Woodlands North Coast and JB Sentral: The new gateway cities reshaping property on both sides of the Causeway

From a forgotten Medini-Tuas rail plan to the Ibrahim International Business District (IIBD), here's how the centre of gravity has shifted and what it means for property buyers.

By Khalil Adis

Two cities, one link. Woodlands North Coast (left) sits quietly in wait while Johor Bahru Sentral (right) buzzes with construction activity ahead of the RTS Link's targeted opening in January 2027. Photos taken on May 6 and 11, 2026. Photo: Khalil Adis Consultancy.

Having covered the property market on both sides of the Causeway for the past 18 years, I have seen how well-intentioned government projects can come and go.

The Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR), the most obvious example, was announced with great fanfare, then quietly shelved.

But here's one that most people do not know about.

Before the current Johor Bahru–Singapore RTS Link took shape, there was an earlier plan - one that never made the headlines.

Based on my interviews with Malaysian officials and local sources around 2008, the original RTS Link was designed to connect Medini, near Legoland Malaysia, to Tuas Link MRT station - not Woodlands.

At the time, Iskandar Malaysia was in full swing.

Nusajaya (now Iskandar Puteri) and Medini were the centrepieces of the entire development vision, each with dedicated master developers - UEM Sunrise for Iskandar Puteri and Iskandar Investment Berhad (IIB) for Medini - and detailed master plans built around catalytic industries to drive economic activity and property demand.

The Medini-Tuas RTS Link was part of that vision.

Then it was quietly dropped.

Even the revised RTS Link we know today had a troubled journey.

Originally targeted for operations in 2018, it suffered delays and suspensions before being revived in 2020.

With operations now targeted for January 2027, the gateway cities have shifted entirely: from Medini, Gerbang Nusajaya and Tuas, to Johor Bahru Sentral and Woodlands North Coast.

Woodlands North Coast: Singapore's new gateway city

​Once the RTS Link construction began in 2021, demand for resale HDB flats began to surge in Woodlands.

For example, from 2023 onwards, I had noticed that some HDB flats in Woodlands were transacting with a cash-over-valuation (COV) of around $20,000.

I know this based on my ground experience and when speaking to realtors in Woodlands.
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Prices were moving faster than HDB's valuations could keep up.

This created a real conundrum for buyers and sellers alike.

Cash-sensitive buyers backed out.

Some sellers facing ethnic quota constraints chose to renegotiate asking prices after receiving initial valuations, hoping a subsequent valuation would close the gap.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has since laid out a comprehensive master plan for the area under Woodlands North Coast.

This is a mixed-use precinct featuring offices, business parks and residential developments along green boulevards near Woodlands North MRT station.

Adjacent to the RTS Link interchange station, Woodlands Gateway will serve as an employment and manufacturing hub, with flexible workspaces designed for both SMEs and multinationals across five 'Business 2 - White' and one 'Business 1 - White' sites.

An integrated transport hub will allow seamless transfers between the RTS Link, MRT and bus services.

To complete the live-work-play picture, two residential precincts, Housing by the Woods and Woodlands Waterfront, have been planned with convenient access to amenities and employment nodes.

Connecting both precincts is WoodsVista Gallery, a 1.9-kilometre community link with dedicated pedestrian and cycling paths.

JB Sentral: The old city reclaims its crown

Few would have predicted that JB Sentral - not Medini or Iskandar Puteri - would emerge as Malaysia's new gateway city.

For years, the federal government's budget and planning energy was squarely behind those two precincts.

As fate would have it, a combination of politics and royal endorsement changed everything.

The political upheaval following the 2018 general election effectively killed off the HSR project and disrupted federal development priorities.

Into that vacuum stepped the Sultan of Johor, a long-standing advocate of the RTS Link.

Since land is a state matter in Malaysia, his backing was pivotal and the RTS Link survived where other projects did not.

In anticipation of the RTS Link's launch, a major new gateway district has been planned around JB Sentral -  the Ibrahim International Business District (IIBD).

It is worth nothing that it was previously known as the Ibrahim International District.

Developed by Johor Corporation (JCorp), the state investment arm of the Johor government, IIBD spans 240 acres in the heart of Johor Bahru, stretching from the Old Town to land parcels near Jalan Khalid Abdullah.

Envisioned to position Johor Bahru as Malaysia's second city after Kuala Lumpur, IIBD aims to attract tech start-ups, research institutions and businesses across multiple sectors.

It also encompasses existing commercial landmarks including Johor Bahru City Square, Komtar JBCC, Galleria @ Kotaraya, Persada Johor, Puteri Hotel and Menara Landmark.

