Eco Botanic: A serene alternative to the bustle of the JB city centre
By Cecilia Chow
/ EdgeProp Singapore |
The 470-acre Eco Botanic is a self-sustainable township with English-inspired architecture and ample greenery (Photo: Eco World)
For the past five years, Singaporean fengshui master Jet Lee and his family have made the 30-minute drive across the Tuas Checkpoint at least once every fortnight to their weekend home at Eco Botanic, a gated township in Iskandar Puteri, Johor Bahru (JB).
“The place has good fengshui,” says Lee. “It sits on high ground, surrounded by greenery, lakes, and water features.”
Beyond its fengshui appeal, Lee values the luxury township’s double-layered security. There is a main security guard post at the entrance to the gated community and a second post at the entrance to each precinct. “It’s safer than most other private housing developments in JB,” he adds.
Fengshui master Jet Lee on a "fengshui tour" of The Verandah luxury bungalow in the first phase of Eco Botanic in Iskandar Puteri, Johor (Photo: Jet Lee)
Developed by Malaysian-listed property developer Eco World Development Group, Eco Botanic is its flagship development in Johor. The first phase of Eco Botanic — The Verandah Collection was launched in 2013. These were mainly luxury bungalows and semi-detached houses.
The second phase was The Chateau, launched in 2015. It has a mix of 2½-storey strata-titled houses inspired by English country homes. The houses in this phase are a mix of super-link houses — The Grassten and The Laeken — with 1,950 sq ft of strata area. On the other hand, The Sandringham is a series of semi-detached houses with a 3,360 sq ft strata area. The houses in The Château series were designed with a basement level containing a covered garage for two cars and additional storage space.
Lee purchased a super-link house at The Grassten when it was launched in 2015, and the development was completed in 2018. “It met all our investment criteria,” he says. “We bought a unit there without any qualms.”
The Botanic Gardens parkland within the Eco Botanic township (Photo: Eco World)
Location and lifestyle offerings
He was drawn to Eco Botanic’s location, as it is next to EduCity, a precinct with seven renowned international schools, including Marlborough College, Raffles American School, Newcastle University of Medicine Malaysia, the University of Southampton, and the University of Reading.
When Eco Botanic was first launched over a decade ago, there was a lot of hype over the High-Speed Rail (HSR). The 350km HSR between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore would have cut travelling time to 90 minutes compared to four hours by car. At that time, Iskandar Puteri was designated as the location for the Johor terminus.
However, in January 2021, the two governments announced in a joint statement that the HSR project was aborted.
The lifestyle offering at Eco Botanic more than made up for the loss of the HSR, according to Lee. He likes the British colonial theme: “Every time we visit, it happens to be raining, and it feels like living in the UK,” he says.
Christmas celebration at the atrium of Eco Galleria mall (Photo: Eco World)
The largest mall there, Eco Galleria, is a five-storey block with 621,000 sq ft of net lettable area across five floors. It opened in 2020 and has 420 strata-title shops and boutique offices. “It was rather quiet during Covid,” Lee relates. Since then, the mall has been abuzz.
“It is the go-to place for Singaporeans,” adds Lee. “A lot of Singaporeans like to go to Eco Galleria for the Tasixi Hong Kong Dim Sum, MeiXuan Hot Pot and Mamasita Mexican Restaurant & Bar.”
Lee and his family enjoy shopping at Jaya Grocer supermarket, which occupies a total strata area of 35,000 sq ft in Eco Galleria, making it the largest of Jaya Grocer’s outlets in Malaysia. “It carries a lot of fresh produce,” says Lee. “Whenever we go there, we end up spending RM500 ($150.42) to RM600 on groceries, including dog food and treats.”
A significant tenant at Eco Galleria is supermarket chain Jaya Grocer, which occupies a total strata area of 35,000 sq ft, making it the largest outlet in Malaysia (Photo: Eco World)
Cost of living
Another anchor tenant at Eco Galleria is the University of Southampton Malaysia, which relocated from nearby EduCity in 2021 and occupies 150,000 sq ft of space in the mall.
