Positioning and maintaining a Luxury Mall

Project Size

560,000 sq ft/52,000 sqm, 6 floors

Overview

Esentai Mall, a multi-use property designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, with three residential condominiums, a Ritz Carlton hotel, class A office space, and multiple F&B locations. 

18 months after the Esentai Mall opened, owner and operator Capital Partners saw an opportunity to make physical improvements on the mall, as well as to further elevate the offering due to the strong luxury demand in the market.

Competition existed from Villa dei Fiori, a retail development which opened at approximately the same time, as well as from specialty store owners and operators, resulting in a need to highlight Esentai’s unique qualities and differentiation from these projects in order to secure additional brand commitments.

RBA’s Scope of Work

Following the successful opening of the Saks Fifth Avenue in Esentai Mall, RBA was hired by Capital Partners (mall owners and developers) to re-position the entire mall as the premier luxury-shopping destination in Kazakhstan.

RBA developed an overall concept and strategy for elevating the mall and worked closely with Capital Partners and SOM to reconfigure the space in order to improve circulation and traffic flow, signage, the arrivals area, brand zoning, the interior atmosphere, and the exterior pedestrian plaza.

RBA presented the opportunity in Paris and Milan at the executive level so that the brands could better understand the opportunity for expansion into Almaty.

Tenants include Louis Vuitton, Dior, Fendi, Lanvin, Prada, Jimmy Choo, Tod’s and Zegna, among others.