Shop lots in Taman Molek, Johor Bahru
The highest ground-floor rents in eastern Johor Bahru — up to RM15,000 a month. An established upmarket F&B and bar strip with tight supply, low churn and an affluent, loyal catchment.
- Ground floor rent
- RM4,500–15,000per month
- Median transacted
- RM1,690,000RM775 psf · 10 deals
- Peak trading
- Thursday–Sunday evening; strong supper trade
- Catchment
- Affluent Chinese Malaysian, expatriate and Singaporean
The map loads here on the published site.
If you have never been here
The 60-second orientation.
- Zone
- Eastern Johor Bahru, mature upmarket
- Main commercial street
- Jalan Molek 1
- Transaction window
- 2020–2021 — STALE, must be re-pulled before you rely on it
| Destination | Drive | Why it matters to a tenant |
|---|---|---|
| Singapore (Causeway/CIQ) | 28 min | Weekend and supper trade; a known destination for Singaporean night-outs. |
| Mount Austin | 10 min | Your nearest and largest rival; higher volume, lower ticket. |
| Permas Jaya | 10 min | Adjacent affluent catchment, similar bar culture. |
| AEON Tebrau City | 10 min | Mall competition for daytime retail. |
| JB City Centre / RTS | 22 min | No direct RTS footfall, but closer than most eastern strips. |
Why this strip is busy
The demand engines — and what each one actually pays for.
A supper and bar economy that has run for two decades
Molek Hub, Mulligan’s and the Jalan Molek 1 bar cluster give the strip an evening identity that new developments spend years and fail to buy.
An affluent, settled resident base
Molek and the surrounding Plentong belt house an older, wealthier household than Mount Austin’s. Average spend per head runs materially higher.
Tight supply — very little new stock
Molek was built out decades ago. There is no adjacent land bank releasing competing shophouses, which is why rents hold at the top of the eastern range.
Expatriate and Singaporean familiarity
Molek has been on the Singaporean night-out map since long before Eco Botanic or Horizon Hills existed. That habit is decades deep.
What Taman Molek actually looks like
Real, freely-licensed photographs of this area — with the licence on every caption.
Every photograph on this page is a real, freely-licensed image of this area, reused with attribution under its stated Creative Commons licence — not a stock photo and not generated. Licences are linked on each caption. If you own a better shot of your own shopfront here, send it to us and we will feature it with a credit and a link.
What Taman Molek has that the others do not
Not “advantages” — structural facts a competing location cannot copy.
The highest ground-floor rent ceiling in eastern Johor Bahru
Up to RM15,000 a month. Landlords here command it because the tenant mix can pay it — this is a demonstrated price point, not an aspiration.
A licensed bar cluster with established neighbours
Late-licence F&B is difficult to start where residents object. Molek’s bar culture predates the objection, which makes the licensing path materially easier here.
Low churn — tenants stay
The strip is characterised by long tenancies rather than constant turnover. For a landlord that is income stability; for an operator it means neighbours who are still there next year.
Who actually walks past your door
Estimated share of retail spend, by ethnicity and customer type. Read the last row before you commit.
| Segment | Share | Per visit | When | Concepts that win them |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Affluent Chinese Malaysian households | 50–60% | RM40–90 | Daily; peaks Thu–Sun evening | Upmarket dining, bars, cafes, clinics, dental |
| Singaporeans — evening and supper visitors | 15–25% | RM70–160 | Fri–Sun evening, public holidays | Bars, seafood, supper, massage, salon |
| Expatriates and international-school families | 10–15% | RM60–130 | Weekday evenings, weekends | Western dining, wine, wellness, enrichment |
| Malay professional households | 8–12% | RM25–55 | Evenings, weekends, Ramadan | Halal fine dining, cafes, pharmacy |
| Indian Malaysian households | 5–8% | RM25–50 | Evenings and weekends | Banana leaf, mamak, gold, clinics |
| Students and price-sensitive trade | <5% | RM12–25 | Rare — no adjacent campus | Value concepts belong in Mount Austin or Taman Universiti. |
Ethnic composition
2022 citizen electoral roll for the P.158 Tebrau federal constituency, which contains this precinct. The roll counts registered voters only — it excludes non-citizens (migrant workers, Singaporeans, expatriates) and everyone under 18. Source: ElectionData.MY.