To see how all of this is taking shape on the ground, I made a site visit on May 11.

The last time I had explored Johor Bahru on foot was in March 2020, just as Covid-19 was beginning to take hold and cross-border travel was still allowed (see article here).

I remember speaking to business owners along Jalan Dhoby and Jalan Tan Hiok Nee who were already reeling from the impact of the virus.

The usually bustling old town was eerily quiet, stripped of tourists.

That image stayed with me.

Almost six years on, the contrast is striking.

Walking from Stulang Laut to Menara Tabung Haji, I have to say the recent city rejuvenation and beautification programme led by the state government is significantly better than what was delivered under the federal government.

It is also worth noting that the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim, now serves as Malaysia's 17th Yang di-Pertuan Agong -  a role he assumed on January 31, 2024.

With Johor royalty occupying the highest office in the land, it is reasonable to expect that the political will and influence behind IIBD's success has never been stronger.

I still remember when the Johor Bahru Rejuvenation Programme was announced with much fanfare by the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) around 2010, at a cost of some RM1.8 billion (I had covered the press conference at Persada Johor).

It included the much-publicised cleanup of Sungei Segget, modelled after the Cheonggyecheon Restoration Project in South Korea.

When it was completed around 2018, I recall feeling underwhelmed.

To be honest, it fell short of what it was supposed to be - a world-class river precinct.

It only reinforced my view that federal-mooted announcements in Malaysia can sometimes be half-baked promises.

Fast forward to today, the state government appears to have gone back and done it properly.

Take a walk along Jalan Wong Ah Fook and you would notice the addition of sculptures, communal spaces and water features that have transformed the stretch into something genuinely vibrant.

This is the Sungei Segget that was always supposed to exist.

Over at Stulang Laut, the marine viaduct is complete.

The RTS Link now traces a path along Jalan Ibrahim Sultan, turns into Jalan Ismail Sultan, then runs alongside Jalan Tun Abdul Razak next to Johor Bahru City Square before terminating at Bukit Chagar RTS station.

Earlier this year, a source from JCorp told me during a talk I was giving in February that Bukit Chagar is being planned as a transit-oriented development, with connectivity to nearby property developments in the works.

On the ground, that appears to be playing out.

For example, a dedicated covered overhead pedestrian link is already visible just beneath the RTS Link.

Construction at Coronation Square along Jalan Gereja is also underway, with Singaporean real estate firms CapitaLand and Ascott involved in what appears to be a mixed-use development.

One of the more telling shifts I observed was in retail.

The centre of gravity has quietly moved from Johor Bahru City Square to Komtar JBCC.

The latter, a perennial favourite among Singaporeans, had multiple shuttered outlets on the second and third floors, with upgrading works underway at ground level.

Even McDonald's has relocated to Komtar JBCC.

If Johor Bahru City Square feels like a mall catching its breath, Komtar JBCC feels alive and vibrant.

Sitting right next to Bukit Chagar station, it is well-positioned to become the dominant retail anchor in the district once the pedestrian link is completed.

Over in the heritage area, some shophouses are being torn down as part of the IIBD master plan.

My local sources tell me the state government is keen to redevelop JB's historic district into a vibrant precinct but the challenge lies in identifying landowners and getting them on board.

Many of these shophouses currently house migrant workers, adding another layer of complexity to the process.

For all its momentum, JB Sentral still has a fundamental urban planning challenge.

It feels, at times, like a haphazard urban sprawl with new infrastructure being layered on top of an existing city rather than a coherent, integrated vision.

What would be ideal is a single integrated development housing the current CIQ, Bukit Chagar RTS station and the KTM station as well as bus interchange, allowing seamless transfers between lines.

Alas, unlike Singapore, compulsory land acquisition is difficult to execute in Johor due to complex land ownership issues.

That constraint is real and unlikely to be resolved quickly.

What is certain is this: once the RTS Link opens, JB's tourism, retail, commercial, residential and banking and finance sectors are set to see a significant uplift from cross-border traffic.

The only question is how much of that upside you want to be positioned for and how early.

In closing

Gateway cities do not emerge by accident.

They are shaped by infrastructure, political will and - as this story shows - sometimes a change in both.

Woodlands North is as close to a sure bet as Singapore's property market offers right now.

The master plan is detailed, the transport connectivity is real and the investment case is clear.

On the Malaysian side, the calculus is more nuanced.

JB Sentral and the IIBD carry genuine momentum, but history reminds us that government-backed projects in Malaysia can shift with the political winds.

That's not a reason to avoid the market.

It is simply a context that every property buyer and investor should carry with them when making decisions based on connectivity and long-term growth.