KUALA LUMPUR: Publika, the country’s first “creative retail centre” that integrates arts and culture with urban shopping and dining, will see Ben’s Independent Grocer (BIG) supermarket as its anchor tenant.

Publika is part of the 17.1-acre Solaris Dutamas in Kuala Lumpur, an integrated commercial and residential development that consists of office suites, a Grade A office tower and serviced apartments. It has more than 4,000 parking bays.

“BIG will occupy 49,000 sq ft and the opening of the supermarket is expected to benefit an on-site population of residents, office tenants and daytime crowd of about 21,000 as well as the residential catchment of 330,000 people within a 10-minute drive,” said Anne Tong, assistant general manager for branding and community development for developer Sunrise Bhd at a press conference on Wednesday.

Besides grocery shopping, the supermarket will also organise in-house activities and cooking classes for shoppers.

Publika has a gross floor area of 800,000 sq ft, and a net lettable area of 320,000 sq ft located within the RM1.5 billion Solaris Dutamas. It is targeted for completion and official opening by mid-2011, and will be the first shopping gallery to have BIG as an anchor tenant. Among its other tenants would be British India, Caring Pharmacy, Rakuzen and Monocle.

There will also be a 26,000 sq ft Shanghai-inspired food village called  Food Culture.

Earlier, Sunrise deputy executive chairman Datuk Allan Lim said in his speech that Publika’s unique positioning is an opportunity for new retailers to bring forward new ideas to set them apart from the rest.

“This is the place to be creative and break away from the mould,” he noted.

Sunrise has set aside about a third of the net lettable space of Publika for the promotion of arts and cultural activities. The art and cultural theme to the project is MAP, or Making Art Public, offering public spaces for activities such as art exhibitions, performances, lectures, seminars and workshops throughout the year.

The various projects in Solaris Dutamas have been fully sold except for Publika, which is being retained for recurring income.