CapitaLand Mall Asia has signed a management contract with Changsha Pilot Investment Holdings Group to manage the retail component of the Fortune Finance Center, a landmark integrated development in Changsha, the provincial capital of Hunan, central China.

This marks the beginning of parent company CapitaLand’s ‘enhanced asset-light strategy’ to enlarge its mall network through third-party management contracts to complement its core strategy of developing, owning and managing malls.

The scope of the contract covers asset planning, pre-opening and retail management for a
total gross floor area, excluding car parking, of 95,000 sqm spanning seven levels, including two basement levels. Under construction, the mall is targeted to open at the end of 2018.

“CapitaLand is adopting this third-party management contract model with a long-term view, whereby we are looking to grow with the asset through proactive management and value creation,” says CapitaLand Mall Asia CEO Jason Leow.

With this contract, CapitaLand doubles its presence in Changsha, where it owns and manages the 62,000 sqm CapitaMall Yuhuating (pictured), about 10km from Fortune Finance Center. The centre, in the new CBD, comprises a seven-storey shopping mall, a 328m super tower, a grade-A office building, a residential block and the city’s first JW Marriott hotel.

Fortune Finance Center is owned by Changsha Pilot Investment Holdings, a state-owned developer that has seven projects in Changsha.

With the new contract, CapitaLand is expanding its presence in China, where it has a network of 651 malls. Across Asia, CapitaLand manages a total of 1041 malls in China, Japan, India, Malaysia and Singapore.