After several months of speculations, property developer and mall owner, OSK Property Holdings Bhd, has begun making preparations for the upcoming anchor tenant of the neighbourhood mall.
OSK Property has been mulling of several possible tenants for its vacant hall area until it sealed a deal with MBO Cinemas several months ago.
It is hoped that the cinema will be a major crowd-puller to the mall, not just on weekends but also on weekdays especially evening time.
The cineplex will contain 8 screens, all of which will be projected in digital. They will be located on the highest floor which will be accessible by new sets of escalators on the 3rd floor as well as lifts.
A unique roof garden al-fresco area will be located adjacent to the cineplex. Two blocks of Atria SOFO Suites sitting atop the mall will also be completed this year.
There are currently 10 MBOs in the Klang Valley with the branch at Citta Mall in Ara Damansara being the nearest MBO to Atria.
Its 26th location opened recently at Central Square in Sungai Petani, Kedah bringing MBO’s total screens to 191. Towards the end of this year, MBO Cinemas’ 28th location will be a 10-screen cineplex at Hatten Group’s Elements Mall in Melaka.
With a net lettable area (NLA) of approximately 450,000 sq ft, the classy interior-designed Atria Shopping Gallery “re-opened” its doors on 28 May 2015. In conjunction with the opening last year, PTLM had reported the mall’s colourful past history for which it formerly hosted Kimisawa and Printemps stores.
Currently, the mall’s major tenants include Village Grocer, CHi Fitness, Daiso, Dynasty Dragon Chinese Restaurant, The Little Tree House Kindergarten, Jungle Gym, Ace Hardware, Hamleys, SportsDirect.com, Next, MANGO and Nilufar Pet & Aquatic.
In terms of the tenant mix, the mall is home to a large variety of food and beverage and convenience outlets. According to several prominent retail consultants, this is said to be a common trend among neighbourhood-type malls.
Despite the sluggish retail sentiment expected throughout most of this year, MBO is optimistic that it could draw movie-goers from the surrounding matured neighbourhoods.
This will posed more competition to nearby established, but older cineplexes operated by Golden Screen Cinemas, TGV Cinemas and Cathay at 1 Utama, Tropicana City Mall, e@Curve and Paradigm Mall.
A debutant, South Korea’s CJ CGV Cinemas, will anchor a standalone 8-storey tower with a total of 20 screens in the upcoming Empire City Mall. The mall in Damansara Perdana is located within 5km radius to Atria.