Sunway City Ipoh unveils RM500 mil worth of projects

IPOH (June 17): Sunway City (Ipoh) Sdn Bhd has unveiled projects with a total gross development value of at least RM500 million for Sunway City Ipoh within the next three years. They consist of an expansion of The Banjaran Hotsprings Retreat, an outlet mall, as well as serviced apartments and high-end landed residential products.

“The new developments will further boost critical mass and breathe more business and employment opportunities into the thriving township of Sunway City Ipoh, furthering our vision to be Perak’s socio-economic growth engine as a master community developer,” said Sunway City Ipoh’s senior general manager Wong Wan Wooi (pictured) in a press conference during a Sunway City Ipoh media familiarisation tour on yesterday.

The new 600,000 sq ft Lost World Outlet Mall and 1,000-unit, four-block serviced apartments will sit on 31-acres out of the 1,350-acre integrated development of Sunway City Ipoh in Tambun, Perak. It will also contain a hotel block with roughly 300 rooms and new banquet hall.

“Among all the components, the serviced apartments are likely to come out first. The units will have built-ups from 600 to 1,300 sq ft, with selections ranging from studio, 2-bedrooms, and 3-bedrooms. The Sanctuary Courtyard, located at the podium level, is surrounded by a full set of facilities including natural hotsprings pool ‘onsen’, infinity swimming pool, multi-purpose hall, gymnasium, sauna rooms and podium garden,” Wong offered, adding that the project is expected to be launched early next year and be completed by 2020.

Wong said the serviced apartments project is targeting local and international buyers. “With more frequent flights to and from Ipoh to other states of Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, we are looking for more buyers and visitors from other states and countries to move into Tambun, before we start up our outlet mall and hotel expansion development.”

He added that the outlet mall was supposed to open this year, but it has been postponed to the middle of next year due to the soft market sentiment.

“We are all ready to build [the outlet mall] now actually, but we want to make sure tenants can survive and sustain after they move in. We are very cautious and consider everything before starting a project. Furthermore, we are not in hurry,” said Sunway Integrated Properties Sdn Bhd’s property development division deputy managing director Tan Wee Bee (pictured).

Tan also announced the plan to expand the award-winning The Banjaran Hotsprings Retreat. “We have 25 villas now in the retreat but it is not enough to cater to the need, especially since we have worldwide attention now. We will begin our Phase 2 soon, where we will add another 20 villas.”

Sunway Ipoh City is also planning to build at least 1,000 units of residential homes called Hilltop Homes, adding to the existing 1,200 units of homes in the township.

Wong said the high-end landed residential products will consist of bungalows and semi-detached houses. The area is still in its early infrastructure planning stage. “The engineering plan is very tough for Hilltop Homes because it is on the peak where you have an overview of the township. We want to minimise changing the natural landscape. We’re looking to invest RM80 million to RM100 million for the infrastructure such as roads and power.”

Wong and Tan declined to reveal the exact launch date and the price range for Hilltop Homes.

Sunway City Ipoh is the largest integrated township in Perak. It was conceived in 1996 and is driven by Sunway Bhd as the catalyst of growth for the Eastern Development Corridor for Ipoh.

The township spans approximately 1,350 acres with a GDV of about RM2 billion. To-date, 65% of the township has been developed, with the remaining 35% with GDV of RM1 billion scheduled for completion by 2025.