Although Lee was originally a Malaysian from Penang, he moved to Singapore 30 years ago and has since become a Singapore citizen. He recently learnt that a friend of his, MediaCorp star Shaun Chen, had moved his family from Singapore to Eco Botanic in August this year.
While Chen is currently renting a home, he is exploring the possibility of purchasing a property there, according to an interview published by the Chinese language daily Lianhe Zaobao on Sept 3.
Chen chose Eco Botanic as his new home because of its proximity to EduCity, where his two young children attend an international school.
A Malaysian with permanent residency (PR) in Singapore, Chen says it takes him around 30 minutes to drive from his current residence to Singapore’s Tuas Checkpoint via the Second Link.
Eco Botanic is near EduCity where there are seven renowned international schools (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
Cost of living was another major factor in his decision to move. With the Malaysian Ringgit currently trading at about RM3.30 to the Singapore dollar, the currency exchange alone offers significant savings of about 30%.
At 45, Chen is also planning for the future and has expressed his intention to retire in Malaysia. He is not alone.
According to Phan Yan Chan, divisional general manager of Eco South at EcoWorld Malaysia, 85% of Eco Botanic's resident population are Malaysians, with foreigners accounting for the remaining 15%.
The foreign nationals at Eco Botanic are diverse. They include those from Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia, Indonesia, Korea, Brunei, Switzerland, the UK and the US.
The reasons for purchasing a home in Eco Botanic are equally wide-ranging: “We have Singaporeans or Malaysians who are still working in Singapore, while others are retiring and consider Eco Botanic their second home,” says Phan. “Others are expatriates who are either working in Iskandar or accompanying their children who are studying in the international schools at EduCity. Some Chinese citizens are currently working in Singapore, while others are already Singapore PRs.”
Phan: We have seen several waves of Singaporeans buying property in Iskandar Malaysia over the past decade. This third wave, however, is expected to be more sustainable, as the new projects are more spread out across JB instead of being concentrated in certain areas, unlike the past (Photo: Eco World website)
RTS and ‘the third wave’
While Eco Botanic may be EcoWorld’s flagship township project in Johor, it has two other significant townships on the eastern corridor of JB: Eco Spring, located in the Tebrau Corridor and Eco Tropics at Pasir Gudang. In addition to the three townships, EcoWorld operates several business parks, primarily in the Kulai area of JB.
Iskandar Malaysia covers a 2,217 sq km swath in the southern part of Johor state and is three times the size of Singapore. It includes JB, Kulai and Pontian.
Having entered the market in 2011, EcoWorld’s Phan says, “We have seen three waves of Singaporeans buying property in Iskandar Malaysia”.
The epicentre of the first wave, which occurred in 2012-2013, was at Puteri Harbour. This wave stemmed from the 2010 announcement about the HSR and the prospects of the terminus located at Iskandar Puteri.
The second wave in 2014-2015 was driven by Chinese developers with large-scale high-rise apartment projects, such as the 8,500-unit Country Garden Danga Bay, another 26,000 apartments at Country Garden Forest City near the Second Link, and R&F Princess Cove near the Johor Bahru Causeway.
The first phase of R&F Princess Cove has 3,472 apartments and was completed in 2017. The second phase of 3,789 units was completed and handed over to buyers in phases since April this year. R&F intends to launch the third phase of 4,385 units in 1Q2025. The total housing units for the first three phases amount to 11,646 units. At least two more phases remain in the pipeline for launch.
The first phase of R&F Princess Cove has 3,472 apartments and was completed in 2017. The second phase of 3,789 units was completed and handed over to buyers in phases since April this year, while the third phase of 4,385 units is expected to be launched in 1Q2025 (Photo: EdgeProp Singapore)
The current wave of buying, which Phan calls “the third wave”, is expected to be more sustainable. He adds: “The new projects are more spread out across JB instead of being concentrated in certain areas, unlike the past.”
