Asian Pac’s diverse and original real estate projects attract Asia-Pacific investors
Malaysian property developer’s projects include strip malls, high-rises, townships and investments in off-the-radar land banks
Touted as Kota Kinabalu’s one-stop premier shopping destination and one of its largest retail establishments, Imago KK Times Square has set the bar for shopping centres in Sabah’s flourishing capital.
Encompassing 800,000 sq ft of world-class retail, entertainment and dining outlets, the four-level landmark mall forms part of KK Times Square – a modern, vibrant and strategically located 24-hectare mixed-use development project comprised of office, residential and commercial space.
It is Kota Kinabalu’s first non-stratified retail establishment with wholly management-owned and operated tenant stores. Since its opening in 2015, it has reached a tenant occupancy rate of 90 per cent with more than 300 retail outlets.
Imago shopping mall and KK Times Square would have been but invisible twinkles on the Kota Kinabalu horizon without the initiatives of industry-leading Malaysian real estate developer Asian Pac Holdings.
A company that is forging a reputation as the partner-of-choice among Asian and Chinese developers, consultants and contractors, Asian Pac is reputed for its first-mover advantage, strong local market knowledge and industry expertise honed over more than 100 years.
With a portfolio of projects ranging from landed real estate, strip malls and high-rise residential towers to township developments and niche projects such as industrial parks, Asian Pac’s generalist approach to property development is a key advantage.
“Being able to tackle a wide range of property types gives us strength in planning wider scale or stand-alone projects effectively,” says managing director Mustapha Buang. “Our differential edge is that we look into areas others tend to overlook with educated research. We focus ahead and look at what the potentials are. To a certain degree, we have a first-mover approach by looking into locations, themes and ideas that people have never tried before.”
Led by a strong management team of young multidisciplinary professionals, Asian Pac traces its expertise and origins back to 1913. The company entered Kota Kinabalu in the early 2000s through its construction of KK Times Square.
Apart from Imago, KK Times Square also houses The Loft Residences – Asian Pac’s premier residential address featuring an exclusive and integrated lifestyle experience.
Nestled within KK Times Square’s vast leisure and recreational space, The Loft Residences offers 631 highly sought-after units ranging from US$413,898 to US$658,739 – and serviced apartments 1,834 to 4,192 sq ft in size.
Listed on the main board of the Bursa Malaysia exchange, the company’s business interests include investment holdings, property development and investment, mall and carpark ownership and trading in building materials. By focusing on property investments with recurrent income such as the ownership and management of around 2,500 car parking bays in KK Times Square, Asian Pac keeps itself afloat through economic fluctuations.
“We are able to renew ourselves frequently because we are quite a small team – compact, agile and capable of quickly adapting to changes,” Buang says. “We do everything in-house from leasing to facility management.”
Asian Pac’s upcoming projects include investments in off-the-radar land banks. It also envisions to expand beyond Malaysia in the future.
Driven to beget positive change in Malaysia through sustainable modernisation, Asian Pac has also earned the BCA Green Mark for its environment-friendly projects. Certified by Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority, the BCA Green Mark scheme is an initiative to promote sustainability in the construction and real estate sectors.
“We always see how to make things work rather than see how things can’t,” Buang says. “We’ll still be looking at creating really sustainable projects that work long-term, and we’ll never say no to potential investors and partners who can bring added value to the table in terms of concepts and ideas – not just in the monetary sense.”
