Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in City & Country, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on May 3, 2021 - May 9, 2021

Sunway Bhd’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Sunway Rahman Putra Sdn Bhd, signed a sale and purchase agreement to acquire a 6.59-acre parcel of prime freehold land at Jalan Cochrane, Kuala Lumpur, from Mutiara Rini Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Boustead Properties Bhd, for a purchase consideration of RM233.4 million on April 19. 

The proposed mixed-use development, targeted to be launched in 2023, will comprise serviced apartments and retail units, with a gross development value (GDV) of about RM1.15 billion. 

In an email, Sunway Property managing director Sarena Cheah says, “We are still finalising the details as we are confirming with the authorities on the development parameters. We will share them when we can. At the moment, we forecast the launch to be in 2023, with a development period of five to six years.

“The proposed GDV will be at least RM1.15 billion. The project will comprise serviced apartments on top of a retail podium, which will benefit from road frontage on all four sides of the site.” 

To date, Sunway’s total land bank stands at 3,339 acres with a potential GDV of RM52.1 billion over a total development period of more than 15 years.

Cheah says, “We will continue to look for new land bank that is aligned with consumer preferences, including those that are suited for transit-oriented or transit-adjacent developments and are surrounded by amenities, as well as areas where we can leverage our strength in providing sustainable urban developments of value for buyers.

“The property market in Malaysia has experienced several challenging years but we have faith that with economic recovery post-Covid-19, the demand will return, especially in a strong location such as Cochrane where there is a convergence of convenience and affordability — a combination that has become rarer in strong city locations. This exciting mixed-use development will be highly desirable among our multiple customer segments.”

According to Cheah, the acquisition will strengthen Sunway Property’s presence in the vicinity, where the group has developed and invested substantially in Sunway Velocity and Sunway Velocity TWO, both of which are MSC Cybercentre status developments. 

“We believe the future is even more exciting with the upcoming completions in Tun Razak Exchange (TRX), which will bring in a substantial population of high-income, professional workers. We can imagine them wanting to stay at our proposed development here, which is just one station away from TRX [via MRT], with all the amenities at its doorstep and at a much better value,” she adds.

According to the developer, the land is strategically located for a transit-oriented mixed-use development and is directly opposite the Cochrane MRT station and close to MyTown Shopping Centre. The station is part of the Sungai Buloh-Kajang Line and brings commuters directly to the heart of Kuala Lumpur and other major suburbs such as Cheras and Damansara. 

The Cochrane MRT station is also one stop away from TRX, which has now reached its inflection point, with the recent completions of Exchange 106, Menara Prudential and HSBC TRX. TRX is expected to house more than 45,000 employees in the near future. 

Situated at the fringe of the Golden Triangle, Cochrane has gentrified substantially over the years, with Sunway playing a key role in the process. Sunway Velocity, with a GDV of more than RM4 billion, is just 200m away from the Jalan Cochrane site and is a successful integrated development with over 23 acres of freehold land. The project consists of Sunway Velocity Mall with one million sq ft of net lettable area, the 350-room Sunway Velocity Hotel, the 240-bed Sunway Medical Centre Velocity, Sunway College @ Velocity, two office towers with a total floor area of 375,000 sq ft and residential units. 

The developer’s latest development, Sunway Velocity TWO, with a GDV of RM2 billion, is located on an 8.5-acre site right opposite Sunway Velocity and is linked to three MRT and two LRT stations.

Meanwhile, Sunway’s vendor, Boustead Group, has developed significant landmarks in the vicinity such as MyTown Shopping Centre and One Cochrane Residences. The upcoming The Exchange TRX Mall is also in the area. Nearby schools include Tsun Jin Primary School, Taylor’s International School and Sunway College @ Velocity, all within a 1km radius. 

Connectivity of the proposed development via major roads is also enviable, with Jalan Cochrane feeding traffic to major highways such as the Maju Expressway (MEX), the SMART tunnel and the Sungai Besi Expressway.

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