JKH likely to delay scheduled closure of Crescat mall

John Keels Holdings (JKH) is likely to postpone the earlier scheduled closure of the Crescat Boulevard, one of the oldest shopping malls in the country adjacent to Colombo’s Cinnamon Grand hotel, next February. 

JKH was planning a major overhaul of the three-storey shopping complex as its profitability was adversely impacted in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks in April.  Existing tenants claim that they were taken by surprise when they were served with three-month notice of termination despite previous assurance by the Crescat management that the operations of the mall would continue as usual despite the refurbishment. 

“We are looking at it to see whether we want to keep it open for a little bit longer. We were planning to close it down in February, but are now re-looking at it. There is no final decision as yet. We hope to reach the final decision in a couple of days,” a top JKH official told Mirror Business. 

JKH was earlier planning to re-open Crescat with more office space by mid-next year. 

Existing tenants also claim that they decided against moving to new shopping complexes such as Colombo City Centre (CCC) and Shangri-La’s One Galle Face mall due to the assurance given by the Crescat management that the mall would continue to operate as usual.

Hence, they point out that it is now too late for them to secure retail space in new shopping complexes. 

The Crescat management also hasn’t given any assurance to existing tenants that they would receive retail space in the revamped mall. 

JKH’s US$1 billion Cinnamon Life mixed development project, which includes a mega retail mall, is scheduled to be opened in March 2021.

In the aftermath of Easter Sunday attacks, Crescat management had reportedly waived off the rentals of all the tenants for three months and thereafter had extended discounts up to 50 percent to avert any closures.  (NF)