A new open-air mall sporting high-end luxury shops and restaurants in Phnom Penh’s Tuol Kok district is the latest expansion of the suburban neighborhood, though widespread commercialization of the area could still take years, property executives said Monday.
The mall, called TK Avenue, opened Friday at the corner of streets 315 and 516, spanning at least three blocks in Boeng Kak I commune.
Its tenants include mostly high-end retailers such as Adidas, Aussino furniture, Shiseido cosmetics, Pedro Footwear and Accessories, and Samsung, as well as branches of Lucky Supermarket, Brown Coffee, Legend Cinema, Kfour Electronics and Metro Restaurants.
Bobby Peoples, manager at local property consultancy firm Independent Property Services, said that if TK Avenue mall is successful, it could drive further commercialization in Tuol Kok.
“The epicenter of Phnom Penh is moving west. So there will be more amenities in that area, which will encourage property developers to build more,” he said.
However, Philip Scott, a surveyor at commercial real estate services firm CB Richard Ellis, said significant commercial development could still be years in the future.
“The new TK Avenue mall is certainly a stepping stone for the expanding district in providing an out-of-towntown shopping location to the residents of Tuol Kok. However, the area does not currently warrant much further commercial development as the majority of Tuol Kok’s residents are sufficiently catered for from central Phnom Penh,” he said.
At the TK Avenue mall Monday, the majority of the two dozen storefronts were already filled with tenants.
At the Metro Restaurant branch, known as Metro Azura, Sokha Nouth, director of operations for the group, said the local restaurant chose to open at TK Avenue in an effort to attract higher-income, local families.
“Our aim is for high-income families who are local. Our riverfront location is more for tourists. We expect people to come here instead of driving all the way to the riverfront. It’s easier for those who live here. We bring the Metro brand to them,” he said.
Residents of Tuol Kok at the mall on Monday said they like the convenience of no longer venturing into downtown Phnom Penh for shopping.
“It offers us food at places such as Lucky during the day, and then in the evening, I can go study at Brown,” said David Vannak, 19, a student at Zaman University, which is adjacent to the mall.
