Thursday 28 Mar 2024
By
main news image

This article first appeared in City & Country, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on August 5, 2019 - August 11, 2019

Located in one of the older parts of Kuala Lumpur, Jalan Putra hums with life as pedestrians, commuters and drivers fill up the street on a late Friday afternoon. Along the busy thoroughfare are shophouses, restaurants, a mall, a convention centre and budget as well as boutique hotels.

One of the landmarks in the street is the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC), which is known for hosting the Umno general assembly and other major events. Other notable features include the Sunway Putra Mall, Sunway Putra Hotel, Sunway Putra Tower and Seri Pacific Hotel.

The boutique hotels there include Sani Hotel and Anum Hotel. There are also residential developments such as the PWTC Bistari Service Apartment and Sunway Putra Serviced Apartment.

Jalan Putra stretches from Jalan Tun Ismail on the east to Jalan Chow Kit on the west. A pedestrian bridge crosses the Gombak river where the PWTC LRT station is located.

Historically, the street has always been rather vibrant, thanks to its prime location, amenities and connectivity. “Jalan Putra has evolved from a bustling trading hub in the early 1980s where many tourists from the other states would converge when they arrive in Kuala Lumpur. The landscape of the street also changed with the opening of the PWTC and Seri Pacific Hotel in the early 1980s, which made the area more vibrant,” explains LaurelCap Sdn Bhd executive director Stanley Toh.

“Over the years, the road has changed in tandem with the modernisation of Kuala Lumpur. Today, you can find many boutique and budget hotels there.

“Another major change has been the facelift of the Putra Place Complex, comprising The Mall [now known as Sunway Putra Mall] and Legend Hotel [now known as Sunway Putra Hotel]. The Mall was once the largest shopping complex in Malaysia and was developed by Metroplex Holdings Bhd,” says Toh.

First opened in 1987, The Mall was inaugurated by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad during his first tenure as prime minister. At the launch, he buried a time capsule — containing a message he wrote for future citizens — that is scheduled to be excavated in 2087 — a century later.

In 2011, Sunway Group’s Sunway REIT acquired the Putra Place Complex for RM513.95 million in a public auction. The development was renamed and repositioned as Sunway Putra Mall, Sunway Putra Hotel, Sunway Putra Serviced Apartment and Sunway Putra Tower.

Currently, there appears to be a steady number of transactions in Jalan Putra. The average price psf for a shophouse is RM650 to RM700, says Toh. “As for apartments, they can fetch an average of RM450 to RM550 psf.”

He adds that the monthly rent for shops in the street ranges from RM4 to RM4.50 psf per month for the ground floor, and RM1.50 to RM2.30 psf per month for the first floor and above. “The yields are between 4% and 4.5% per annum.”

Meanwhile, the monthly rent for apartments ranges from RM2 to RM2.50 psf per month, according to Toh. “Their yields are between 4.5% and 5% per annum.”

Jalan Putra is plagued by traffic congestion. “Another challenge is that it is located in the older part of Kuala Lumpur that was marred by vice activities in the past,” says Toh.

Nevertheless, the outlook for Jalan Putra remains positive, he remarks. This is thanks to “new developments and the upgrading of existing buildings, which will help boost the value of the properties as well as the rental yield”.

“Tan Chong Development Sdn Bhd is proposing a commercial development on the site where the MUV second-hand car showroom is currently operating from, which is adjacent to Anum Hotel, according to Portal OSC One Stop Center,” he adds.

Save by subscribing to us for your print and/or digital copy.

P/S: The Edge is also available on Apple's AppStore and Androids' Google Play.

      Print
      Text Size
      Share