This article first appeared in City & Country, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on November 14, 2022 - November 20, 2022

Winner | IOI Resort City | IOI Properties Group Bhd

On a late Monday afternoon, IOI City Mall appears busier than ever as City & Country makes its way to IOI Properties Group Bhd’s headquarters in Puchong. The mall is part of the group’s flagship IOI Resort City, which won The Property Development Excellence Award for Excellence in Integrated Township of Residential, Resort, Office and Retail.

Banking on its strategic location in the Klang Valley, the freehold 788-acre IOI Resort City was seen to complement the neighbouring Putrajaya. Today, the RM23.6 billion development embodies a thriving township, with solid dwellings, hotels, offices and retail offerings.

IOI Properties Group senior general manager Ho Kwok Wing recalls the inception of the township. “Our late founder, Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng, envisioned IOI Resort City as a development to complement the Putrajaya federal administrative centre. He had engaged with a well-known retail specialist from the US to conceptualise IOI City Mall, which was successfully completed and opened for business in November 2014.”

IOI City Mall has an average footfall of 20 million per year, says Ho. “With a net lettable area (NLA) of 2.5 million sq ft, the mall has contributed to the economy and energised developments in the area. As a whole, IOI Resort City has created job opportunities and social impact in the retail, hotel, leisure and office sectors in Puchong.”

Some of the township’s earlier developments are Palm Garden Golf Club (PGGC), which was developed in 1993 with 27 holes and then redeveloped into an 18-hole golf course on 125 acres in 2012, making it Malaysia’s first premier public golf course.

During the redevelopment, more than 4,000 trees were transplanted within the township. The relocation also made way for the development of IOI City Mall, followed by Palm Garden Hotel (151 rooms, completed in 1995), which is just minutes away from PGGC, to cater for golf tourists. Puteri Palma Condominium, Beverly Row bungalows and Putrajaya Marriott Hotel (488 rooms, completed in 2002) were the subsequent components. The township is 30% completed so far.

Other completed residential components in the township are Diamond Hill, Par 3 Condo & Condo Villa, Conezion Residences, Clio Residence and Clio 2 Residence. The ongoing Gems Residences (676 units) is expected to be completed in 1Q2023.

Ho highlights the township’s appeal and unique propositions. “Since the inception of the township, it now comprises IOI City Mall, which is currently Malaysia’s largest shopping mall. This positions our integrated township as a complete lifestyle destination for shopping, leisure, work and a place to call home as well.

“IOI Resort City has achieved one-third of its development plans, and we are working harder to enhance the components in line with our group’s vision of Trusted., where we are committed to building sustainable communities. In the long term, we would like to ensure the township has a good infrastructure that supports thriving businesses and the community.”

IOI Resort City’s existing commercial developments include Conezion commercial (retail and offices), IOI City Towers (two 31-storey office blocks) and One & Two IOI Square Towers (two 12-storey office blocks). On the hospitality side, the township offers Le Meridien Putrajaya; Putrajaya Marriott Hotel; and Palm Garden Hotel, Putrajaya, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel. The upcoming Moxy Hotel is expected to be completed by end-2023.

“We currently have three hotels in IOI Resort City, namely Putrajaya Marriott Hotel, Le Meridien Hotel and Palm Garden Hotel, A Tribute Portfolio Hotel, with Moxy Hotel to be added to our portfolio soon,” says Ho.

“While we have seen occupancy rates and average room rates improve in the last six months, there is still room for upscaling. Through our digital marketing efforts and innovative solutions, our focus is to market IOI Resort City as a resort living destination for not just family holidays but also corporate accounts for those who wish to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city centre for retreats.

“Moxy Hotel, a 3-star hotel that will comprise 495 rooms, will be another addition to the township. We are injecting new and exciting elements and components into the township to maintain its vibrancy.

“Our upcoming components will include a 10-acre central park that is expected to be completed by 2023. We will also introduce Phase 3 of IOI City Mall, which will comprise an office tower, residential block and mall.

“As for the other residential components, we plan to unveil Clio 3 Residence, which will comprise 550 units, and Jewel, a mixed-use development comprising seven blocks of residences (1,443 units) and an office block. We will also have a petrol station, a town centre (commercial square), wet market, and international and private schools in the near future.”

