The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 25 — The prime minister said today that he wanted Naza TTDI, the developer of 75.5 acres of Matrade land in the upscale Duta area here to ensure that the development will help propel KL to world class status.
Naza TTDI was awarded the prime land in exchange for constructing a new Matrade convention centre, but the deal had sparked controversy in 2009 as it was decided without a competitive open tender.
“I want a commitment from Naza TTDI to ensure that KL Metropolis will play an important role in fulfilling the government’s aspiration, that Greater KL will be a generator of economic activity in addition to realising the vision of making KL a world class city,” said Najib in his speech that was delivered by Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed at the launch of the project, called KL Metropolis.
Following the controversy in 2009, the government had maintained that it is getting a gooddeal in allowing Naza to build the convention centre in exchange for the development of 75 acres of prime land.
Naza said today that the US firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill was selected following a competition to come up with the masterplan as they were the architects behind London’s Canary Wharf , Singapore’s Marina Bay and Dubai’s Burj al-Khalifa.
KL Metropolis has a gross development value (GDV) of RM15 billion and comprises 22 office, residential and hotel towers, one landmark tower possibly reaching 100 storeys, two retail centres and an exhibition centre.
It will supposedly be served by the ampang LRT line and the MRT Circle Line as well as various highways and tunnels.
The various buildings in the development will be designed to meet Green Building Index and Leed for Neighbourhood Development certifications and be linked with multi-tiered pedestrian walkways.
The new Matrade convention centre at the KL Metropolis will triple KL’s current convention capacity as it will add about 100,000 sq meters of space upon completion in 2014.
Mustapa said that KL currently lagged other regional rivals in terms of quality convention space.
He noted that KL only had 56,000 sq meters of covered convention space currently as compared with Guangzhou which has 260,000 sq meters, Singapore which has 250,000 sq meters and Bangkok which has 225,000 sq meters.
KL Metropolis is expected to be fully built out by 2025.
The first phase comprises the convention centre, two residential towers, two hotels, two office towers and one regional retail centre to be completed by 2015.
Naza TTDI chairman SM Nasarudin SM Nasimuddin said that they were currently in talks with various local and international investors and were exploring various financial instruments to fund the project.
Naza TTDI managing director SM Faliq SM Nasimuddin said that the height of the iconic tower could reach 100 storeys depending on prevailing market conditions.
KL Metropolis Website
KL Metropolis Website
