Phoenix Market City - Mumbai

(All Images Above from Phoenix Mills Ltd Website)

Phoenix Mills Ltd (no connection with the Mills Corp, recently acquired by Simon Malls) is in the process of developing mega-regional shopping centers in India called Phoenix Market City (Cities) that create mixed-use developments that bring retail, entertainment, hospitality, and commercial space together in a dynamic and highly designed environment.  There are currently 4 of these centers currently under development.  Indian cities where these are in planned include Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, and Chennai.

Consistent about these centers are their inward focus away from their dense (and often undesirable) surroundings.  They are modern (and western) as a development but as you move inside between the mass of the building, each development has carved out an open air oasis that is meant to provide the shopper a respite from the hustle of the  city (11,000,000 population of Mumbai), while at the same time keeping them focused on the shops and restaurants.  This area is luxuriously land and hardscaped with water features, trees, and plants that are then fronted by the retail and restaurants.

One of the centers, The Phoenix Market City – Mumbai is in the eastern Mumbai suburb of Kurla.  Stats of the 25 acre Mumbai project are immense and include the over 4 million sf of development including 1.7 million sf of retail, 1.0 million sf of office, 3,500 parking spaces, over 30 restaurants, 11 screen multiplex, 7 department stores, and over 350 retailers.  The development will also include a 5 Star Marriott with 155 keys and 500,000 sf of landscaped open air central core.

Retailers that have announced their commitment to the development thus far include Addidas, Big Cinemas, DKNY, DLF Home, Ed Hardy, Hidesign, PlanetM, Provogue, Punjab Grill, and Ted Lapidus.

The Phoenix Market Cities were designed by international architectural firm Benoy and the Mumbai location is scheduled to open in 2011.  These centers are as urban as they get and it will be interesting to follow them to see how the these developments transform not only the retail opportunities for the Indian population but what happens to the immediate surroundings adjacent to these shopping meccas.  Will they benefit from the “economy” of the center or will they remain depressed.  I will report back.