← Resources

Leasing · 6 min read

The stacking plan as a live system, not a drawing

Most malls have a stacking plan somewhere — a slide, a CAD file, a laminated print. The leasing teams that outperform run it as live data.

The short answer

A live stacking plan is the mall's unit map bound to the lease register — colored by occupancy, expiry, category or trading density — so leasing risk like expiry concentration, exclusivity conflicts and weak zones is visible before it becomes vacancy.

Ask a leasing head for the stacking plan and you will usually get a slide exported some weeks ago. It shows which unit is which, roughly who is in it, and nothing else. The version that changes outcomes is the same map bound live to the lease register — every floor, zone and unit, colored by whatever question you are asking: occupancy, category mix, lease expiry, trading density.

The questions a live plan answers instantly

  • Expiry concentration: a rolling 24-month expiry ladder over the map shows the corridor where four leases lapse the same quarter — renewals become a program, not a scramble.
  • Exclusivity and radius exposure: before an offer letter goes out, the system should warn that the proposed brand conflicts with an exclusivity clause three units away. After signing is too late.
  • Zone performance: sales per square foot by zone and floor tells you which corridor supports a rent push and which needs curation, footfall work or a different category.
  • Unit history: splits, merges and re-measurements preserved over time, so any past bill can be reconstructed against the unit as it existed then.

From enquiry to trading, on the same record

The plan earns its keep when the deal pipeline runs through it: enquiry, brand qualification, offer, commercial approvals with deviation control, agreement with e-signature, fit-out, handover, trading commencement. Two details matter more than they look. First, approvals with deviation control — a deal below the corridor's rate card should route for sign-off automatically. Second, the turnover-rent clock starting at trading commencement, captured as a fact by the handover workflow rather than remembered by whoever was on shift.

This is how CuroCentral treats leasing: the stacking plan is the front end of the lease register, and everything downstream — billing, the store directory, the tenant portal — reads the same record. When the map is data, vacancy is something you see coming.

Common questions

What is a stacking plan in retail real estate?

A stacking plan is a visual map of a property's floors and units showing occupancy and tenancy. In malls, a live stacking plan is bound to the lease register and colored by occupancy, category, lease expiry or sales performance.

What is an exclusivity clause in a mall lease?

An exclusivity (or radius) clause restricts the landlord from leasing nearby space to competing brands or categories. Breaching one by signing a conflicting deal can trigger rent remedies, which is why conflict checks belong in the leasing workflow itself.

Want to see this in practice?

Book a walkthrough