The group has added massive infrastructure works such as the inbound bridges from Puchong and Kajang, direct tunnels that link traffic to the ingress and egress of IOI City Mall, the centralised township water reservoir, sewerage treatment plant and multiple sources of power distribution network, says Ho.

He adds that the group has provided 14,000 parking bays to cater for demand at IOI City Mall. “The infrastructure has been designed to effectively reduce traffic congestion within the development and its neighbourhoods.”

IOI Properties Group is looking to include a 15-minute city concept within IOI Resort City. “The township will be accessible via walking, bicycles, e-vehicles and public transport. We plan to add facilities such as healthcare, education that includes kindergarten, primary and secondary schools, wellness, grocer, park and restaurants,” says Ho.

“Our intention is to increase physical activity and social connections within our community. We intend to alleviate traffic congestion and to make the township friendly to senior citizens. Our goal is to increase economic activities in this mixed-use neighbourhood, to be able to provide quality green space and build a stronger community.”

In the long term, the group is looking to improve the township’s connectivity by implementing features such as bi-paths to cater for walking, jogging and cycling; pathways for green vehicles such as scooters or buggies; sheltered or naturally shaded walkways, to connect the components in the township; and a shuttle bus service.

The vibrant components of IOI Resort City have resulted in sustainable values and yields for its developments. Phase 2 units of Puteri Palma Condominium, which was completed in 2011, were priced at RM516,800 (RM341 psf), compared to Phase 2 of Gem Residences launched last year, which recorded a price of RM724,000 (RM741 psf), with an elevated yield of 117.3%.

“The values and yields of the developments in IOI Resort City have been growing steadily and incrementally. We still attract a good demand among professionals and young families in the nearby catchments of Putrajaya and Cyberjaya,” says Ho.

He admits there are a few obstacles in the township. “To monitor the overall safety and security of a growing township is a challenge. We have taken the initiative to enhance security by monitoring the township via smart city surveillance. It is currently in a pilot stage where the system uses a drone to monitor the traffic and security of the surrounding area. This smart city surveillance and many other smart facilities will be enhanced with the arrival of the 5G network.

“Property sales are challenging as the township is still evolving. We are currently looking to add more essential amenities in IOI Resort City such as educational institutions. We are working on our plan and strategy for the township to have these amenities within 15 minutes of the township’s vicinity.

“With most of the traffic contributed by the mall, we have taken measures to reduce traffic congestion and have invested more than RM200 million to improve and enhance the traffic infrastructure in IOI Resort City.”

Operating a shopping mall involves high energy consumption, largely due to the air-conditioning system, says Ho. “To mitigate this, we have installed two gigantic 30,000 cu m thermal energy storage (TES) tanks, which contribute to the efficient use of electricity. This helps to reduce carbon emissions as well as electricity bills.

“It is possible due to the power being generated for air conditioning during the daytime that results in substantially higher electricity tariffs, compared with the night-time when power demand is off peak. Hence, with TES, we are able to optimise the low electricity tariff by chilling the water tank at night and storing the chilled water to power the air conditioning for daytime use.”

To further reduce the dependence on electricity from the grid and to reduce carbon emissions from the operations of IOI City Mall, the group has installed a solar panel photovoltaic (PV) system on the roof of the shopping mall. “This system reduces emissions that are equivalent to 2,727.42 tons of CO/year. Currently, a third of the power consumption of the mall is generated via the solar panel PV system,” says Ho.

“During the Movement Control Order period, hotel and retail operations were significantly affected. However, we provided rental rebates to some of our tenants to help them sustain their businesses,” says Ho.

“We are glad that since the relaxation of restrictions and reopening of borders, IOI City Mall has regained its footfall and we have managed to attract new businesses to our commercial project, Conezion, and boost the occupancy rates of the hotels.”

To maintain its vibrancy, IOI Properties Group is committed to making IOI Resort City a more sought-after, liveable township, with up-and-coming components.

“In the long term, we would like to create a well-balanced development with components that complement each other at this township. For example, we envision a resort living community where there is shopping with various retail outlets, a convention centre, sports complex, cinema, ice-skating rink, supermarket, offices, hotels, restaurants, golf course, residential, healthcare, medical centre, educational institutions, garden, park and nature,” says Ho.

The township is expected to be fully developed in the next 20 years. “We anticipate a mature population of about 200,000 in IOI Resort City. IOI City Mall Phase 3 (along with other product offerings) is currently being planned and is expected to be ready in the next five years,” he adds.

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