Issa pumps $50 million into new Tropical Mall
Lee Issa is investing $50 million to convert 15,000 square feet of commercial space into a mini mall on his Tropical Plaza complex in St Andrew.
Seven businesses will occupy the eight available shops in the new development, including discount footwear company Payless ShoeSource (which will occupy two stores) and sports apparel provider Adidas. The entire shoppping space was formerly occupied by furniture and appliance store Khemlani Mart and GraceKennedy’s Hi-Lo supermarket.
“When the supermarket moved out we decided we would convert it into a mall and broke it up into eight shops, all of which are up for rental,” Tropical Plaza manager Norriss Clarke told the Business Observer yesterday.
Coldwell Banker Jamaica is representing Tropical Plaza in the marketing and sales of the new development, branded Tropical Mall.
Along with the already confirmed Payless and Addidas outlets, Tropical Mall will include a small boutique clothing retailer and a health food store. Clarke, who is also managing director of the Issa-owned Lee’s Fifth Avenue department store, said the initiative is aimed at driving consumer traffic to the plaza.
“We are trying to put quality shops in there that will complement each other and bring more persons into the plaza,” he said.
What’s more is that the Tropical Plaza operators are trying to lure a major quick service restaurant franchise to set up shop in Tropical Mall.
“We have been shopping the idea around to some of the major fast food restaurants,” said Clarke.
“We have a couple of interest but we have not tied down anything yet where that is concerned. Right now we are working on one in particular but we have nothing confirmed as yet,” he said.
Tropical Plaza is on a popular strip of shopping centres along Constant Spring Road in St Andrew — one of the first plazas constructed in that area during the late 1950s to early 1960s, according to industry sources. Issa was in talks last year to sell the property but a deal failed to materialise. Issa is the proprietor of the Couples Resorts, a chain of all-inclusive hotels on the island. Sources said that he wanted to sell the property in order to concentrate more on his hotel business.