Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 18): KSK Land Sdn Bhd, the wholly-owned subsidiary of KSK Group Bhd, celebrated the structural completion of the first tower or Tower A of the YOO8 serviced by Kempinski branded residences at 8 Conlay on site on Thursday.

Located on 3.95 acres of land at 8 Jalan Conlay in the city centre, the RM5.4 billion mixed-use 8 Conlay development features two towers of branded residences (Tower A, interior designed by Steve Leung & YOO and Tower B by Kelly Hoppen for YOO), a five-star luxury hotel (Tower C, which is The Kempinski Hotel Kuala Lumpur) and a lifestyle retail podium.

During the topping out ceremony on Level 61 of Tower A on Thursday morning, KSK group CEO and KSK Land managing director Joanne Kua said that interest for branded residences has remained consistent.

“This year was a challenging year, but we observe that there has been continued and consistent interest in 8 Conlay, especially for sales both in the international landscape, which we continue to engage, but also interestingly an uptick in local interest, so that’s been interesting for us.”

She added that, based on a recent Knight Frank Global Buyer Survey published this year, there are now more buyers seeking branded residences. “This is because of the branded amenities and services that are provided, quality property management and, therefore, yielding a higher yield potential.”

Meanwhile, the company is more positive about the project’s outlook in anticipation of the reopening of international borders, Kua said.

“We look forward to welcoming some of these international visitors back to our sales gallery, because for the last close to two years, we had been engaging with them virtually. It’s been an interesting ride, but we would love the physical interaction with them, so we hope to see them soon.”

Tower A is anticipated to be handed over by end-2022; Tower B to be completed by mid-2023; the Kempinski hotel by end-2023 and the retail podium by early 2023. Tower A and Tower B are 80% and 40% taken up to date, she noted.

Prices of the branded residences range from an average of RM3,395 psf for Tower A to RM3,370 psf for Tower B.

During the event, Kua also unveiled the latest features in the 8 Conlay homeowner mobile app, which includes mobile lift access control; smart home control in partnership with Lutron; visitor management; vacant possession and defect management; and an in-app chat, voice call or video call function that directly connects to the concierge.

“As a lifestyle and property design company, delivering the best value to our homeowners is extremely important. It is not just about handing over the physical space to them. Our philosophy in placemaking continues, and integral to that is creating liveable spaces, so seamless customer and homeowner experience is extremely important to us. We want homeowners to start having a relationship with their residences and the app is the bridge for that,” says Kua, noting that KSK Land is also the first real estate company in Malaysia to have partnered with KONE to integrate remote lift access directly into the homeowner app and the first in the country to include tenant management in a property management app.

“We’re definitely looking at more technology partners. We believe that property management is important because it’s the second life of the development and we want to make sure that we are a bit like your asset managers, starting with the app and the services provided to you,” said Kua.

Built by KSK Land’s proptech arm, KSK City Labs, the mobile app is designed to elevate homeowners’ experience by offering the entire journey from purchase to residency to property management and with more new features down the line including Kempinski’s Lady-in-Red for access to the hotel’s services such as butler on call, private chef service, housekeeping, residential provisioning, and tailoring.

When asked about sustainability initiatives during the press conference, Kua noted that Tower C is LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), whereas Towers A and B are GreenRE-certified and that the company is planning to implement Building Information Modelling (BIM) 7D or BIM Facility Management to manage the energy efficiency of the whole development better as well as do preventive maintenance up front.

Kua added that more announcements on the retail podium will be made next year, and the company is planning another development with wellness and sustainability themes in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.

Edited ByRacheal Lee Mei Nyee
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