Quill mall set to open by year-end

KUALA LUMPUR: Quill City Mall, formerly Vision City, is coming to life in more ways than one. Abandoned for a decade as a result of the 1997/98 Asian financial crisis, its new owner Quill Group is gearing for its opening by Christmas this year.

It has achieved an occupancy rate of 70% as of yesterday, which was one of several conditions to be met for the sale of the mall to Employees Provident Fund (EPF) to go through.

At a signing ceremony between Quill Group and its tenants yesterday, executive director Datuk Michael Ong said occupancy was expected to improve to between 80% and 85% by the end of the year and that it was now 98% complete.

Quill Retail Mall Sdn Bhd, which is privately held by the Quill Group, offered to sell the mall to EPF in 2011. The conditional sale and purchase was formalised in 2013 for EPF to acquire the mall at RM1,561 per sq ft, translating to a cash consideration of up to RM1.2bil.

The payment is based on the net operating income of the mall that Quill have to manage for nine years.

Under the agreement, the mall situated on Jalan Sultan Ismail must have a minimum occupancy rate of 70% of its net lettable area (NLA) totalling 800,000 sq ft within a year of its commercial operation. The mall must also be completed within three years of signing the sale and purchase agreement with EPF in March 2013.

At a press conference, Ong said the mall has a “long history”.

It was abandoned for about 10 years after former owner of the project Vision City (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd ran into difficulties during the 1997/98 Asian financial crisis. Its joint venture partner Daewoo Group had gone into receivership in S. Korea during the period, which resulted in its abandonment.