TUNE Group has ventured into the retail space with Harbour Place as Tune Properties' first project.

Harbour Place is a development by Chestar Properties Sdn Bhd in Klang comprising of a shopping mall and office suite tower with a gross development value of RM420 million.

Tune Group founder Datuk Tony Fernandes said Harbour Place is Tune's way to reach out to the ripe yet under-retailed market of Klang and its surroundings, which currently has a population of more than 1.2 million.

"Klangnites have been travelling to Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya to shopping malls to get their fix of high quality products and services, so why not have one in their own backyard? Harbour Place is a way to give Klangnites a chance to enjoy the top-class facilities available in Kuala Lumpur," he said in a statement.

Harbour Place is expected to open in the fourth quarter of this year, bringing the sophistication of a boutique, lifestyle leisure entertainment centre to Klang.

"With the success of Air Asia and Tune's other ventures, we feel that Harbour Place will provide the missing piece that ties together an end-to-end experience for the traveller," Fernandes said.

He said with the new low-cost carrier terminal just half an hour away from Klang, there are plans to shuttle transit travellers to Harbour Place, or even arrange for day tours for tourists making stopovers.

"Also, Malaysia's premier port - Port Klang - is just 10 minutes away, so cruise line tourists can easily travel via chartered couches to enjoy what Harbour Place has to offer," Fernandes added.

Chestar Properties general manager Kenny Chin, meanwhile, said Tune's endeavours with Harbour Place as a gazetted tourist destination by the Ministry of Tourism, will boost the development of Klang.

Datuk Kamarudin Meranun, the other founder of Tune Group, holds 63 per cent of Chestar Properties Sdn Bhd, the owner, developer and operator of the Harbour Place project.