SEA’s first hilltop premium outlet in Genting Highlands

KUALA LUMPUR (May 29): Genting Simon Sdn Bhd (GSSB) is developing Genting Premium Outlets mall (GPO) on a 600,000 sq ft piece of land within Genting Highlands. The centre will be operated by GSSB, a wholly owned subsidiary of Simon Genting Ltd (SGL).

SGL in turn is a 50:50 joint venture between Genting Plantations Bhd and Premium Outlets, the outlet division of Simon Property Group.

GPO is projected to cost RM200 million and will be Southeast Asia’s first hilltop premium outlet centre and will serve the central Eastern Malaysian market. It will open its doors by end-2016.

At the launch event on Wednesday, chairman and chief executive of the Genting Group, Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay said: “We are proud to have GPO as a hallmark development within the Genting Integrated Tourism Plan (GITP). Its strategic location within Genting Highlands will allow GPO to leverage and also further enhance Genting Highlands’ attraction as a major tourist and holiday destination that draws about 20 million visitations annually.”

The outlet will house 150 designer and brand name stores and is now in the construction stage.

GPO will offer a gross leasable area of 300,000 sq ft and 4,000 parking bays for cars and buses. Phase two and three of the project are expected to commence within the next three to five years.

According to Jean Marie Pin Harry, the general manager of GSSB, who was at the launch: “Since Johor Premium Outlets (JPO) opened in 2011, it has seen about four million visitors on average. These numbers were beyond our expectations at that point, hence, we are expecting GPO to have more visitors because of the Fox theme park that is coming up in Genting. Also, JPO caters to the southern market and GPO will cater to the central market of Klang Valley.”

GPO will be the 85th premium outlet in the Simon Property Group premium outlet portfolio.

This article first appeared in The Edge Property pullout, on May 29, 2015.