CapitaLand introduces free parking at its malls during lunch, dinner hours

GOVERNMENT-LINKED landlord CapitaLand said on Wednesday that it's been running a free parking promotion at its malls since last Friday, to bolster footfalls during the lunch and dinner hours amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

CapitaLand, which also controls Reits like CapitaLand Mall Trust that profit from raising tenant rents, said that it is considering flexible rental payments to ease retailers' cashflow and will pass on the full savings of the government's property tax rebate for qualifying commercial properties to its retailers.

CapitaLand said: "In the face of Covid-19, we have drawn up a comprehensive support package for our retailers, which includes immediate relief to operating costs and marketing initiatives to boost retail sales.

"As Covid-19 has impacted different malls and trade categories in varying degrees, CapitaLand's rental relief will be disbursed to retailers in a targeted manner, based on their individual needs and circumstances. These may include a review of security deposits, restructuring of rental payments and rental rebates to ease retailers' cashflow."

Last Thursday, CapitaLand announced that retailers at its malls have the option of operating shorter hours.

It has also put in place a S$10 million marketing assistance programme to support both retailer-driven promotions and mall-wide marketing initiatives. The free parking promotion is part of that programme.