Tebrau is a Malay-plurality seat on the roll (46.9% Malay and Bumiputera against 38.9% Chinese), even though the eastern shophouse strips read as visibly Chinese-Malaysian on the ground. Both things are true: the resident base is mixed and Malay-leaning, while the evening F&B trade on streets like Mount Austin skews Chinese. If you are choosing between halal and non-halal, halal keeps the whole catchment; non-halal wins the night but gives up roughly half the daytime base. Taman Molek itself skews materially more Chinese Malaysian than the Tebrau seat average. Treat the bar as the surrounding district, not the street.
Catchment and market depth
Scale indicators for this precinct.
Rent and price schedule
Market bands, September 2026. Corner, frontage and existing tenancy change everything.
| Level & position | Monthly rent | Best suited to |
|---|---|---|
| Ground floor | RM4,500–15,000 | Anchor F&B, retail, clinic, salon |
| 1st floor | RM1,800–3,500 | Studio, tuition, spa, private dining |
| 2nd floor | RM1,200–2,600 | Back office, storage, co-working |
| Whole block | RM8,000–18,000 | Multi-floor F&B, medical, corporate |
| Asset | Asking range | Gross yield |
|---|---|---|
| Shophouse, intermediate | RM1.48M–2.6M | 3.5–4.5% |
| Shophouse, corner | RM2.8M–3.8M | 3.5–4.5% |
| Reference: 10 recorded transactions at a median of RM1,690,000 and RM775 per sq ft (2020–2021 — STALE, must be re-pulled before you rely on it). Source: brickz.my, from JPPH transaction data. | ||
What is missing — the opportunity list
Compiled from listings, directories and on-the-ground survey. Absence of evidence is not proof of absence — verify before you commit.
The honest assessment
Every agent will tell you the first column. Read the second one twice.
- The highest rent ceiling in eastern JB. RM15,000 a month is achievable here and nowhere else east of the city.
- Two decades of established evening identity. A bar and supper economy competitors cannot start from zero.
- Tight supply supports pricing. No adjacent land bank releasing competing shophouses.
- Affluent, loyal, repeat catchment. Higher spend per head than Mount Austin, with lower volume.
- Transaction data is five years stale. The RM1.69M median and RM775 psf are from 2020–21. Re-pull Brickz before you price anything.
- Very few units come to market. Low churn is good for income and bad for acquisition. Expect to wait, or to pay above asking.
- Parking is tight. Better than Mount Austin, worse than the western strips. On a Saturday night it binds.
- Ageing building stock. Molek was built out decades ago. Budget for higher fit-out and confirm three-phase power and grease-trap capacity.
- Evening-weighted revenue. Model on four to five strong evenings, not on a seven-day daytime trade.
How it compares with the other JB strips
Ground-floor asking rents from live portal listings, September 2026.
| Strip | GF rent / month | Who shops there | Parking | Pick it if |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Austin | RM3,800–9,500 | Dense local Chinese Malaysian; highest weekday volume in JB | Congested | Your model needs volume seven days a week and you can live without parking. |
| Bukit Indah | RM2,500–4,200 | AEON-anchored footfall plus Singaporean day-trippers | Adequate | You want an Eco Botanic customer at roughly half the rent. |
| Eco Botanic | RM6,000–15,000 | Singaporean weekenders, EduCity students, expat families | Free, ample | You want high basket size and can survive a soft Monday–Thursday. |
| Taman Molek | RM4,500–15,000 | Affluent Chinese Malaysian, expat and Singaporean | Tight | You are an evening or bar operator with an existing following. |
| Sutera Utama | RM3,500–25,000 | Affluent Skudai households; the state’s highest median price | Adequate | You sell premium and need a catchment that pays for it. |
| Johor Jaya | RM2,200–4,500 | 66,000 residents; the most balanced ethnic mix in JB | Adequate | You want the healthiest yield and the deepest deal flow. |
| City Centre / IIBD | RM5,000–13,000 | Singaporean walk-in via CIQ; RTS terminus January 2027 | Paid / limited | You want walk-in cross-border traffic and will pay for the story. |
Ground-floor asking rents from live portal listings, September 2026. Expect 5–15% negotiation room on any of them. We will tell you honestly when another strip is the better commercial decision for your concept.
