Colombo City Centre project gets off the ground

By Sanjeevi Jayasuriya

The foundation stone laying ceremony for the construction of the US $150 million Colombo City Centre project at the former Colombo Commercial Company premises in Colombo 2, took place on Tuesday.

Defence and Urban Development Ministry Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the chief guest.

This mixed-use lifestyle centre is the first project by Colombo City Centre Partners, a joint venture between Abans Group and SilverNeedle Hospitality of Singapore.

"It is important that we work with partners who share our vision of creating a landmark that will draw in the community, including locals and expatriates," said Chairman of the JV and Managing Director and Group CEO of SilverNeedle Hospitality, Iqbal Jumabhoy.

"In delivering the final product, we took great care to comb through the designs meticulously to ensure it would be what customers want," he said.

"This is a dream come true to re-define Colombo city. Our involvement will send strong signals to the investment community abroad. This will be a good opportunity for Sri Lanka to attract more investments," Jumabhoy said.

"Much interest has been shown in this project and already 15 percent of the residential units have been reserved. This is an encouraging scenario and there will be many international brands at the shopping mall as well," he said.

Due to be completed in early 2018, the 1,000,000 square feet structure will rise 48-stories making it one of the tallest buildings in the city.

The first five levels of the Centre will consist of a 230,000 square feet lifestyle retail mall. Above the mall there will be a 200-room NEXT Hotel, the flagship brand of SilverNeedle Hospitality, and the first such hotel to be launched in Asia, after Australia.

NEXT Hotels will empower guests with choice and flexibility while combining space, technology and service.

The upper levels of the Colombo City Centre will offer 180 residential units where the residents will enjoy exclusive club amenities and use of the sky terrace.

A team of internationally-renowned partners have been engaged to work on this project. The lead designer of the project is Aedas, an award-winning global architecture firm.

Gensler, one of the world's biggest collaborative design firms, is responsible for the interior of the hotel and residences. SN Property, a subsidiary of SilverNeedle Hospitality, will execute the project and international award-winning Project Management and Construction Consultants Gleeds Hooloomann are the Project Managers.

Hong Kong-based Husband Retail Consulting is responsible for retail planning and securing tenants for the lifestyle mall.

"We want to provide entertainment for Sri Lankans and their families and tourists, with a mix of local and international brands, a cinema and a food court. This way, children and their parents will spend valuable family time together," said Director of the JV and Chairperson of the Abans Group of Companies, Mrs Aban Pestonjee.