After gaining retail space in a Johor Bahru mall, renowned Singaporean retailer Mustafa is beginning to enter the Malaysian market.
According to the parent company of Capital City Mall, Capital World, Mustafa, which runs its 24-hour flagship Mustafa Centre in Singapore’s Little India neighbourhood, will buy 591 vacant retail spaces there.
A total of 2,181 parking spots and 374 supplementary properties totalling alfresco and multipurpose areas are included in the RM368 million (about S$114 million) sale.
With most pandemic restrictions lifted, Mustaq Ahmad, Mustafa’s Managing Director, said the timing was right for his company to enter the Malaysian market.
Finding a suitable site has been one of our biggest obstacles up until now, he said.
Given its closeness to Singapore, large floor space, and appropriate floor plates, Capital City Mall satisfies many of the criteria for becoming our first flagship store in Malaysia.
The 11-story Capital City Mall situated in Tampoi, Johor Bahru, is around 15 minutes’ drive from the Johor Bahru checkpoint. It was completed in April 2018 and opened in October of the same year.
Along with a 315-room hotel, an 18-story tower with 630 serviced suites, and 690 serviced flats spread across three blocks, it is a component of a freehold integrated development in Tampoi.
Capital World will also build a four-story cold storage facility inside the mall as part of the sale agreement.
According to Capital World, the mall will likely reopen in the second half of 2023 after closing in February 2020 owing to financial difficulties.
Capital World claimed that the sale’s earnings will allow it “the financial muscle” to construct and finish the integrated development’s remaining elements.
Additionally, this will permit the business to pursue additional real estate opportunities, such as assisting Mustafa in “identifying possible sale locations in Malaysia and Indonesia to develop into mega stores.”
