The opening of Raffles City The Bund in China is the latest testament to CapitaLand’s strengths in iconic integrated developments.
The final component in the over 300,000 square metre (sqm) megastructure to welcome the public is the 120,000 sq m shopping mall.
The retail component of Raffles City The Bund, CapitaLand’s third and largest Raffles City development in Shanghai, opened to great fanfare last Saturday (10 July 2021).
The opening ceremony was jointly officiated by Singapore Ambassador to China, Mr. Lui Tuck Yew and Party Secretary of Shanghai Hongkou District, Ms. Guo Fang.
A healthy committed occupancy of 92% reflects the depth and diversity of China’s retail scene.
More than half of the mall’s over 200 brands are either new to China, East China, Shanghai or CapitaLand’s portfolio.
Strong shopper traffic of over 300,000 was registered on its opening day, marking an encouraging start to Raffles City The Bund’s retail operations.
Mr. Puah Tze Shyang, CEO, Investment and Portfolio Management, CapitaLand China, said: “The successful launch of Raffles City The Bund attests to the growing strength of our Raffles City franchise, and the value CapitaLand brings to our investors through our best-in-class operating platform.
Shanghai is where CapitaLand’s Raffles City brand made its China debut 17 years ago with the opening of Raffles City Shanghai.
Since then, we have added eight more Raffles City developments in key gateway cities across China and built up the Raffles City brand into a mark of quality commercial real estate. As the 100% asset manager and operator of the entire Raffles City portfolio, CapitaLand will continue to demonstrate our ability to create, enhance and unlock substantial value.
Moreover, CapitaLand holds stakes in all of them. We are therefore well placed to participate in and benefit from the future upside of these Raffles City developments in China.”
Mr. Puah added: “Our Raffles City portfolio has always been an important component of CapitaLand’s investment management strategy. We are pairing fund and asset management capabilities with a strong operating platform to grow our funds under management, expand our capital partner base and increase recurring management fees. CapitaLand’s unique strengths as an experienced asset and portfolio manager, enable Raffles City developments to continue earning an attractive FRE/FUM ratio.
Reinvestment of recycled capital and asset management, as well as our ability to execute, will become important barometers of our capital efficiency going forward. The China market values strong franchises, as a distinguisher of quality in a crowded, uneven market. In June 2021, we onboarded Ping An as our strategic and long-term capital partner for six of our Raffles City developments, which will allow us to continue managing the assets and growing the Raffles City brand. CapitaLand is excited to jointly own and expand the Raffles City portfolio together with our capital partners. We must and will continue to invest to stay ahead in the market.”
