This article first appeared in City & Country, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on July 17, 2023 - July 23, 2023

The Edge Malaysia Best Managed & Sustainable Property Awards (BMSPA), which was first organised by EdgeProp Malaysia in 2017, marks its seventh edition this year. By comparing the properties to the best in class globally, it is hoped that the awards will raise the bar on property management and environmentally friendly real estate development in the country.

The gala dinner for the awards this year was held at Hilton Kuala Lumpur on July 4. In his welcome speech, The Edge Media Group publisher and group CEO Datuk Ho Kay Tat said the awards aimed to recognise top-class real estate management practices with maintenance that is effective and liveable.

“We believe that by recognising top-class real estate management practices, we will be able to raise the bar for the benefit of all stakeholders. By making sure that properties are well maintained and managed, property managers can prolong and enhance the value of the properties and their overall liveability,” he added.

Minister of Local Government Development Nga Kor Ming, who was the guest of honour, acknowledged in his keynote address that: “Since the debut of BMSPA in 2017, the awards have successfully raised the bar on Malaysian property management practices, benchmarking against the best in class globally. The awards have kick-started the urgently needed conversation among all property stakeholders for Malaysian real estate to be designed, built and maintained with sustainability.”

There were 10 categories of awards this year, covering residential, office, mixed development, shopping mall and specialised properties. Each category was divided into two segments to reflect the age of the properties — Below 10 Years and 10 Years and Above.

In addition to the anchor awards, The Edge Malaysia-ILAM Sustainable Landscape Awards 2023 as well as the Editor’s Choice Awards 2023 were presented.

BMSPA 2023 received 52 submissions from all over the country. Of these, 39 were shortlisted for the awards. Ultimately, 30 projects received recognition for the quality of their property management practices.

The Binjai On The Park and Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre retained their Gold status in the 10 Years and Above — Multiple-owned Strata Residential category and 10 Years and Above — Specialised category respectively. The Binjai On The Park, managed by Henry Butcher Malaysia (Mont Kiara) Sdn Bhd (HBMK), and Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, managed by Convex Malaysia Sdn Bhd, also won those awards in 2017 and 2019 respectively.

Properties that previously won Gold at the BMSPA can only resubmit their property for consideration after a period of three years.

In addition to their wins in the respective categories, both properties also received the Editor’s Choice Awards — The Binjai On The Park for Malaysia’s Outstanding Residential Strata Development and Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre for Malaysia’s Outstanding Specialised Development.

Other properties that received the Editor’s Choice Awards this year were Menara Citibank (managed by Knight Frank Property Management Sdn Bhd or KFPM) for Malaysia’s Outstanding Sustainable Office Development and The Era Wetlands (managed by JKG Central Park) for Malaysia’s Exemplary Landscape Design.

Menara Citibank and The Era Wetlands were Gold winners in the 10 Years and Above — Single-owned Office in a Mixed Strata Development category and in The Edge Malaysia-ILAM Sustainable Landscape Awards 2023 Landscape Design category respectively.

Other developments that won Gold in the main categories of the BMSPA 2023 included IOI City Mall, managed by IOI Properties Group Bhd, in the Below 10 Years — Non-strata Retail; Sunway Emerald Residence, managed by Sunway Property and Facility Management Sdn Bhd (SPFM), in the Below 10 Years — Multiple-owned Strata Residential; The Estate, managed by HBMK, in the Below 10 Years — Multiple-owned Strata Residential; Kluang Mall, managed by Tenaga Nusantara Sdn Bhd, in the 10 Years and Above — Non-strata Retail; and Kiaramas Cendana Condominium, managed by HBMK, in the 10 Years and Above — Multiple-owned Strata Residential.

