Staying popular despite its age

A tour of Penang island is incomplete without a walk through Gurney Drive. And standing strategically along this famous hawker food promenade is another household name among Penangites — Gurney Plaza.

Located about 3km away from George Town, Gurney Plaza is a popular destination for both tourists and locals. Developed by Gurney Plaza Sdn Bhd and now owned by CapitaLand Malaysia Mall Trust (CMMT), the 8-storey mall opened its doors to the public in July 2001 while the extension wing has been operational since November 2008. Although its appointed property manager is Knight Frank Malaysia Sdn Bhd, it is mostly managed by CMMT.

Boasting a gross floor area of 1.25 million sq ft and a net lettable area of 896,798 sq ft, Gurney Plaza is regarded as the premier lifestyle shopping mall in the northern region of Peninsular Malaysia. It is also connected to G Hotel, a modern concept designer hotel.

Its strategic location in a popular tourist strip may be deemed an advantage in pulling in traffic but CMMT does not take this for granted. Apart from the maintenance of the building and its facilities to keep it attractive, the mall frequently carries out experiential events and festive decorations to drive footfall, shares Gurney Plaza centre manager Peter Chan.

“Our annual asset enhancement initiatives and reconfigurations also provide an opportunity to right-size the desired trades and create new clusters to improve the shopping experience, which will then improve the mall’s circulation and boost its vibrancy.

“Highly regarded as the leading shopping mall in Penang and anchored by Parkson, Gurney Plaza takes pride in being the only mall in the north of Peninsular Malaysia to carry established international brands for shopping, dining and entertainment,” he tells EdgeProp.my.

Among the prominent brands featured in Gurney Plaza are Omega, Swarovski, A|X Armani Exchange, Sacoor Brothers, Chanel, Dior Parfum, Jo Malone, Laura Mercier, Marks & Spencer, Dragon-i and the award-winning Michelin restaurant Din Tai Fung — the first outlet in Penang.

Although a newcomer to EdgeProp Malaysia’s Best Managed Property Awards, Gurney Plaza has emerged as the joint Silver winner in the above 10 years retail category this year, along with Queensbay Mall, which is majority owned by CapitaMalls Asia.

Chan acknowledges that the maintenance cost of the 17-year-old mall is naturally higher than newly built malls in order to ensure that its facilities are in excellent working condition. Several major works have been done in the past few years including toilet refurbishment, repainting of the building, skylight replacement, configuration of a new surau, and installation of an isolation room for emergencies as well as lactation rooms for breastfeeding mothers.

In 2015, CMMT enhanced the mall’s landscaped garden by creating an amphitheatre for events and performances, and a children’s playground. Bicycle bays were also built to promote cycling as a healthy activity.

All these measures have successfully strengthened and cemented the mall’s popularity despite its establishment 17 years ago, says Chan.

Gurney Plaza has maintained a healthy shopper traffic growth in the past few years, having recorded 16.5 million, 16.9 million and 17.1 million shopper traffic in 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively.

The commitment from the management team in delivering a high standard of services, facilities and its constant upgrading works has earned Gurney Plaza multiple accolades and certifications such as the Penang Green Office Certification by Penang Green Council, 2nd runner-up for the 2017 Penang State Clean Toilet Competition, and the Malaysia Tourism Awards 2016/2017 Best Shopping Mall in the northern region.

Gurney Plaza is also the first shopping mall in Malaysia to receive Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority Green Mark Gold certification in 2011.

As at Dec 31, 2017, the mall houses 431 retailers and has an occupancy rate of 99.4%, while its valuation has increased by 4%. Gurney Plaza has an average monthly collection rate of 90%.

To Chan, a good mall manager should ensure smooth daily operations as well as maintenance of both the interior and exterior appearance of the complex so that it will remain relevant and maintain or increase the property value despite its age.

“It is also the responsibility of the property manager to improve footfall, manage tenants’ requests, ensure prompt rental payment, improve tenant mix and increase occupancy,” he notes.

This story first appeared in EdgeProp.my pullout on May 11, 2018. Download EdgeProp.my pullout here for free.