Buying, not renting? Same area, the residential side — NAPIC registered transactions, median price, median PSF and the 12-month move: Taman Molek landed data → · condos · industrial
What it actually costs to open here
Rent is the number everyone quotes. It is rarely the number that kills the deal — the fit-out is.
| Item | Amount (RM) | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Fit-out — full F&B with kitchen | 231,000 – 539,000 | RM150–350 psf on 1,540 sq ft. Kitchen exhaust, grease trap and M&E are what push it up. |
| Fit-out — basic retail (indicative) | 150,000 – 280,000 | Mid-range commercial guidance; no retail-specific Malaysian benchmark is published. |
| Deposits — 2 months + 1 advance + ½ utility | 33,950 | The Malaysian “2 + 1 + ½” convention, payable before you touch the unit. |
| Stamp duty on the tenancy | 465 (1 yr) / 1,395 (3 yr) | RM1 per RM250 of annual rent for ≤1 year; RM3 for 1–3 years. The RM2,400 exemption was abolished in January 2025. |
| Legal fee — tenancy agreement | 2,910 | Solicitors Remuneration Order 2023, Second Schedule: for a tenancy at RM10,000/month or less, 30% of one month rent (min RM500). Above RM10,000/month the rate steps down to 15–25%. A lease (term over three years, common on commercial units) is charged separately and higher — 60% of one month rent up to RM10,000, then 30–50%. |
| Agent commission | 0 | 1.25 months rent, paid by the landlord by convention. A tenant paying this is being overcharged. |
| TNB three-phase connection + deposit | 4,300 – 6,900 | RM1,700 connection plus RM2,600–5,200 deposit at 10–20 kW. Deposit earns 2.5% p.a. and is refundable. |
| Licences — premise + signboard, first year | Budget 700 – 1,200 | Premise licence fees are set by your own council (MBJB / MBIP / MBPG / MPKu) by business type and floor area — confirm with them. Signboard licence RM200–400. This line is a planning allowance, not a quoted fee. |
| Sdn Bhd incorporation | 1,000 | SSM fee. A foreigner cannot register a sole proprietorship. |
| Realistic total before you sell anything — F&B | 273,950 – 593,950 | Plus opening stock, POS, signage design, insurance and 3 months working capital. |
Cost model, licences, the full FAQ and sources & method are on one page: the Johor Bahru shop lot guide.
Two ways we can help
We hold ready units here that are never listed publicly, and current developer rebate sheets for the new phases.
Tell us the concept. We will send matching units within 24 hours.
Most good ground-floor units in Taman Molek change hands before they are advertised. Send us your trade, floor area, budget and target opening date, and we will come back with what is actually available — including units where the current tenant is quietly looking to assign.
- Off-market and tenancy-assignment units
- Floor plans, actual outgoings and licensing feasibility
- Foreign-buyer and non-resident tenancy guidance
Or WhatsApp / call +60 10-906 6685 · email
No fee to tenants and buyers. Reply within one working day.
Get the current new-launch rebate sheet for this corridor.
New commercial phases carry incentives that are never published — early-bird discounts, rebates, rent guarantees and fit-out allowances that shift monthly. We will send you the live sheet with the yield maths done.
- Live rebate and package comparison across projects
- Net yield modelling after outgoings and financing
- Foreign purchase threshold and state consent levy notes
Or WhatsApp / call +60 10-906 6685 · see new launches
Includes the RM1M foreign-buyer floor and the 3% state consent levy for Johor commercial property.
Questions people actually ask
Short, direct answers.