The third wave of buying has been fuelled by the progress of the JB-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link project, which has reached a significant milestone. In a press release dated Nov 29, Malaysia announced that its railway civil infrastructure works had reached 93% completion. Meanwhile, more than four-fifths of the overall infrastructure works in Singapore have been completed. Work to connect the RTS link to Woodlands North Station on the Thomson-East Coast Line will begin next year.
The RTS Link is targeted to be operational by December 2026. When completed, the 4km RTS Link is expected to accommodate up to 10,000 passengers per hour in each direction, with a train journey time of about five minutes between the two stations. It aims to ease traffic congestion on the Causeway, one of the busiest border crossings in the world.
The Johor state government has also proposed the construction of an elevated autonomous rapid transit (ART) system for the Greater JB area as an immediate solution to disperse the traffic at the RTS terminus. The ART system proposed will have four lines: from Iskandar Puteri to JB (Iskandar Puteri Line), Tebrau to JB (Tebrau Line), Skudai to JB (Skudai Line) and a line within JB city itself.
“The state government wants an elevated ART system for [Greater] JB as it is more cost-effective and can be constructed much faster, compared with an LRT,” reported The Edge Malaysia
on Oct 14.
Malaysia announced that its railway civil infrastructure works had reached 93% completion. Construction at Bukit Chagar as at Nov 29 (Source: RTS website)
Special Economic Zone
In addition to the RTS Link, the upcoming joint agreement on the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) is also crucial.
A special Joint Ministerial Committee for Iskandar Malaysia (JMCIM) meeting was held in JB on Nov 7 to discuss the progress of JS-SEZ, co-chaired by Malaysia’s Economic Minister Rafizi Ramli and Singapore’s National Development Minister Desmond Lee.
An agreement on the JS-SEZ was expected to be signed during the Malaysia-Singapore Joint Ministerial Committee for Iskandar Malaysia retreat over two days from Dec 8-9. However, the signing was postponed until January after Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong contracted Covid-19, according to an update on Dec 4.
The JS-SEZ spans six districts: JB, Iskandar Puteri, Pasir Gudang, Pontian, Kulai and Kota Tinggi. The Forest City Special Financial Zone (SFZ), launched in September this year, is also part of the broader JS-SEZ.
The Forest City Special Financial Zone (SFZ), launched in September this year, is also part of the broader JS-SEZ (Photo: The Edge Singapore)
The Forest City SFZ targets financial institutions, family offices, and investors. It offers attractive incentives such as tax exemptions for up to 20 years and relaxed regulatory frameworks.
To facilitate greater connectivity between the two cities, a bus service between Forest City and Tuas checkpoint in Singapore was introduced in December 2023. At that time, the Johor government had also said it would be undertaking a study to create a “special lane or route” at the Sultan Abu Bakar Complex (KSAB) at the Second Link crossing.
Johor has also become a hotspot for data centres among big multinational tech companies. A cluster of data centres has rapidly emerged in Iskandar, Malaysia, over the past 18 to 24 months. Four of the largest data centre parks — Nusajaya Tech Park, Sedenak Tech Park, YTL Green Data Centre and Nusa Cemerlang Industrial Park — are home to a mix of hyper-scalers and data centre operators, reported The Edge Singapore in an article published on Jul 11.
EcoWorld’s Phan believes its Eco townships and business parks will benefit from the current wave.
The Chateau has a ‘home-in-a-garden’ concept. The houses face a 40ft linear park (Photo: Eco World)
Building sustainable townships
Right from the start, EcoWorld has focused on developing sustainable townships. “To create a sustainable township, you need more than just residences,” he says. “You must also include commercial offerings, such as a neighbourhood mall, so residents don’t have to travel far for essential amenities.”
Last month, EcoWorld’s flagship Eco Botanic at Iskandar Puteri won the Master Plan Excellence Award at The Edge Malaysia Property Excellence Awards 2024.
Besides its strata-titled houses, Eco Botanic’s other projects include Eco Nest, a 450-unit, serviced apartment project with a mix of one- to four-bedroom apartments and sizes from 582 sq ft to 1,335 sq ft. The precinct also includes Eco Boulevard, its three-storey shop offices inspired by the high streets in London.
