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UDA yet to find investors for Colombo Racecourse

12 Sep 2021

  • Search for viable investors continues
By Yakuta Dawood In anticipation of providing a lease of life to the Colombo Racecourse Mall, the Urban Development Authority (UDA) is continuously looking for investors by way of evaluating a couple of proposals they have received in this regard. However, nothing has been finalised as of yet, The Sunday Morning Business learns. Speaking to us, UDA Director General N.P.K. Ranaweera stated that even though they have scheduled a timeline and have hopes to lease the Colombo Racecourse Mall in a public-private partnership (PPP), a potential investor who will be able to develop and operate the businesses at the compound is yet to be evaluated in order to award the project. “We have scheduled the process and are still looking for an investor to lease out Colombo Racecourse Mall. However, without an investor, how can we do it?” Ranaweera highlighted. Subsequently, even after two months, there has been no improvement with regard to awarding the mall to an investor. Speaking to us in July,  Ranaweera stated: “We have announced the leasing out of the Colombo Racecourse Mall and are now inviting potential investors. We are in the evaluation process.” With a similar intention, the UDA recently leased out Arcade Independence Square to Softlogic Holdings, a leading conglomerate in Sri Lanka, for a period of 10 years to resolve the challenges faced by the improper maintenance of the building, which was 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. Further, Ministry of Urban Development and Housing Secretary Sirinimal Perera in April told The Sunday Morning Business that the ministry may go for a PPP for the Colombo Racecourse 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 manifesto “Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour” in order to improve the businesses inside these malls. Colombo Racecourse was initially a harness racing course in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo. It was opened in 1893 for horse racing and later converted to an airfield during World War II. According to UDA public facility data, the premises had been used again for horse racing for a while but had stopped, and was then neglected and falling apart until its refurbishment in 2011. In 2011, the UDA commenced the renovation of the Grandstand and the Colombo Turf Club building. The structures were renovated by the Sixth Engineer Services Regiment and Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau, and the remaining grounds were redeveloped into Sri Lanka’s first international-grade Rugby Union grounds. 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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