Sep 12 2015, 10:33 PM, updated 8y ago
By Thean Lee Cheng | Saturday, 12 September 2015 | The Star BizWeek
http://www.thestar.com.my/Business/Busines...ther/?style=biz
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Renewal: According to Ng, the company is refurbishing a row of 22 shops in Jalan Doraisamy known as The Row located perpendicular to Sheraton Imperial Hotel which fronts Jalan Sultan Ismail.
New lease of life for pre-war properties behind Sheraton Imperial Hotel
GREAT things come in small packages. That seems to hold true for William Ng, director of Urbanspace Sdn Bhd, part-owner of 22 shoplots known as The Row in Jalan Doraisamy, Kuala Lumpur.
The story of Ng and The Row, formerly Asian Heritage Row, started in 2002. Probably the best landmark for it is Sheraton Imperial Hotel which fronts Jalan Sultan Ismail.
Ng’s interest started in 2002 when he became the master lessee of several properties in the area. With a bit of entrepreneurship and vision, he converted them into food and beverage (F&B) outlets.
Ng from Penang, worked with an Australian mining company for 22 years in Singapore. He was posted to Kuala Lumpur as country manager in 1997 and had an office in Subang. When the lease for that ended, he moved his office to Heritage House in Jalan Yap Ah Shak. From his window, he could see some of the 100-odd mostly colonial pre-World War II double-storey houses.
“I used to walk around (looking for food) and there was nothing to eat. I knew Matthew and Michael Ma, who have a restaurant chain IndoChine in Singapore and asked if they wanted to have a place here.”
The Ma brothers were former refugees who made it good in Australia and who subsequently launched an F&B chain in the region.
Ng sought out the owners and found the properties were held in trust by Loke Wan Yat Realty Sdn Bhd for the Loke Yew family.
Loke Yew (1845-1917) and his family own multiple real estate in the city, including the Hakka Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur. The family had a prominent place in the Chinese community in those days.
The family seems to be on a disposal mode, has sold 3.2 acres in Jalan Ampang in 2013 at the site where Pelita Nasi Kandar restaurant was located. The buyer is Singapore-based developer Oxley Holdings Ltd who bought the land for RM3,300 per sq ft.
“I took out a master lease on the properties and leased them to friends who were in the F&B business,” he says, while having a meal at one of his tenants, a nyonya place called Limapulo. At the highest point of his landlord days five years ago, he was managing 35 units in the area.
But things turned “ugly”, he says. “It became a location for bars and clubs and when people got drunk, things happen,” he says.
There were scuffles and a murder or two. Although Ng and his partners continue with the leases, it came to a point when they decided enough is enough.
“Had they (the Loke Yew family) not sold it two years ago (at about the same time the Jalan Ampang land was sold), I would have given up,” he says.
He and his partners have invested about RM70mil in land acquisition and refurbishment of the 22 units. He has leased half of them and refurbished the others.
Four companies own the 22 units with shareholders from Malaysia and Singapore. The largest stake is held by Lam Soon family members who are known for their edible cooking oil. Other property owners in that area include the Yap brothers from Cahaya Auto group and the YTL Group among others.
Kurnia Insurance has sold its insurance arm, gone into property development and renamed its building KSK.
The YTL Group has combined 10 parcels to build a 20-storey 254-room hotel in Jalan Kamunting while 101 Meridian Degree Sdn Bhd is building a 26-storey block comprising retail office space next to YTL’s land.
Next to 101 Meridian is the Yut Kee coffee shop, having moved from its original shop which fronts Jalan Dang Wangi.
There is a lot of activity in the area and this, according to Ng, bodes well for the area.
Ng is naturally excited with the ongoing redevelopment as every stakeholder brings vibrancy and add value to the area.
“I would like to bring a younger crowd in, so I am planning to have a shop selling skateboards, accommodation facilities – not budget hotels – but something with a bit more character. The Row will not be a clubbing area. Enough of that. I would like to control the mix of tenants in my 22 lots,” he says.
Ground floor space is rented at RM10 per sq ft and upper floors at RM5 per sq ft. Besides Limapulo, there is a butter + beans and other F&B outlets at The Row.
As for the overall property value in the area, Ng says: “Take a long-term view of 10 years. I am confident my Row will go up to RM100mil,” he says.
UDA’s Anggun Residences
Probably the biggest beneficiary of the ongoing gentrification is UDA Holdings Bhd who is building serviced apartment Anggun Residences. UDA has 4.19 acres, according to UDA Holdings Bhd. It is building Anggun on 0.9 acre, the smallest, which looks across to the Jalan Dang Wangi police station. UDA will be among the largest landowners.
UDA’s corporate building will be located on the larger 2 plots and a future development is being planned for the third parcel.
The 38-storey block will have 384 units of which more than 90% will have a built-up area of less than 1,000 sq ft. Prices average about RM1,300 per sq ft. It will be sold with built-ins and electrical items like washer/dryer and refrigerator. The other two plots will be used for future developments. The gross development value is RM400mil.
Exclusive marketing agent Rahim & Co managing director Robert Ang says the project will benefit from refurbishment carried out by individual owners, the connectivity and the amenities.
Anggun will be about 200m from the Medan Tuanku monorail and 400m-500m from the Dang Wangi LRT station.
Besides the newly-refurbished commercial space by Ng, across Jalan Sultan Ismail is Quill City Mall.
Formerly Vision City, that site has been operational for about 12 months after the Quill Group revived the 10-year abandoned project, a casualty of the 1997/98 Asian financial crisis. The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) plans to take over the mall after it meets certain conditions.
Less than 1km away is Maju Junction Mall which is controlled by businessman Tan Sri Abu Sahid Mohamed of the Maju Group. Abu Sahid has enlisted the help of tycoon Tan Sri William Cheng’s Parkson Group to spruce up the place. Parkson will be the master lessee of the 220,000 sq ft.
Parkson will reposition Maju Junction Mall, located at the Jalan Sultan Ismail-Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman intersection. “The convenience around the area is tremendous,” says Ang.
Ang says getting a plot ratio of 8 to 9 would not be an issue, considering landowners YTL group and 101 Meridian are already building more than 20-storey blocks.
In some parts of the city, plot ratio has gone up to as high as 14. The higher the permissible plot ratio, the higher the structure permitted by the authorities.
By no means is gentrification limited to that area. Across from Jalan Dang Wangi is BRDB’s Capital Square or CapSquare. That is another area that has undergone considerable changes. There was a time when the group had big plans for that area. Most of the residential units there are two-bedders and above with asking rent of RM4,000 and above.
Anggun’s location and amenities may be more promising comparatively because of easier access to the monorail, malls and commercial amenities.
Anggun Residences is expected to be completed in 2017 while the The Row should be ready for tenancy by next year.
The current slow property market may be a deterrent to potential buyers. Ng says: “I would take a longer timeline of between 5 and 10 years, not two to three years.”
With the average price of about RM1,300 per sq ft, in order to get a gross 4% annual return, a studio would need to command a monthly RM3,000 rental at Anggun.
Construction firm Crest Builder Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Crest Builder Holdings Bhd, has built up to the third level today.
The Crest group is also involved in a commercial project above the Dang Wangi LRT station less than 500m away. The 46-storey project, known as The Bank will have a 300,000 sq ft retail mall podium, offices, a 207-room hotel and SoHo suites.
The redevelopment in the area is expected to spruce up the overall ambience going forward.
As for UDA Holdings Bhd, formerly Urban Development Authority, it was established by the Government in 1971. It is also developing the 20-acre Bukit Bintang City Centre project on the former Pudu Prison site with Eco World Development Group Bhd and the EPF.
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