Following the success of The Nine community mall located in the suburbs of Bangkok, MBK revealed that it intends to develop a new community mall in Pathum Thani province during 2017, local media outlets reported.
MBK president and chief executive, Suvait Theeravachirakul, told the Bangkok Post that the mall will cost between THB500 and 800 million to construct and will be situated on a 20 rai plot of land it owns near Bangkradi Industrial Estate. The overall size of the plot is 1,500 rai and MBK also has plans to develop other areas of the land.
The newspaper reports the Riverdale Golf & Country Clubs and the Park Riverdale townhouse project is already being constructed and will take up a large portion of the land. In addition to this, MBK is considering developing a mixed-used project there and is currently conducting a feasibility study to see if this would be possible.
“There are many community malls in inner Bangkok, but we see opportunities in Bangkok’s suburban areas,” Suvait told the newspaper. He added that the new community mall is going to target those people living in nearby residential projects in Pathum Thani.
MBK, who is currently renovating their popular shopping center in Siam, opened The Nine Center along Rama IX five years ago with the aim of expanding its portfolio. MBK’s shopping center department managing director, Somphol Tripopnart, explained to the Bangkok Post that the shopping complex has been well received as it offered visitors something different from what was available at other nearby shopping developments.
The company noted that The Nine Center brought in an impressive THB225 million in revenue during 2015. MBK is expecting that total to increase by at least THB25 million this year. At the moment, nearly 12,000 shoppers visit The Nine Center on a daily basis. However, the developer is not fully satisfied with the project and has set aside devote THB10 million to improve the landscape and exterior of it.