Rising Grade A waterfront offices in KK
Published on: Thursday, December 08, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: The state capital here is the only city in Malaysia that has the potential of building more Grade A waterfront offices due to location setting with a high factor of 107.According to Azmi & Co.'s property consultant valuer Chartered Surveyor C. K. Wong, Kuala Lumpur has no sea view, there are no Grade A offices facing the seafront in Penang, the same for Johor Baru and Kuching.The only present Grade A office here is the Wisma Hap Seng renamed Plaza Shell after its dominant tenant with 180,000 square feet of floor space.ADVERTISEMENT Next in line, is the 'i-Offices' of the Jesselton Quay (JQ) Central which is available for sale at RM1,200 per square foot unlike Plaza Shell which is only available for lease.More than 50 per cent of these offices were booked, with Suria Capital taking up a few floors although it has a block of its own office tower planned on a neighbouring development land.Since, the 'i-Offices' of the Jesselton Quay (JQ) Central is available for sale, if an investor with deep pockets were to buy up a few parcels of the office space, there are banks and other businesses keen to lease from them.Wong projects that the returns on investment should be respectable as there is a scarcity of Grade A offices in Kota Kinabalu for companies that seek these offices.ADVERTISEMENT As for other offices ranging from shophouses, offices on top of shopping malls, SOVO, SOHO, the supply and incoming supply expected to be about 900,000 square feet after KK Times Square was completed in the late 2000s, until the completion of Riverson Suites and SOHO, the future supply from Sutera Avenue, Aeropod (with the State Railway Headquarters completed) , ITCC, Grand Merdeka etc., Wong said the market would require a period of time to fill these offices.There are some 6.5 million square feet of office space in the state capital.
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The latest SOVO block to be built and counted as incoming supply is the Spinnaker at Likas townshop opposite All Saints School. Likas Boulevard has a block of offices exclusively for the landowner Sabah Energy Corporation by 2020 or later. Petronas is building another office block in Karamunsing.According to Wong from his experience of leasing offices from Gaya Centre before it was sold and converted by a shipping firm Chong Fui Brothers into a hotel, at the time when there was a scarcity of office space in the city during boom times, the letting rate was at RM4 a square foot at Central Building.He said now office buildings like Wisma Yakim and Wisma Merdeka are considered Grade C and Grade B respectively.Grade A offices like i-Offices of JQ Central should have an ambience of grandeur when entering the office foyer that makes a grand statement of the location and building, Wong says.For others, a Grade A office means superbly maintained, should have good measures in place for security, enough and fast elevators with little waiting time, great toilet or restroom design for which the Americans call comfort room as it should be really comfortable or comforting.Meanwhile, Likas Boulevard boasts that its residential Block B was sold out in an hour. Only Block A & B are open for booking. There is a waiting list for the opening of Block C for booking due to the commanding sea view.Its commercial shops are 60 per cent sold and the developer intends to keep 40 per cent for control of the main anchor tenants mix. Piling is beyond 50 per cent completed.Like S P Setia, the developer GE Properties of Naim Indah Corporation cultivates its clientele base well with private functions. Last weekend, it held a concert for its customers with dinner at the Sabah Golf & Country Club.Last Thursday, fire alarm testing sounded out noon at the newly completed Grand Merdeka Mall. The mall has a Chinese bowls water feature like a smaller version of the Pavilion in Kuala Lumpur with some animal sculptures.Likewise, Grade A offices are expected to have the best fire prevention measures in place. Occupants must obey non-smoking rules which were laxly enforced in most government buildings as well as private offices contaminating centralised air conditioning system with odour and bad air.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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The public is awaiting to see whether the ITCC or Grand Merdeka Mall will open first for business. Both developments have office component in their development plans.