks”, he said.
As a result, the new mall, which will be open from nine in the morning to nine at night, with the food court being open on Sundays, and the possibility of other shops being open as well, is a step in the right direction.
The quality and variety of the retailers that will be housed in the mall is also one of the most important features highlighted by Hutton, and representatives of Windsor Plaza Limited, the developers of the mall, when speaking to the Business Monday last week.
Hutton stated that the developers have done a significant amount of research and they have determined the sort of tenant segments they are looking to attract.
“We don’t want to double up and have two Chinese restaurants, two high-end eateries, or two sandwich shops, so they’ve really sought to just fill in the blanks within all the identified tenant segments to try to attract the best quality tenants.”
He indicated that this could be done by re-siting tenants from a different location, however, he stated that this is not their first option, as they would rather see these retailers endeavour to make their operations at the mall an addition to what they already have in place elsewhere.
Available space is limited however, as 60 to 70 per cent of the 32 units have already been tenanted, and while not wanting to disclose the majority of the names because negotiations are still ongoing with some, Director of Windsor Plaza Limited, Andrew Laquis, stated that RBTT Bank, Haagen Dazs ice cream, Rituals restaurant, and the controversial Subway, would be some of the tenants that locals and visitors alike could look forward to.
As it relates to Subway, Laquis indicated that the Lanterns Mall is the first site at which the world-renowned chain will be looking to set up operations in Barbados.
With regards to the remaining units Hutton indicated that they have created a pursuit list of possible candidates based on their knowledge of the market within each segment, be it jewellery, be it clothing, among others.
Hutton, Laquis, and Managing Director of Windsor Plaza Limited, Frederick George, all emphasized the importance of having tenants that were in tune with the image that they wanted to portray at the mall, which is one that focuses on raising the bar of the retail shopping experience.
“If you’re a retailer out there who wants to raise the bar, the developers are providing you with a facility and an avenue through which to do this”, Hutton stated.
As was stated earlier however, 60 to 70 per cent of the available units have already been tenanted, but Laquis encouraged any interested persons to approach Terra Caribbean to receive further information about the opportunities available.
As it relates to the contractual arrangements, Laquis indicated that they would be looking to enter in relatively long-term arrangements with tenants.
“We realise that the tenants are making a serious commitment in terms of outfitting their establishments, because that it is one of the demands that we are putting down, which is that they can’t just come in and open anything, they have to submit designs to our designers and have it approved so that we can have everyone on a parallel level of interiors and outfitting. As a result, we are willing to go the distance with them and give them a long-term commitment.”
In light of this tenants will be given a three year lease agreement with the option to renew as time goes on.
According to Hayden Hutton, Director of Brokerage at Terra Caribbean, the real estate agents for the new mall, there have been, and are going to be a number of residential developments on the South Coast, and as a result, there needs to be an equal amount of development in the area retail and service provision.
“We are going to be delivering somewhere around 300 new condominium units on the South Coast in the next six to nine months, these being Palm Beach, Sapphire Beach, Ocean Two, and Silver Point. There has got to be an increase in the sort of site services and amenities that are available to these folks”, he said.
As a result, the new mall, which will be open from nine in the morning to nine at night, with the food court being open on Sundays, and the possibility of other shops being open as well, is a step in the right direction.
The quality and variety of the retailers that will be housed in the mall is also one of the most important features highlighted by Hutton, and representatives of Windsor Plaza Limited, the developers of the mall, when speaking to the Business Monday last week.
Hutton stated that the developers have done a significant amount of research and they have determined the sort of tenant segments they are looking to attract.
“We don’t want to double up and have two Chinese restaurants, two high-end eateries, or two sandwich shops, so they’ve really sought to just fill in the blanks within all the identified tenant segments to try to attract the best quality tenants.”
He indicated that this could be done by re-siting tenants from a different location, however, he stated that this is not their first option, as they would rather see these retailers endeavour to make their operations at the mall an addition to what they already have in place elsewhere.
Available space is limited however, as 60 to 70 per cent of the 32 units have already been tenanted, and while not wanting to disclose the majority of the names because negotiations are still ongoing with some, Director of Windsor Plaza Limited, Andrew Laquis, stated that RBTT Bank, Haagen Dazs ice cream, Rituals restaurant, and the controversial Subway, would be some of the tenants that locals and visitors alike could look forward to.
As it relates to Subway, Laquis indicated that the Lanterns Mall is the first site at which the world-renowned chain will be looking to set up operations in Barbados.
With regards to the remaining units Hutton indicated that they have created a pursuit list of possible candidates based on their knowledge of the market within each segment, be it jewellery, be it clothing, among others.
Hutton, Laquis, and Managing Director of Windsor Plaza Limited, Frederick George, all emphasized the importance of having tenants that were in tune with the image that they wanted to portray at the mall, which is one that focuses on raising the bar of the retail shopping experience.
“If you’re a retailer out there who wants to raise the bar, the developers are providing you with a facility and an avenue through which to do this”, Hutton stated.
As was stated earlier however, 60 to 70 per cent of the available units have already been tenanted, but Laquis encouraged any interested persons to approach Terra Caribbean to receive further information about the opportunities available.
As it relates to the contractual arrangements, Laquis indicated that they would be looking to enter in relatively long-term arrangements with tenants.
“We realise that the tenants are making a serious commitment in terms of outfitting their establishments, because that it is one of the demands that we are putting down, which is that they can’t just come in and open anything, they have to submit designs to our designers and have it approved so that we can have everyone on a parallel level of interiors and outfitting. As a result, we are willing to go the distance with them and give them a long-term commitment.”
In light of this tenants will be given a three year lease agreement with the option to renew as time goes on.
