Silk Road Holdings secures Shapingba site for upcoming Florentia Village Chongqing

Silk Road Holdings, for whom TH Real Estate acts as investment advisor, has acquired a new site in Chongqing for a Florentia Village designer outlet mall being planned for the city.

The site is located in western Chongqing’s Shapingba district and conveniently situated 40 minutes away by car from the city centre. The property is also near existing and upcoming metro stations, in particular Chongqing Rail Transit Line 1 which runs from central Chonqging to Shapingba.

Florentia Village will invest RMB 1 billion (approximately US$160 million) to build the outlet. The 140,000 sq m site was secured through an auction, and the mall is expected to have up to 40,000 sq m of gross land area when finished. Design work is in its initial phases and construction is due to begin in 2019, with the mall slated for completion by 2020.

John Sharp-Paul, Head of Portfolio Management, Asia, for TH Real Estate, said: "We are confident in the potential of luxury designer outlet malls to provide access to China’s fast-growing high-end retail sector. The acquisition of a new site demonstrates our continued confidence in this strategy and Chongqing’s ability to offer demographic dividends with its growing economy and middle-class population. Chongqing is among the Asia Pacific cities at the heart of megatrends that will shape Tomorrow's World and carries strong promise for global real estate investors."

Mr. Maurizio Lupi, the Managing Director of Florentia Village and RDM Asia, said: "With Florentia Village Chongqing, we will have accomplished our strategic business development in major cities in China." Mr Lupi said that new brands will continue to be introduced into existing outlets. Florentia Village will explore more opportunities in lower-tier regions in the second half of the year, he added.

Silk Road Holdings is the joint venture team responsible for developing the iconic Florentia Village in Beijing-Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Wuhan and Chengdu, all of which set the benchmark for outlet shopping in China, delivering the concept in multiple gateway cities across the country.

When completed, Florentia Village Chongqing will be the seventh in the series. The Jingjin outlet in Tianjin was first opened in 2011, followed by Guangzhou and Shanghai in 2015. Most recently, the Wuhan outlet opened in July 2017 and Chengdu in December 2017.

In 2017, all the Florentia Village outlets have had a footfall of 13.6 million visitors, and a sales revenue of RMB 6.7 billion and are on track to increase significantly in 2018.