YANGON’S biggest shopping mall, the 200,000 square-foot nine-level Shwe Parami, in Hlaing Township, will be opened later this month, the developer said last week.

»Shwe Parami shopping mall will open at the end of June, say the developers.

“This is the first shopping mall developed by our company and within two or three weeks as soon as we have finalised the sale deals, we will open the mall,” said Daw Moe Moe Myint, marketing manager of Wah Wah Win International Company.

The nine-level mall, at the intersection of Insein Road and Parami Road leading to the Bayintnaung market, is entirely commercial, with no residential units. Building began in June last year and was completed in March. The mall was slated to open prior to Thingyan, but it is believed slow lease uptake has delayed its opening.

Shwe Parami Mall features indoor car parking for 200 cars on the first and ground floors, dual lifts with a 24-person capacity and escalators.

The mall also features six halls ranging between 6900 and 8200 square feet on levels 1, 3 and 5. Level 4 comprises 18 department stores of 400 to 840 square feet, snack shops are on level 6, and level 7 is for large restaurants and bars with areas for live music. A game centre and wedding hall will take up the entire 8th level.

Moe Moe Myint said that the company is currently negotiating to rent the halls, which are intended for the supermarkets, large fashion shops, electronic shops and furniture shops to create a vibrant atmosphere.

Monthly rent for the department stores is between K300,000 and K600,000 or about K700/sq ft, and sale prices range from K260 to K550 million. For halls, monthly rent ranges from K5.2 to K13.5 million and sale price starts at K240 to K540 million.

“We have sold some of the department stores but deals for halls are still being negotiated,” said Daw Moe Moe Myint, declining to give exact numbers for sales and rentals.

“The mall targets the people from this diverse area near Pyay Road, Parami Road, Insein Road and Bayintnaung Road since there is no place to shop in this area except a small Hledan market near the Hledan junction,” she said.

She declined to indicate how much Wah Wah Win International had spent developing the site. “We have not yet finalised the total cost for the whole project”, she said.