Penang-based theme park developer Sim Leisure Group is to open an indoor recreational center at Paradigm Mall in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.
Sim Leisure has already started the construction of the 35,000sqft indoor recreational center which it will operate as a tenant for up to 12 years.
It is scheduled to open by the end of November, before the peak year-end school-holiday season.
Paradigm Mall is located in the heart of Petaling Jaya, next to the Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong highway in Klang Valley. The six-floor mall has 700,000sqft of retail space and more than 300 retail spaces.
Sim will build Escape Challenge, an indoor version of Escape, targeting youth and young families. Both Sim and the mall believe the new feature will help draw families to the mall, increasing foot traffic for the retail stores.
“For years, we have been approached by developers and mall operators to develop an indoor version of Escape,” said Sim Leisure CEO Sim Choo Kheng. “Paradigm Mall Petaling Jaya is a strong community partner and perfectly highlights the unique traits of a family mall. We are very proud of this partnership given the affinity for play parks by parents and children. Installing the play area in the mall is a natural fit given that no other malls in Klang Valley have recreation centers of this genre,” he said.
Sim will use the Escape Challenge at Paradigm Mall as a showcase of its capabilities as it tries to develop the indoor recreational concept in other markets, especially Mainland China.
“We foresee this indoor version of Escape growing exponentially in the years to come as the retail shopping business continues to undergo a transformation.”
“Following our initial public offering and a record year of profitability last year, our global aspirations remain on track. We will continue to scale our proven and successful business model into new markets across the region that are awaiting a new genre of affordable and healthy family entertainment.”
Sim Leisure Group has been developing and operating theme parks in Penang. Sim Choo Kheng has more than 29 years of experience in the theming industry.