CORONET Holdings Limited, the operators of the Sunshine Outlet Mall in Portmore, St Catherine, has expressed optimism that it will have the complex open to the public by end of June.

The facility, which will be home to Palace Amusement Company (1921) Limited’s new cinema under the brand Sunshine Palace, will also facilitate the expansion of Devon House I Scream’s, and Rolly Polly Ice Cream’s footprint across the island.

Operations manager for Sunshine Outlet Mall Cearlina Oharo did not disclosed the name of the other occupants, but noted that the premises will also allow customers to enjoy products and services from a department store, insurance company, spa, lounge and grill, as well as hair supplies and restaurant operations.

Sunshine Outlet spans 106,391 square feet or 2.44 acres of land with 38,000 square feet used for building space. Coronet Holdings, a subsidiary of Vincent Loshusan and Sons Limited, will lease 24 retail spaces to include four theatres that will be occupied by Sunshine Palace.

“Most of the occupants already have one or two stores in Kingston, and we expect to bring foot traffic from as far as Montego Bay for these businesses,” Oharo told the Business Observer.

“In fact, we had more bookings than we could accommodate, but we made sure to select no two stores that are alike to ensure customers got the best out of the experience,” she continued. “We want this to be an experience for the family and we believe that [the] cinema and the ice cream stores will help with that.”

Sunshine Outlet Mall is the second development of its kind undertaken by the Loshusans in Braeton, Portmore. In 2017, the company opened Sovereign Village Portmore at a price tag of roughly $1.4 billion.

So far, Sovereign Village Portmore has proven to be a “good hang-out spot” for residents of St Catherine. Oharo noted that the Loshusan family hopes to create greater vibes with the new location that will be a neighbour of Sovereign Village.

Both facilities will compete in the areas of convenience, shoppers’ experience, affordability and opening hours. Aside from back utility systems and 179 parking spaces, the opening hours of Sunshine Outlet Mall will extend to 1:00 am to facilitate the operations of the theatre and grill.

In May 2016, Vincent Loshusan and Sons Limited made an application to the National Environment and Planning Agency for the construction and operation of office and commercial complexes, including shopping centres, at Lot 7 Braeton Parkway, Portmore.

The development of Sunshine Outlet Mall was originally scheduled to be completed in November last year in anticipation of the festive season, but plans were pushed back to accommodate infrastructure development of Palace Amusement’s movie theatre.

“We wanted to open for May but we had some challenges with the utility companies. But they have been pushing and we are getting where we need to go now, so we [are] very hopeful to have everything ready by the end of June,” Ohara said.