Meanwhile, winning Silver in the main categories were Selangorku PR1MA Lakefront Homes @ Cyberjaya, managed by MCT Property Management Sdn Bhd, in the Below 10 Years — Sustainable Affordable Housing; Dedaun Condominium and Pearl Suria Residence, both managed by HBMK, in the Below 10 Years — Multiple-owned Strata Residential; Menara 1 Sentrum, managed by KFPM, in the Below 10 Years — Single-owned Office in a Mixed Strata Development; Oval Damansara, managed by HBMK, in the 10 Years and Above — Multiple-owned Strata Office; The Hills, Horizon Hills, managed by Horizon Hills Property Services Sdn Bhd, in the 10 Years and Above — Non-strata Residential; Mont’Kiara Banyan, managed by SCM International Property Management Sdn Bhd, in the 10 Years and Above — Multiple-owned Strata Residential; and Tara Condominium, managed by Hartamas Asset Management, in the 10 Years and Above — Multiple-owned Strata Residential.

The Bronze winners in the main categories were Sunway Velocity, managed by SPFM, in the Below 10 Years —Mixed Development (Entire); Teega @ Puteri Harbour, managed by SCM International Property Management Sdn Bhd, in the Below 10 Years — Mixed Development (Entire); Binjai 8 Premium SoHo, managed by HBMK, in the 10 Years and Above — Multiple-owned Strata Office; Plaza OSK, managed by OSK Realty Sdn Bhd, in the 10 Years and Above — Non-strata Office; Wisma Consplant, managed by KFPM, in the 10 Years and Above — Non-strata Office; Sungei Wang Plaza, managed by KFPM, in the 10 Years and Above — Strata Retail; and Sunway Putra Hotel, managed by Sunway Putra Hotel Sdn Bhd, in the 10 Years and Above — Specialised.

For The Edge Malaysia-ILAM Sustainable Landscape Awards 2023, Setia Bayuemas Lake Park and KotaSAS (Precinct 1 to Precinct 7) were awarded Gold in the Landscape Planning category, while Summit Park @ Southville City was the Silver winner in the Landscape Design category.

Three developments received special mention on the night, namely Iskandar Malaysia Studios, by Iskandar Malaysia Studios Sdn Bhd, and Menara Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru, by Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru, both in the Below 10 Years — Specialised, as well as Wisma Darul Iman, by UDA Dayaurus Sdn Bhd, in the 10 Years and Above — Specialised.

In his welcome speech, Ho explained the judging process. “Our judges, who represent experts in the real estate industry from both Malaysia and Singapore, shortlisted 39 developments for consideration. They conducted thorough site inspections of each of the 39 developments, travelling to different states around the country to do so. This process was time-consuming but it had to be done, seeing that only through these visits were they able to conduct meticulous judging with a rigorous set of criteria that included property management practices, cost optimisation, sustainability and overall excellence.”

Nga congratulated the recipients of the awards, saying that it was a proud moment. “To all winners, you have every reason to be proud, looking at the high benchmark that has been set by The Edge. This is an endorsement of your outstanding achievement and a mark of your success in the property industry.”

The judges for this year’s awards were The Edge Malaysia editor emeritus and the awards’ chief judge Au Foong Yee, City & Country editor E Jacqui Chan, Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda)

Malaysia president Datuk N K Tong, Association of Property and Facility Managers (APFM) president Lim Lan Yuan, Architect Centre Sdn Bhd accredited architect Anthony Lee Tee, Chur Associates founder and managing director Chris Tan, Malaysian REIT Managers Association (MRMA) vice-chairman Leong Kit May, Malaysian Institute of Property and Facility Managers (MIPFM) deputy president Ishak Ismail, Building Management Association of Malaysia (BMAM) committee member Richard Chan and Institute of Landscape Architects Malaysia (ILAM) president Nor Atiah Ismail.

This year’s sponsors were Nippon Paint Malaysia as the main partner, and Panasonic Malaysia and Sunview Group Bhd as supporting partners.

Nippon has been a sponsor since 2017, while it is Panasonic’s fifth year and the first for Sunview.

BMSPA 2023 was endorsed by the Ministry of Local Government Development and supported by EdgeProp Malaysia, Rehda, APFM, Architect Centre, MRMA and MIPFM, BMAM and ILAM. The results were audited by Deloitte Malaysia.

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