Update: There’s more and current 1 Borneo information at Sabahbah.com.
1Borneo promises to be the Largest Lifestyle Hypermall that Kota Kinabalu has ever seen and the largest mall in Borneo. It’s scheduled to open March / April this year. Can’t wait.
Which is exactly why I organised myself a little tour. It’s not quite publicly available, so my tour guide will remain anonymous. Wouldn’t want to get anybody in trouble now, would I?
Anyway, you’ve probably seen from the outside, driving by, that it’s now nicely taking shape. With less than four months to go before the supposed opening of the actual mall (the towers might take another while still), they seem to be on track. From the outside, Tune Hotels Kota Kinabalu brought some colour when they splashed their trademark red and white all over the walls.
The yellow from the funky canopy covering the main entrance has also been visible for a while, as has the dome you can see when you approach from Kota Kinabalu’s side.
We now know that Ikea won’t be coming to Kota Kinabalu, but Living Concept will have a much large space than what they currently have in Warisan Square, and they will be selling Ikea products. Apparently you will also be able to order through them, those Ikea products you might want, but can’t get your grubby little paws on – rumours, this last sentence.
Let’s Pause for Some Pics
There’s more below the pics. Click to jump there now…
Post pics. Others rumours are that Fitness First, a big gym chain already established in Kuala Lumpur, might have a gym in 1Borneo, but these are just more rumours; or perhaps somebody’s slice of pie (in the sky). As far as I could tell from having my ear to the ground, there are no other major surprises of brands that Kota Kinabalu has been longing for.
Milling more rumours
Another frosty rumour is that 1Borneo might be featuring an ice-rink, with real ice. If true, it’s sure to spell trouble for the fledgling rink with faux ice, currently situated on the top floor of Asia City. It’s things like these that make me wonder whether business plans are still essential when opening a new business.
Moving on – 1Borneo will also feature 7 cinemas by Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC). I wonder whether this means that we’ll now get all the movies on circuit in Malaysia. An insider once told me that when there are limited copies of a movie going around, Kota Kinabalu will easily be axed from the list, because it’s not a high yield market. Us poor friggen KK’ians.
Other entertainment that 1Borneo will feature is a bowling alley. My tour lead took me onto the roof above where the alley will be, and it looks big. Nintendo is said to have a little something up their 1Borneo sleeves as well.
1Borneo – Holiday Hub?
So you know about Tune Hotels opening up in 1Borneo, but did you know that 1Borneo will eventually have 4 hotels? Tune Hotels, Best Western, Novatell and Mecure. 1Borneo is rumoured to have the biggest conference space (pipping Sutera Harbour, which is the current holder of this title), although it looks like that conference space will belong to 1Borneo, and not to any one of the hotels. Nobody knew they’d count their parking lot as part of this record-breaking claim.
What else is new?
Well, I saw the showroom for the Super Condos. The duplexes are going for a steal at just RM1.3 million (assuming you get the early bird discount). For all you big spenders out there, there are only 3 duplex units left (in fact, there’s only 3 out of all the units left) – so you better hurry, because if I win the jackpot I’m taking one for sure.
The duplex features it’s own swimming pool, and your front door is the lift – access via swipe card only. It has three big rooms, all en suite, and in the show unit it might as well have been a hotel suite. Ah, the life of the rich and ostentatious.
The other not-so-super condos are also progressing nicely. Those are the ones where Joe Soap and Jane Everywoman will live. Don’t think it’s cheap though, because it’s not. Did they start at RM600k?
Transportation Plans (or more wishful thinking?)
Supposedly, once the river has been widened, you’ll be able to access 1Borneo via hovercraft. Yup, hovercraft, as in wind-driven floaty boat, which will depart from their sister property, Warisan Square.
If true, this is good news, because traffic to and from 1Borneo promises to be chaos. One promise that is sure to be delivered on.
Several reasons for this – first of all, there’s only really one direction from which you can approach 1Borneo when coming from town, and that’s the road leading from Kota Kinabalu. This road will have an access ramp into the 1Borneo parking, where the bare- minimum of parking spaces that the developer could get away with will be waiting for the first 2,000 lucky visitors.
I don’t understand how developers in Kota Kinabalu still only build the minimum required parking spaces. Either they are cheap, selfish bastards who don’t care for their potential visitors’ convenience, or they build the mega million Ringgit malls expecting them to not be busy. I’m willing to bet it’s not the latter.
We can all see what’s happening over at City Mall – those developers also only allowed for the minimum required parking spaces, the result? People park everywhere, and anywhere, eventually spilling out onto the highway. 1Borneo is heading the same direction, so the hover craft might actually be a good call – I sure hope it’s an affordable ride.
And that’s about all there is to report. The launching of 1Borneo has been pushed back a few times, so hopefully this widely advertised launching of March (which has already become March / April), will see us KK’ians with a new Hypermall. Just what we needed.
wow, love the mall one year on. its relaxing to stroll and take in all the sights and smells.
No rush, rush like in centre point. Quite good after 1 year.
