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UDA evaluates investors to lease Racecourse

25 Jul 2021

  • Plans to establish PPP to operate the mall
By Yakuta Dawood The Urban Development Authority (UDA) is currently in the process of evaluating potential investors to lease out the Colombo Racecourse Mall, similar to the recent lease of the Arcade Independence Square, to Softlogic Holdings, The Sunday Morning Business learns. Speaking to us, UDA Director General N.P.K. Ranaweera stated that they are in a callout for potential investors who would be interested in a public-private partnership (PPP) to develop and operate the mall. “We have announced the leasing out of the Colombo Racecourse Mall and are now inviting potential investors. We are in the evaluation process,” Ranaweera said. In April, Secretary to the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing Sirinimal Perera told The Sunday Morning Business that the Ministry may go for a PPP for the Racecourse Shopping Mall in the future, similar to the recent lease of the Arcade Independence Square shopping complex. “When we were in the Government from 2010 to 2015, we ensured that business was good by operating tour buses filled with tourists to the malls and by holding various entertainment events to attract crowds. The decline in these things during the tenure of the last Government from 2015 has led to us having to make these decisions now,” Perera said. He further added that a partnership with the private sector is sought under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s “Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour” policy vision to improve the businesses inside these malls. The Arcade Independence Square was leased out in May for a period of 10 years due to improper maintenance of the building under the former Government. Accordingly, both the Arcade and the Racecourse Mall were developed when the current President was then Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development, and Perera was UDA Chairman. Colombo Racecourse was a racing course in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo. During the Second World War, it was used as a temporary airfield. In 2012, it was redeveloped as the Colombo Racecourse sports complex to become the first International Rugby Union ground in Sri Lanka to host all the national rugby union sides home matches. In 2014, the ground went through a major renovation, which included the installation of floodlights and the conversion of a substantial part of the grandstand into a shopping and dining complex.


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