A US$60 million mixed-used real estate venture on Phnom Penh’s Chroy Changvar peninsula will be completed before the close of 2011, the project owner claimed this week.

Young’s Commercial Centre and Resort, which is a part of the Happiness City housing development in Russei Keo district, will comprise six stories of retail, residential and leisure space, said Happiness City Managing Director and owner Ear Kim Keng.

He said construction was now 80 percent complete, despite some trouble finding needed funding at earlier stages of the building process.

“We’re guaranteeing the project will be 100 percent finished and operational by the end of this year,” he said.

Young’s is being built on reclaimed swampland along National Road 6A across the Cambodia-Japanese Friendship bridge.

The 100,000-square-metre complex will include a shopping mall, office space, a rooftop resort featuring 1,000 stand-alone serviced apartment, a movie theatre, landscaped gardens and a swimming pool, Ear Kim Keng said.

It will also contain a fitness centre, steam sauna and play areas for children, he added.

According to Ear Kim Keng, more than 50 percent of the development has already been rented by clients including KFC, The Pizza Company, Happy Land and I Can International School. Negotiations are ongoing with Cambodian Public Bank and other banks, he said.

Rental prices at the centre have been set at around $300 to $400 per month for a three-metre-by-four-metre shop space, Ear Kim Keng said. Clients who rent a store for three years will receive a discount of between 30 percent and 40 percent, he said.

“This area will become a satellite city in the future, so I believe that we can get customers to come here,” he said, referring to the project being planned by Overseas Cambodian Investment Cooperation.

Cheng Kheng, Managing Director for Cambodia Properties Limited, said Young’s is in a good location for that reason, though it may be some time before the area reaches its full potential.

He also said the centre’s rental prices are “acceptable.”

However, a number of delays have slowed construction, which “makes clients lose confidence in the project,” he said.

When interviewed by The Post, Young’s potential competitors said they weren’t threatened by the new complex.

Chear Sok Heak, General Manager of Sorya Shopping Center in Phnom Penh, said yesterday she welcomed the competition, as it gave consumers more choices and helped to beautify the city.

“We’re not concerned because we have a different location and different customers. And our shopping mall is still number one because we always keep our place fresh and fun for customers,” she said.

Bayon Shopping Centre’s General Manager, Chheang Meng, said his product selection would help to retain customers when Young’s opened for business.

“We always give the best service to our clients and make them feel confident with high-quality goods,” he said.