SGReit looking to leverage on Thomson Line

WEEKEND shoppers shuffling to and fro two Orchard Road mega malls - Ion Orchard (and its basement Orchard MRT) and Ngee Ann City - tend to pass through the basement of a smaller one, Wisma Atria.

Starhill Global Reit (SGReit), the owner of 74.23 per cent of the share value of strata lots of Wisma Atria, has in the past leveraged on that location by placing unique offerings in the basement, like Ben's Cookies, to entice the crowds.

With the Orchard station on the Thomson-East Coast Line opening in 2021, the Reit is currently considering asset enhancement opportunities for both Wisma Atria and Ngee Ann City. They are looking at how to bring more shoppers upstairs.

"We are now trying to evaluate how to translate the traffic flow upwards from the basement, rather than using it just as a conduit, then translating it into footfall upstairs," the Reit manager's senior vice-president for asset management Al…