By LIM CHIA YING
chiaying@thestar.com.my | Jun 30, 2011
Mixed development project to spur growth in USJ
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New development: An artist impression of da:men’s 400,000sq ft retail mall.
The character and landscape of USJ is set to be significantly changed when a sprawling new mixed development project comes up within the next three years.
The project, called da:men or Gateway, will be developed on a 3.6ha plot of land fronting the intersection of Jalan Kewajipan and Jalan Subang Permai in the heart of USJ.
Once completed by the end of 2014, the project will have serviced apartments, shop offices and a retail mall.
The project was recently launched by Equine Capital Berhad, whose wholly-owned subsidiary Equine Park Country Resort is the developer and Revenue Concept Sdn Bhd, the land owner.
Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim officiated at the event and was later taken on a 2D visual experience of walking through the life-size perspective of the development.
Equine Capital Berhad chairman Tengku Datuk Seri Ahmad Shah Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah said da:men was easily accessible by its strategic location and especially with the proposed LRT station expansion into Subang Jaya.
“It is projected that by 2012, the anticipated USJ population will rise to 1.3mil residents, and it gives us the impetus to target this catchment,” said Tengku Ahmad.“We want to make da:men the new dimension of modern lifestyle with our innovative mix of offerings in line with the project’s tagline of ‘eat, live, play, work’.
“There has been an overwhelming response from buyers and tenants with 80% of the shop offices already sold. We are happy with the positive response received so far.”
Khalid said he feels the development will augur well for Subang Jaya.
“The per capita income of Subang Jaya, Petaling Jaya and part of Shah Alam has reached an above average level of the national income and it bodes well for consumerism where this project is concerned,” he told a press conference.
He, however, conceded that while the government was in support of the development, there was also a need to ensure adequate transportation system for the mobility of consumers as well as traffic dispersal to handle the vehicle volume.
“The Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) has taken this point into consideration and agree that the development can proceed while they monitor the situation.
“The demand for better choice for shopping is also intensified by the availability of colleges that want a higher level of facilities. The quality of urban life in areas of Selangor will also be enhanced,” he said.
When asked if there are any conditions imposed on developers, Khalid said traffic was one of the factors strictly looked into when developers submit their plans.
“I know Subang Jaya people have a qualitative and quantitative voice level but the fundamental thing to note is that we cannot stop development.
“However, we must ensure adequate preparation for foreseen scenarios, and this, I was told by the developer, is why they are looking into additional slip roads to be built for sufficient traffic flow.
“There will also be an LRT station near here and the state is working hard to ensure the dependency of private cars be reduced from currently 90% to perhaps 50%. It’s definitely a long way to go but we have to move towards this,” said Khalid.
Tengku Ahmad said there will be
2,600 carpark bays for the project and they have worked closely with the authorities with regards to traffic in the area.
“Besides the LRT, we’ll be adding two additional lanes at our own cost to widen the existing three-lanes to five in the perimeter of our development,” he said.
Equine Capital Berhad chief operating officer Ranjeet Singh said the developer was taking care of the ingress and egress while acknowledging that they have to find an easier dispersal route because of the congestion caused by the traffic lights at the Persiaran Kewajipan/Kesas highway intersection.
“Traffic concerns will always be there but we have addressed it, like traffic impact assessment studies which have been done,” said Ranjeet.
The retail mall component will measure 400,000 sq ft and will be spread across seven levels each of which is dedicated to different categories.
The service apartments meanwhile will comprise two 23-storey towers of 480 units, while the last component of shop offices will consist of 68 lots built in two, five or six-storeys.http://www.starproperty.my/PropertyScene/P...Scene/12974/0/0This post has been edited by kh8668: Jun 30 2011, 04:02 PM