Chalmers Granary land to be converted into shopping mall, offices and car park

by Ravi Ladduwahetty


The Government has decided to convert the Chalmers granary land in Colombo Fort into a shopping mall cum office complex with car park and a public square among other things.

This land, which spans nine acres, 3 Roods and 27 perches, which has been hitherto used as a warehousing complex and car park will be re-vested with the Urban Development Authority, Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa told The Island yesterday.

He said that the Chalmers granary area will be vested under a Competent Authority in accordance with the Underperforming Enterprises and Underutilized Bill which will be brought in Parliament on Wednesday and the Urban Development Authority will be formulating the development plans for the area which will make optimum use of it.

Urban Development Authority Chairman Janaka Kurukulasuriya said that the government was yet to decide on the basis of the implementation. Asked what the value of the nine acre plus land was worth in commercial terms, he said that the Government Valuer had not provided a value as yet and that it was also being done as well.

"We would either go into partnership with the private sector developers on a joint venture basis or lease the land to the developer as we go along. The Request for Proposals document was being drafted and subsequently a Cabinet Memorandum will also be on the cards," he said.

He said the existing car park and the warehouses would also be removed and they were in the process of calling for tenders for the removal of the warehouses and the car park.

Courtesy - http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=38539