Asset enhancement of shopping centres

Abstract

“It must be kept in mind that architects do not design malls for architects; they design them for developers and retailers that are interested in creating malls and other shopping centres to attract consumers and keep them coming back.”(Richards, 1990) Concept of shopping centre (SC) originally emerged in nineteenth-century and the concept changes over time due to the ever-changing needs and perception from the customers. Shopping centre originated from an isolated and scattered of shops and developed into nowadays large commercial retail properties. They do not only provide leisure and entertainment for the public, but also a place of where provide business opportunity for investment and profit-making for the retailers and developers. However, any single property will be decayed and deteriorated over time. In order to upkeep the standard of the shopping centres, rehabilitation or renovation work has to be carried out in order to upgrade the appearance, facilities and equipment of shopping centres so as to maintain their attractiveness and competitive and keep customers coming back. The research topic concentrates on the renovation projects carried out by The Link Real Estate Investment Trust (The Link REIT) inside public housing estates commercial properties after the privatization in 25 November 2005. After the privatization, renovation work of shopping centres becomes one of the main tasks of The Link REIT. Despite series of political pressure and criticism towards the management of The Link regarding their renovation work and rental policies, The Link REIT continues to expand their renovation projects to various public housing estates shopping centre. It provides a useful and interesting case to study the purpose of renovation on shopping centre. The privatization is a divestment exercise of the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HKHA), over 180 retails and car park properties were sold to The Link. After seven years of operation, 25 shopping centres are completed with different scope of renovation work, while others are in various planning stages. Base on the shopping centre hierarchy definite by The Link REIT, 3 details case studies will be carried out. The studies compare the data and changes before and after the renovation work, analysis will be made to compare the operating result during HKHA era so as to examine whether The Link could achieve the purpose of their renovation projects.