Four years ago, EcoWorld acquired another land parcel for the development of Botanic 2. This phase was developed in line with the Johor government’s plans to provide more housing for middle-income households, also known as the Middle 40 (M40) group.
Four years ago, EcoWorld acquired another land parcel for the development of Botanic 2 (Photo: Eco World)
Malaysian households in the M40 group have monthly incomes ranging from RM5,251 to RM11,819 and represent about 3.16 million households in Johor. Housing units targeted at the M40 segment are priced between RM600,000 and RM1 million.
In Johor, foreigners can only purchase homes priced from RM1 million. As a result, there is no overlap in housing demand between local and foreign buyers, says Phan.
Earlier this year, the double-storey terraced houses at The Tate and Borough, launched as part of The Chateau series in phase 2, were handed over to their owners. At launch, these houses were priced from RM600,000-RM80,000. Eco World notes that units sold in the secondary market have averaged RM200,000 higher over the past 2½ years.
At The Verandah, a series of semi-detached houses launched in the first phase, units were priced at RM1.8 million each. Today, they have changed hands in sub-sales at prices of RM2.2 million.
Phan credits the capital appreciation of properties in Eco Botanic partly to the meticulous maintenance of the township. “It’s easy for others to replicate the physical characteristics and offerings of our townships,” he says. “What is harder to replicate is the long-term upkeep of the township and the level of customer service.”
EcoWorld is set to launch its immersive home-viewing experience for potential buyers for the new phase of semi-detached houses at The Chateau (Photo: EdgeProp Singapore)
Last year, EcoWorld acquired land to develop a mixed-use residential and commercial township targeted at first-time homebuyers and M40 buyers. Spanning 250 ha, it is adjacent to Eco Botanic and Eco Botanic 2.
EcoWorld is set to launch its immersive home-viewing experience for potential buyers for the new phase of semi-detached houses at The Chateau. Named The Windsor, this new phase will feature semi-detached houses with a strata area of 3,800 sq ft, offering five en suite bedrooms across two levels and a basement. The indicative price for these homes is from RM2.3 million.
The immersive experience is within a retail lot in Eco Galleria that has been converted into a studio. Using projectors and augmented reality technology, the studio recreates show units to scale and provides a realistic view of their layout and size.
Potential buyers can explore the show unit’s various floors and rooms with just a swipe of a tablet. “With the proper scale, customers can even plan furniture arrangements from the comfort of the studio and decide if the unit suits their needs, eliminating the hassle of visiting an actual show unit,” says Phan.
In January this year, EcoWorld acquired the site for Eco Botanic 3, located near the Legoland Malaysia theme park. While the development will include some residential offerings, its primary focus will be on commercial space. However, it will depart from traditional retail concepts, offering something more innovative. “We don’t want to build the usual shop lots,” says Phan. “We aim to create something experiential, which we have named the ‘Lab Series’. It’s similar to the interesting retail concept at One Holland Village in Singapore.”
Eco Botanic 3 is also strategically located next to Kota Iskandar, home to state government offices and the Kota Iskandar State Mosque. In addition to its commercial offerings and residential properties, the development will include a 30-acre park. EcoWorld plans to launch Eco Botanic 3 sometime in 3Q2025.
In a MIDF Amanah Investment Bank (MIDF) research report dated Nov 6, Eco Botanic 1 and 2 have a combined gross development value (GDV) of RM2.33 billion, while Eco Botanic 3 is projected to have a GDV of around RM3.88 billion.
Once fully completed, Eco Botanic will feature 4,000 new homes, including apartments and landed houses, with a projected resident population of about 15,000. “We aim to create a more vibrant environment to attract more people to the township,” adds Phan.
Follow Us
Follow our channels to receive property news updates 24/7 round the clock.
EdgeProp Telegram
EdgeProp FacebookSubscribe to our newsletter
Top Articles
Search Articles