Casa Tropika Puchong

After gaining the recognition from Malaysian Book of Records in 2007 for developing Chow Kit’s largest wholesale plaza called Plaza GM, TSI Group Malaysia is now developing the largest wholesale city in Malaysia and Asean. “Build on 5ha of commercial land in Bandar Botanic, the project is divided into four phases and when completed will boast more than 1.5 million sq ft of total built up,” he tells StarBizWeek recently.

The company, he says, bought the land about 13 months ago and since then has started to develop the first phase of the project. It will launch the second phase by the middle of next year. “The location is strategic as it is accessible from major highways and thoroughfares including air and sea. We are not just targeting the local business people but also those from all around this region including India and Pakistan,” he says.

He adds that the company has sent a team to study various marketing strategies on the wholesale business in Thailand, Indonesia, Dubai and China. “We have also sent our marketing team to market and promote this project to the Asean region,” he says. Lim says GM Klang Wholesale City will contribute positively to the country’s economic development, providing micro and macro economic opportunities for all.

“It will also improve and strengthen regional ties, inter-relations and international trade, enhancing business to business tourism and also stimulate more retail/trading for business people,” he says, adding that the city will eventually provide more than 8,000 job opportunities. “Another thing on this project, we want to help the young graduates such as interested bumiputra entrepreneurs to set up their business here. We will offer them a competitive rate to start their business,” he says.

When ask how will GM Klang Wholesale City with the upcoming wholesale city called Kenanga Wholesale City in Kuala Lumpur, Lim says the latter focuses more on garments and fashion products while the former offers a more diverse product range. “Our plan is to also emphasise on other products such as timepiece, spectacles, souvenir, electrical and electronics goods, IT related products, hand phone, hardware and many more,” he says.

For the record, a new 22-storey Kenanga Wholesale City is currently being developed at Jalan Kenanga, off Jalan Loke Yew.

Scheduled for completion by end 2010, the project sits on a 1.28ha site and has a GDV of RM800mil. He says phase 1 of GM Klang Wholesale City will offer 259 units of wholesale shops with sizes ranging from 290 sq ft to 582 sq ft. All units are for lease purposes. TSI Group plans to keep most units at phase 2, 3, and 4 as it wants to develop six distinctive pavilions for the purpose of segmenting and categorising the products for the convenience of retailers and traders when sourcing for their goods, Lim says. He adds that GM Klang Wholesale City will be fully air-conditioned. It will have three dedicated loading and unloading areas for fast and easy transit of goods.“Since the complex will eventually have more than 3,000 car parking bays, we will deploy security guards to facilitate the traffic in the area,” he says.

TSI Group is also focusing on another project in Kepong called First Residence. Comprising two levels of shops and 474 units of condominium in two towers, scheduled for completion by the middle of 2011. “For upcoming development, we plan to launch a mixed residential development in Puchong comprising 520 units of condominium and 12 units of conventional shops by early next year. The project is estimated at RM130mil in GDV,” he says.

Source: The Star