Corpn to replace old shopping complexes with swanky malls

According to a Corporation official, the move will ensure increase in revenue for the civic body as several shop owners at complexes default on their rents. As of now, the civic body maintains 152 shopping complexes with 6,000 shops.

“Most shopping complexes were built more than 20 years ago and are in a deplorable condition. We have to demolish them and construct new buildings, which will have additional facilities like shopping malls,” the official said. The Chennai Corporation Commissioner G Prakash had also conducted a meeting recently at Ripon Buildings to discuss the project. “The project will be implemented under public-private partnership (PPP) mode. We will invite private builders to construct new shopping complexes. As the selected builders would construct via build-operate-transfer basis, we will not spend money to implement the project,” the official, who had participated in the meeting said.

The civic body would allow private builders to collect rent from the shop owners and they would share the revenue with the Chennai Corporation. Even though all dilapidated shopping complexes would be converted into shopping malls, the civic body would implement the project in a phased manner.

Also, a decision has been taken to appoint consultants to prepare the feasibility report and detailed project report. At present, the civic body lets shop owners rent the facility for three years by collecting monthly rent. Rent agreements would be renewed once in three years. As per Corporation records, the civic body had earned a revenue of Rs 22.24 crore through shopping complex rent during 2018-2019. In 2017-2018, it had earned Rs 23.05 crore.

Of the 15 zones, Royapuram has the maximum number of 45 shopping complexes and 3,734 shops.