Abans, SilverNeedle to construct mixed lifestyle centre: ‘Colombo City Centre’

Abans Sri Lanka together with SilverNeedle Hospitality of Singapore have completed piling operations for the construction of a 47 storey 1,000,000 sq. ft. mixed lifestyle centre consisting of a shopping mall, apartment complex and hotel, at the former CCC site opposite the scenic Beira Lake at Sir James Pieris Mawatha, Colombo 02, to be called Colombo City Centre.

This collaboration between Abans, as a reputed Sri Lankan conglomerate, and SilverNeedle Hospitality has established a connection between local and international partners which provides a level of comfort for investors. SilverNeedle Hospitality of Singapore was founded by the investment firm Nadathur Group and owned by Nadathur S. Raghavan, a co-founder of NASDAQ-listed Infosys Technologies.

Infosys Technologies has a global footprint with offices and development centres across the world with 950 clients in 50 countries. It provides software development, maintenance and independent validation services to companies in banking, finance, insurance, manufacturing and other domains. One of its known products is Finacle which is a universal banking solution with various modules for retail and corporate banking.

Colombo City Centre will feature a five storey lifestyle retail mall spanning from the basement to the third floor, and will be on par with large malls in Dubai and Singapore. The mall will feature a large shopping arcade, cinemas, supermarket, an international food court, games and recreational activities, and will offer an enjoyable experience for the entire family, hitherto never experienced in Sri Lanka. It will also be one of Colombo’s premier tourist attractions.

Above the mall will be the car parks with separately demarcated area for the apartments, the mall and the hotel. Floors up to the 19th floor will be the Next Hotel, the flagship brand of SilverNeedle hospitality who recently launched a hotel in Brisbane, Australia in October 2014. Next Hotel will cater mainly to the professional and leisure needs of the business traveller and will be equipped with modern technology including ‘keyless’ entry to the rooms through mobile phones.

Floors 20-47 will be the Residences at Colombo City Centre, consisting of two, three, four, and five bedroom units of sizes varying from 973 sq. to 4898 sq. and prices ranging from $ 330,000 to $ 2 million. With the Residence Floors commencing at a high level due to the mall and the hotel below, residents will be guaranteed panoramic views of the city and the coastline. While enjoying the sea view, residents will not be directly subject to the damaging effects of sea breeze as the building is located at a distance from the coastline.

The residents will be able to enjoy every convenience from super markets to entertainment, fine dining to international and local branded shopping to extra accommodation for guests at the hotel all under one house, yet with separate entrances, separate lifts and separately demarcated parking spaces. The residents will also be offered exclusive facilities including swimming pool, state-of-the-art gym, sauna, barbecue area, children’s play area and a sky lounge on the 43rd floor.

The Residences at Colombo City Centre create an excellent opportunity for investors. Investors can expect good capital appreciation and rental return. They will also receive freehold title to their apartments. There has been a strong demand for the two and three bedroom units, of which the latter face the Beira Lake and the ocean beyond. Already retail planning and securing of tenants is in process and this is being handled by Hong Kong based Husband Retail Consulting who in fact are at the final stages of securing an anchor tenant for the mall.

The lead designer of the project is Aedas, an award winning global architectural firm. With over 1000 architects, it is the largest architectural practice in Hong Kong and specialises in architecture, interior design, master planning, landscape, urban designing and building consultancy within Asia, Middle East, Europe and America. The world’s largest collaborative design firm, Gensler, with over 4,000 professionals across 46 countries will be in charge of the interior of the hotel and residencies.

For more details regarding the apartments at Colombo City Centre, contact General Manager Richard Buultjens on 071 844 0308, Sanjay Uduwara on 071 251 3213 or Sameera Yapa on 071 931 5610.