Hong Kong's first midnight shopping mall will be up and running by the end of the year, providing an array of shopping and entertainment choices. Shops in the 11-storey complex in Kwun Tong will stay open until midnight, while restaurants will offer dim sum until 2am and the entertainment zone - comprising karaoke bars, Japanese game centres and possibly a cinema - will open 24 hours a day. The APM Mall - which refers to its opening hours - is situated next to the MTR station and is being built by Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP). It is part of the company's 3 million sq ft Millennium City project, which aims to spice up the traditional industrial and residential district of Kwun Tong while challenging rivals' traditional operating hours. SHKP said it would initially target the nearly one million residents and office workers in the district. But later it plans to attract tourists because 10 hotel projects are on the drawing board for the area. Maureen Fung, deputy leasing manager of Sun Hung Kai Real Estate Agency, said the concept would help to change Hong Kong's retail landscape. 'A new trend for long opening hour shopping malls is emerging as people's working hours are longer and longer these days,' she said, adding it was compulsory for all 170 tenants to open at least until midnight to create a 'play more, sleep less' mall culture. 'Apart from travelling by MTR, we are also in discussion with the Transport Department to allow more minibus routes to stop by the shopping mall to enhance its accessibility.' About 70 per cent of the retail spaces were in advanced stages of negotiation, she said. 'Some of the potential retail tenants are Japanese retailers, which would like to open their first store in the mall.'
