IJM Waterfront Shoppes soft-opens 29 October

Penang’s first waterfront mall is finally getting a date. The Waterfront Shoppes, the retail component of IJM Land and Perennial Holdings’ The Light City in Gelugor, is set to soft-open on 29 October 2026 — a timing consistent with IJM Corporation’s own guidance to shareholders on 26 August, which said the mall was “targeted to open in October 2026”.

How big is it, really?

The developer’s own website states the retail component is “more than 1,500,000 sq ft” of gross floor area, split into Phase I of 1,000,000 sq ft and Phase II of 500,000 sq ft. Two things follow.

Cross-checking against Perennial Holdings’ own asset page, which lists the retail mall at 1,134,300 sq ft GFA within a Phase 1 total of 2,781,800 sq ft.

The net lettable area has not been publicly disclosed.**

For scale, the number to hold it against: Queensbay Mall, currently the island’s largest, runs to roughly 1 million sq ft of NLA.

View The Light City on Google Maps

Which tenants have been announced?

None by name. That is the short answer, and I checked the developer’s site, IJM’s investor releases, IJM Land’s newsroom, Perennial’s asset page and every trade and consumer report I could find.

What has been announced is the shape of the offer, not the occupants:

• Over 300 retail and dining outlets
• A 45,000 sq ft cinema — operator not named
• A 30,000 sq ft heritage food hall built around Penang hawker dishes
• A “Rodeo Drive Strip”, a Beverly Hills-inspired open-air run of flagship stores
• A 750-metre waterfront promenade with Penang Bridge views, linking the mall to the rest of the precinct

The rest of the precinct, which is the real context

The Light City is a 32.76-acre precinct inside IJM Land’s 152-acre Light Waterfront masterplan, a joint venture in which Perennial holds a 50% effective interest. Around the mall:

• Penang Waterfront Convention Centre — opened October 2025, the largest in northern Malaysia, with a 76,000 sq ft column-free hall seating up to 5,500, operated under Korean group KINTEX’s involvement
• The Light Exchange office tower — opened June 2026, 87.7% occupied, about 200,000 sq ft over 11 storeys
• A 459-key five-star hotel — targeted for Q1 2027, with JdV by Hyatt and the China-based Galaxy Minyoun brand both making their Malaysian debut here
• Residences — Mezzo completed, Lightwater Residence due 2029, Merione Tower launched from RM1,350 psf
• A planned Penang Waterfront LRT station on the Mutiara line, connected by covered walkway

IJM built the mall and convention centre itself under a RM864.7 million construction contract awarded in 2020.

What it means for Penang property

A mall opening is a land-value event for everything within walking distance. Roughly a million square feet of retail arriving on the eastern seaboard changes the calculus for shoplots and commercial units in Gelugor, Jelutong and along the Bridge corridor — first through footfall, later through rents. The Merione retail units inside the precinct were priced at RM930 psf, which is the developer’s own read on what proximity is worth.

But the supply question is real. Penang island already carries Queensbay, Gurney Plaza, Gurney Paragon, 1st Avenue and Design Village across the channel.

*Image: developer’s masterplan render, IJM Perennial Development / The Light City. Google Maps link is approximate.*