In 2018, Colombo saw the completion of two of the biggest mega shopping centres the city has ever seen. These were the Colombo City Centre mixed-use development and the Marino Mall shopping complex, which combined added more than 1,150,000 square feet of real estate space to Colombo, bringing the city a step closer to becoming a commercial hub in South Asia.

The Colombo City Centre

The Colombo City Centre mixed-use development project, which opened its doors to the public on September 2018, is a 48-story multifaceted modern lifestyle centre that spans over 1,000,000 square feet and is situated at the heart of the commercial capital of Sri Lanka. It comprises a state of the art five-storey shopping mall, a 6-screen 3D cinema, a 180-unit apartment complex equipped with exclusive club amenities and a sky lounge as well as a 200-room NEXT hotel. Apart from the main features, the CCC also has a number of unique outdoor features such as the retail-dining terrace on the third floor, the Hotel terrace with infinity edge pool on the 9th floor, the residential pool terrace on the 10th floor and the residential roof terrace on the 11th floor, which makes it a true all-around facility.

Located at Sir James Pieris Mawatha in Colombo 2, opposite to the Beira Lake, with walking distance to the famous Seema Malakaya and Gangaramaya Island Park, this ambitious complex was designed and developed by Colombo City Centre Partners (Pvt.) Ltd, a joint venture between the Singapore based SilverNeedle Hospitality and the local conglomerate, the Abans Group. Another local company, Sanken Construction (Pvt.) Ltd., carried out the construction of this complex, while the world-renowned architecture firm Aedas carried out the lead design tasks. According to the developers, the final project has cost more than USD 150 Million as of 2018.

The high-class shopping complex in Colombo City Centre is being dubbed as Sri Lanka’s first international fashion mall and is built to be on par with the mega super malls in Singapore and Dubai. It covers 230,000 square feet and is located on the first five storeys of the City Centre. The mall is open 7 days a week, from 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM.

Marino Mall shopping complex

The Marino Mall shopping complex and the accompanying beach hotel is one of the latest mega shopping malls that opened its doors to the public in July 2018. Located at Galle Road, Colombo 03, with walking distance to the beach, the complex covers 150,000 square feet of shopping area spanning four storeys, making it among the biggest shopping malls in Colombo.

Built and operated by the Damro Group of companies at a cost of more than Rs. 12.5 Billion, this transnational style shopping mall has over 75 independent shopping outlets with state of the art entertainment options that are being introduced for the first time in Sri Lanka. This includes a Virtual Reality Games area, a 9D Cinema, an adventure game arena and even a climbing wall.

The dining options at Marino Mall is one of the standout features of this shopping centre. It includes a traditional Sri Lankan Curry Stop restaurant, the Middle Eastern for Arabic cuisines, Western Bay for European food, the Far Eastern for East Asian food, the Bharat Bhojan for Indian dishes and many more.

Apart from that, the mall also offers a dedicated floor for corporate offices, where some notable companies such as DELL EMC Demo Centre and Hybrid Homes have reserved their office spaces.

Those who like to visits Marino Mall can do so from Monday to Sunday 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM, all 7 days a week.

How developments can affect real estate prices in the heart of Colombo

There is a growing demand for Grade-A office and commercial spaces in Colombo from both local and international businesses. However, the demand has far outstripped the supply, resulting in higher prices for quality commercial properties. As such, the construction of the Colombo City Centre and the Marino Mall shopping complex can be viewed very much positively, since these developments can ease the exuberant property prices seen in Colombo.

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