IT IS VERY WONDERFUL MOMENT EVERY DAY WORKING IN THERE…
I've been there. All the excitements goes down when saw its not done yet. Dust is flying everywhere in the parking, the hallway is untidy and need to improve in cleanliness. Though its the largest and maybe the best in Sabah, the security for surrounding area need to put in more afford as well. As the they launched the grand opening, the result is only merely satisfied. But the management seems to trying to attract more people to visit by inviting celebrities all the way from HK and Taiwan. but the effect is only temporary. So I hope they can do something that can really "pull" peoples to there. Something like Aquaria, that make peoples "wow" "OMG!".
i've just been there once n i felt like i've been to a mini midvalley. sadly, it doesnt have much choice when it comes to clothing and baby stuffs. The mall is still so much lacking in international brands. Pure sabahan, no wonder sabahans choose to go Spore and KL to shop still. Hopefully, Suria and waterfront near Warisan Square will give Sabahans a better choice in the future. Why dont invite Jusco and Metrojaya and Robinson and Carrefour and Tesco for a start. What an ambitious dream for Sabah. 😉
proud to be sabahan….
hello everyboby..yes its a dream came true that sabah finally got a hypermall for the very first time..its not fully finnished yet but its already launced its soft openning..i've been there quite a lot..done a little shopping..hanging out with my friends..find some good foods and drinks..its quite expensive but its worth the money..they sells good stuffs..clothing mostly..you can find all kinds of goodies over there..my personal favorite would be the Quicksilver store in ground floor..the stuff that they are selling is all new and nice..i went to the Japanese restaurant as well and have a taste of their shusi..yumm..i kinda like it but since i bring a few friends with me and i gotten to pay all the food,man..they're 'brooke' me down in sec..well,good stuff came in good price right??..and the PTI..man,i wish i could just send them away home in just 1 kick..haha..but i recommend it to all of u to visit ther and find out yourself the real atmostphere in there..lastly,for those who never visit borneo yet,i welcome u all..thank you for reading..
finally there is a hypermall near to UMS. Nxt time after lecture we dont hav to take bus to KK anymore since we have others alternative here, that is One Borneo..yeah
But dont play truant oh and loiter around there oh,my fellow schoolmates,wakaka..
Hope there will not b PTI hanging around..when these gonna end.huh.
the 1borneo mall have been startes their bussiness.. haha.. wanna go there lah to enjoy the opening ceremony of the mall… a lots of events are there… hahaha… it near with my house… only 300metres from…
There certainly was enough people there during yesterday's launch to imagine that 1Borneo can sustain itself.
When it becomes normal again, it will likely be quiet during the week, but humming on weekends – can businesses last on weekend business? We'll have to see.
Because 1Borneo is the only one of it's kind in Borneo, I think people will flock there – whether they spend their money when they get there is another question – one of marketing perhaps.
What a huge mall..
Do Sabah has enough population to occupy this mall?
The price of fuel oil has raised and the other things also will raise soon..
Do you all think Sabah citizen will still go shopping to buy those expensive stuff?
Hi Puly, the opening is today (Sunday, 8 June). Usually, from Sutera Harbour to 1Borneo would maybe take 30 minutes, however, today there's traffic traffic and more traffic, so it would probably take 40 – 60 minutes.
The 1Borneo shuttle bus is making a stop at Sutera Harbour Resort though, so you can try that instead of a taxi (which might actually be faster).
Check out sabahbah.com for the latest updates.
Hi ! I want to check what date for OPENING(Sneak Preview 1Borneo Shopping Centre, Kota Kinabalu
)?????
from: SUTERA HABOUR resort how long to go?
i think..this a big happy..
I have there……wow fantastic !
it's amazing hypermall…
i plan to going there for 1 month holiday with my friends…but if there hv any apartment nearest shopping mall tat i can rent beside Tune Hotel?coz i hv budget…..
gosh~~! it always been a dream for all sabahan~~(well i quest) to eventualy have 1 hypermall at least in sabah(KK). After endless hypermall boom in KL or Penang. As a sabahan(KK) my self i feel happy and proud~~.
what had saddened me is that, it is only goin to be open in May 31st. bcoz i will be back to KK on 15th, only untill 20th!!. I tot it suppose to be open by then…
i feel a little dissappointed. i have idea when i will be back to KK again…T.T..
Hi Joe, there's an update to what's going on at 1Borneo on this site.
Please update the site of 1Borneo. Thanks
The non-supercondos were not sold for 600k but 158k which is probably the reason they were snapped up quicker than you can say 'Look Mom, cheap condos!'. And the latest insider story is that the mall will now open on 31st May. Why, I can't fathom as the rest of KK would be away as it's the school holiday.
Developers mostly get away with providing only the minimum of carparks simply because the authorities never asked for more. Never mind that the average number of cars a family owns is triple than when the guidelines were set . When you're not ordered to, why give more? Developers will always think as developers, and authorities… well…..
Ooo, fingers crossed that it will be open by May. I know I said it was scheduled for March / April, but I believe it's been delayed again. Let's hope for the best.
I plan to visit KK in this May 08. Can't wait to c the new hypermall..
ah! would be cool to have fitness first in KK! KK need more choices of fitness centre.
You'll have to make a bit of journey from Kuching to get to Kota Kinabalu – it's a flight just shy of 2 hours, but would be well worth the trip.
This looks like a nice development. I always wanted to go to Kuching, and since its also on Borneo, maybe some day soon, I shall get to visit Kota Kinabalu?