This article first appeared in City & Country, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on July 28, 2025 - August 3, 2025

Stepping into the lobby of The MET Corporate Towers in KL Metropolis — with its high ceiling, self-playing piano, scent and, rare for an office building, free drinks — is akin to entering a hotel lobby.

It is the hospitality experience that the developer Triterra Metropolis Sdn Bhd and property manager Henry Butcher Malaysia (Mont Kiara) Sdn Bhd (HBMK) have brought to the owners, users and visitors of this premium Grade A strata office and retail development.

In addition to these measures, Triterra bucked the trend by appointing a property manager for the building before its completion. It picked HBMK via a tender process two years before the completion of the development.

As Triterra CEO Christopher Lim puts it, the developer values professional services. That is the reason it works with HBMK for the best outcome. For Triterra, the activation of a building after completion is important as it includes not only place activation but also maintenance, the legal aspects as well as dealing with various stakeholders.

“The thought process behind it is, we think we know everything, but actually we don’t, especially the legal side under the Strata Management Act 2013 and the cost of maintenance. You may maintain it well, but if your cost structure is off, it will affect the many stakeholders. The stakeholders’ lens now is different. We may think we know what is good for them, but they may not think so. You thought you meant well, but to them [their view may be], ‘I don’t need all that’. We need to align this well before they come in,” he tells City & Country in an interview.

Lim explains that HBMK’s early appointment allowed the two parties to understand each other, and property management planning was able to start early.

For this synergistic partnership, The MET Corporate Towers was named the Gold winner in the Below 10 Years — Mixed Development (Entire) category and the recipient of the Editor’s Choice award for Excellence in Stewardship Synergy at The Edge Malaysia Best Managed & Sustainable Property Awards 2025.

“We did a tender process before appointing HBMK and it was to be fair to our stakeholders. We do not want our stakeholders to complain one day that we appointed a property manager without tendering. [While] it is our prerogative, I think a good process is always needed. It is about good governance,” says Lim.

“One of the proposals was to have an in-house management team, but we felt there would be too much conflict. As we want to be fair, it’s not going to be easy if we are involved, so we crossed that option out. We want someone who sees us as a partner, to work together and to champion something that will move the property management industry forward.”

HBMK managing director Low Hon Keong applauds Triterra for its faith in property management. “Sometimes, some developers do not believe in property management or they think they can do in-house property management for the first year. But a lot of the time, when we are appointed [to manage a property], it is more for damage control. Triterra has the mindset to make this development sustainable for the long term, and that’s how they evolved. They took our advice seriously and now, the management of this building is very straightforward.”

Part of the 75-acre KL Metropolis, the RM720 million The MET Corporate Towers was completed and handed over in October 2023. It has two towers sitting on 2.47 acres.

The 42-storey Tower A has a total built-up area of 460,000 sq ft and houses 356 office suites. The 30-storey Tower B, with a total built-up of 160,000 sq ft and houses 132 office suites, has been sold en bloc to the Construction Industry Development Board Malaysia. The development has 1,212 parking bays and 300 motorcycle bays.

The event and retail space in an area called The 3RD Space makes up 20% of The MET Corporate Towers.

Triterra also contributes property management ideas for the development. Among its initiatives is a quarterly dialogue between the owners and HBMK. The first dialogue was held in March this year and property agents were also invited, says Lim.

“Property management is no longer about maintenance only. You are managing the full spectrum, including playing a role in ensuring higher rents by having good practices. When a property manager has all these good practices, you’re helping the property agents to move their tenants in, and they can capitalise on this open day,” he adds.

“I was very impressed and thankful that HBMK was very open to this idea. We are in an era where we need to address dissatisfaction. If everyone can play a little part to elevate the standards of property management, we all can grow together.”

As the perfection of strata titles for The MET Corporate Towers is still underway, the first annual general meeting for the management corporation (MC) cannot be convened as it has not reached the minimum 25% of units transferred. Triterra has formed an interim management corporation (IMC) on the advice of HBMK — another practice that is not common in the industry.

“We have prepared this building towards forming sub-MCs from the very beginning and, on our advice, the developer has formed an IMC. It is like a real MC, with a chairman and so on, to make the process transparent. For example, if we are of the opinion that certain areas require more security guards, we’ll make a proposal to the IMC and go through the process of getting approvals, instead of doing so directly,” says Low.

Lim explains that while representatives appointed to the IMC are from Triterra, they represent the owners instead of the developer. This move will provide a check and balance, he says, and when the official MC is formed, it can go through the previous minutes to understand how the decisions were made.

“For example, the free welcome drink at the lobby. The decision went through a lot of discussion — what if there is food poisoning, how often do you have to do it, what would the F&B retailers say when you give free drinks. One great idea but there can be a lot of repercussions and backlash. After the trial run, the compliments came and there are suggestions of extending it to other areas in the development. Then that is when we need to discuss again because of the cost and so on,” he adds.

The Triterra team believes that to ensure a building remains sustainable and relevant for the next 50 years, proper property management is crucial — in terms of maintenance as well as placemaking and hospitality.

Triterra chief development officer Lim Yu Siang says that just as hardware in property management is important, so too is hospitality. “We want to learn from the hotel industry about how hotels do their hospitality. There is a lot to learn and it requires effort from the top to the bottom, from the management to the guards and cleaners.”

The 3RD Space, the result of its placemaking, features a 5,000 sq ft event space called The Glass Box, a 3,200 sq ft gymnasium and recreation area, F&B outlets, a business centre, meeting rooms of various sizes and an auditorium on Level 9, which also has a co-working space by Colony. The retail lots on the rooftop, ground and lower ground levels, which are owned by the developer, are also part of The 3RD Space and are open to the public.

According to CEO Lim, Triterra works with external agents to rent out the spaces. The lots are currently 95% leased and the last available space will be filled by a children’s enrichment and childcare centre.

It was a deliberate decision to bring in the centre. “We had a very good offer from an F&B operator. [But] it is another dining experience versus a children’s enrichment centre. To complete The 3RD Space ecosystem, the team felt that the latter would be better to bring a balance in offerings as we can cater for the needs of parents as well,” he explains.

“By having the space, we can define the vision and the activation of the building. Consumerism today is community consumerism. We are serving a stimulated generation and we need to keep the building vibrant and alive. Therefore, we need to continue to be part of their programme. When you attract the right group of people and keep them upbeat, everything else will flow. Of course, we will evolve over time. But I think where we are now, we are very pleased.”

Triterra hopes to keep The MET Corporate Towers vibrant and relevant, even with new buildings entering the market. As such, the CEO reckons it is important for the development to change with the times.

“If you look at timeless buildings globally, it’s not about the age of the building but the software — the people. We have to really work together to continue to stimulate our population. Good maintenance is a given and we probably need to have more dialogue. I can envision bazaars taking place in our common areas,” he says.

“One of the things we are looking into is forming a Rukun Tetangga programme to connect our community. When our communities are connected, we are actually edifying and amplifying one another, and that is something you can’t find in another building,” he adds.

“Under this Rukun Tetangga programme, participating companies get to host the neighbours at monthly meet-ups so we can get to know each other. That is the next goal we want to achieve.”

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