Gamuda Bhd — Property Division (Gamuda Land) made history at The Edge Malaysia Top Property Developers Awards (TPDA) 2023 by clinching the No 1 spot for the first time and taking home the Best in Quantitative Attributes and Best in Qualitative Attributes sub-awards as well. This is the first time a single company has swept all three awards since TDPA’s inception in 2003.

The developer had climbed the ranks steadily over the past five years. From eighth in 2018, Gamuda Land rose to second placing in 2022.

“I am very happy and honoured that Gamuda Land has been ranked as the top property developer in Malaysia. This is a great recognition of the hard work and innovation of our team. We are thankful to The Edge Malaysia for acknowledging us,” said Gamuda Land CEO Chu Wai Lune.

“We will continue to maintain our high standard of excellence. We could not have achieved this without the support of our customers and business partners. We are excited about the future and look forward to making a positive impact in our work.”

TPDA has evolved in the two decades since its inception. Having started out with the aim of giving recognition to top-performing property development companies, it has expanded to recognise prominent property figures and outstanding property developments. Since 2010, the awards have been known as The Edge Malaysia Property Excellence Awards (TEPEA) and are anchored by TPDA.

In his opening speech, The Edge Media publisher and group CEO Datuk Ho Kay Tat said: “[The awards] started [when] the country was recovering from the Asian financial crisis. We have persisted through the global financial crisis of 2008/09 and, more recently, the Covid-19 pandemic.

“At the peak of the pandemic in late 2020, we did not have a gala dinner, but if you remember, we still computed the Top 10 Developers’ rankings and presented them individually to you at your offices. The show must go on, as they say,” he added.

The TPDA rankings remain the most anticipated each year.

“Annual rankings are a good indication of how each company has performed. What is more important, however, is to be strong and great to last the test of time. Like any business, developers do go through expansionary and consolidation phases depending on market conditions,” Ho said.

“Our TPDA methodology has not changed, so any change in ranking is a manifestation of developments in the market and, possibly, also due to a shift in strategy by the companies.”

The TPDA results were evaluated based on both qualitative and quantitative merits. In the qualitative category, judges evaluated each company on its expertise, image, innovation and creativity, as well as product quality and the value it creates for buyers. For the quantitative category, companies were evaluated based on their shareholders’ funds, turnover, profitability and cash holding or gearing.

Deloitte Malaysia audited the scores and rankings for TPDA 2023.

Other developers on the Top 10 list were Sunway Bhd — Property Division (No 2), S P Setia Bhd (joint No 3), Sime Darby Property Bhd (joint No 3), UOA Development Bhd (joint No 3), IOI Properties Group Bhd (No 4), IJM Land Bhd (No 5), Eco World Development Group Bhd (No 6), UEM Sunrise Bhd (No 7), Mah Sing Group Bhd (No 8), Matrix Concepts Holdings Bhd (No 9) and IGB Bhd (No 10).

TEPEA 2023 also featured nine other awards — The Edge Malaysia-PAM Green Excellence Award; The Edge Malaysia-PEPS Value Creation Excellence Award; The Edge Malaysia Affordable Urban Housing Excellence Award; The Edge Malaysia Property Development Excellence Award (township community hub and neighbourhood mall); The Edge Malaysia Excellence in Place Regeneration Award; The Edge Malaysia Excellence in Conservation & Adaptive Reuse Award; The Edge Malaysia Outstanding Overseas Project Award; The Edge Malaysia Outstanding Property CEO Award; and The Edge Malaysia Outstanding Contribution to the Real Estate Industry Award.

Datuk Soam Heng Choon, who was Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda) president (2018 to 2022), and CEO and managing director of IJM Land Bhd (2004 to 2015) and IJM Corp Bhd (2015 to 2019), received The Edge Malaysia Outstanding Contribution to the Real Estate Industry Award.

Perdana ParkCity Sdn Bhd (ParkCity Group) group CEO Datuk Joseph Lau and Sime Darby Property group managing director Datuk Azmir Merican were given The Edge Malaysia Outstanding Property CEO Award.

The awards were presented by City & Country, the property pullout of The Edge Malaysia.

The winner of The Edge Malaysia-PAM Green Excellence Award was Kapas Heights by Domaine Architects Sdn Bhd and Kapas Heights Sdn Bhd.

The Edge Malaysia-PEPS Value Creation Excellence Award was won by Ayera Residences at Tropicana Danga Cove by Tropicana Corp Bhd, and Iconia Garden Residence (Precinct A - Phase 10A) at Taman Impian Emas by Gunung Impian Development Sdn Bhd.

For The Edge Malaysia Affordable Urban Housing Excellence Award, SkyAwani 3 Residences by SkyWorld Development Bhd and Hibiscus 3 at Bandar Seri Coalfields by KLK Land Sdn Bhd emerged as winners while Residensi Bandar Bukit Mahkota by PR1MA Corp Malaysia and Taman Nuri Sentosa by Sri Pengkalan Binaan Sdn Bhd received a special mention.

There were three winners for The Edge Malaysia Outstanding Overseas Project Award — Royal Mint Gardens by IJM Land, 1060 Carnegie by Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd and The Mansions @ ParkCity Hanoi by ParkCity Group.

The Edge Malaysia Property Development Excellence Award was split into two categories, Excellence in Township Community Hub and Excellence in Neighbourhood Mall. Winners for the Township Community Hub category were The Waterfront @ Desa ParkCity by ParkCity Group and D’Network @ Setia Eco Park by S P Setia. Meanwhile, 163 Retail Park by YNH Property Bhd and Bangsar Shopping Centre by BRDB Developments Sdn Bhd won in the Neighbourhood Mall category.

For The Edge Malaysia Excellence in Place Regeneration Award, the winners were Kwai Chai Hong by Bai Chuan Management Sdn Bhd and Bukit Bintang City Centre by BBCC Development Sdn Bhd.

There were three recipients for The Edge Malaysia Excellence in Conservation and Adaptive Reuse Award — Hin Bus Depot, A Place Where by APW and Else Kuala Lumpur by GF Land Sdn Bhd.

The Edge Malaysia weekly is supported by EdgeProp.my. The official solar partner for the awards was GSPARX Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Tenaga Nasional Bhd.