BANGALORE, November 8: Even as Bangalore is expected to add 3 lakh sq. ft. of mall space over the next three months, the vacancy levels in city malls have come down, a survey has revealed.
Retailers belonging to jewellery, apparels and home improvement segments have shown considerable interest in established malls in the city, a Cushman and Wakefield survey of mall occupancy in India, has revealed.
Bangalore was among the cities in the country where lower mall vacancy was reported.
Pune, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Kolkata were the other cities that had lower mall vacancy since no new mall space came up. The vacancy level in Bangalore dropped from 13.92 per cent in the quarter ending September 2012 to 10.16 per cent in the corresponding period in 2013.
Increased leasing activities and lack of infusion of new mall space led to this dip in vacancy in Bangalore, the report said.
The report said that Bangalore also witnessed deferment of two malls totalling 7.1 lakh sq. ft. While one mall got deferred due to construction delays the other went on hold due to liquidity issues, it said.
Though the rentals maintained status quo owing stable demand-supply dynamics in the quarter ending September, the rentals in the malls in main streets of Bangalore are expected to increase, the report said. Also, addition of new malls in the next quarter is expected to keep the mall rentals steady.
