City & Country: St Mary Residences on track

Since its groundbreaking ceremony in November 2007, little has been heard about the serviced apartment project coming up on the site of the former St Mary’s School in Kuala Lumpur.  It was recently that some units of the project, called St Mary Residences CBD, was put on the market by developer Eastern & Oriental Bhd (E&O).

Located in the KL Central Business District (CBD), the project comprises three 28-storey serviced apartment blocks with 657 units and a 3-storey parking lot for 719 cars.

To recap, the Synod of the Diocese of West Malaysia, previous owner of the 4.04-acre freehold tract, had paved the way for the project when it signed an agreement with the Lion Group for the latter to build a new St Mary’s School in Selayang and an apartment block (one of the three of St Mary Residences CBD) in exchange for the tract.

This was in line with the Kuala Lumpur Structure Plan 2020, drawn up by KL City Hall, whereby schools are to be relocated to the Klang Valley suburbs to ease traffic congestion in the city centre. For example, Bukit Bintang Girls School has since moved to Cheras from its previous location where Pavilion Kuala Lumpur now stands.

Subsequently, the Lion Group invited E&O to jointly own and develop the tract through Mergexcel Property Development Sdn Bhd, a 50:50 joint-venture company between Ribuan Imbangan Sdn Bhd (a wholly-owned subsidiary of E&O) and Lion Courts Sdn Bhd (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lion Industries Corp Bhd).

E&O is put in charge of the management as well as the sales and marketing of the project, K C Chong, its marketing and sales director, tells City & Country.

Selling at between RM850 and RM1,400 psf, Mergexcel Property Development has recently opened for sale the East Tower, which has 169 apartments and six penthouse units, with built-ups ranging from 1,350 to 6,704 sq ft.

At press time, Chong says some 75% of the units have been booked and he attributies the  interest  to the investment entry level of the units which he points out are relatively smaller in size compared to those in the KLCC area.

E&O hopes to open the 288 units and 10 penthouse units in the South Tower within the next three to six months, depending on market conditions. Meanwhile, the 200 units in the West Tower are owned by the church, which is expected to keep it for recurring income.

“I think the market is coming back and buyers are waiting for the right product. The pricing is the most attractive feature, coupled with its location. There is still genuine demand for our type of development, and we hope to officially launch the product by year-end,” says Chong, adding that the St Mary Residences CBD project has a gross development value (GDV) of RM1 billion.

The developer is targeting at the many multinational companies in the CBD as well “empty nesters” (the elderly whose children have moved out).

The views afforded at some of the units may not be compelling and this Chong concedes.

“Some units may offer certain views, but if you own an apartment in the city, you shouldn’t be looking out for them (views), anyway. There is no guarantee that the view you have right now will still be there tomorrow. There may be an empty plot in front of you right now, but someone may build something in front of you later. Older buildings may also be demolished to make way for new ones,” he adds.

The piling and substructure of the St Mary Residences CBD have been done and the whole project is to be completed by 2012.

Next to St Mary Residences CBD, there is also a 1.15-acre parcel owned by E&O, on which the developer plans to build a 35-storey grade A office tower, with a total built-up of 400,000 sq ft. Chong says piling has been completed, but the official launch will depend on market conditions.

“The plan is to retain it for leasing, but of course under the current market conditions, there could always be other options,” he adds.

Central park
For the St Mary project, Mergexcel Property Development has reserved 1.2 acres as a recreational area for residents.

“We want our residents to have a sense that although we are living in the city, we are not living in a concrete block. We are sandwiched between two green lungs (Bukit Nanas nature reserve and KLCC Park).

“We also have a 2-storey clubhouse, Swith a gym and health fitness centre. I think this is very important when we live in a city. You are staying in an apartment in the heart of the city, but you have a garden downstairs which you can enjoy,” says Chong.

At the South Tower, there is a 2-storey retail podium, which the developer hopes to keep for lease. The podium has a net lettable area of about 30,000 sq ft. It will be commercially run and outsiders are allowed to come in.

“It will become a mini lifestyle centre and will have F&B outlets as well as other services, such as laundry. Of course, outsiders cannot enter the apartment through the retail podium; we have a three-level security for the apartment blocks. There are also 226 parking bays for the retail patrons. Tenants can decide the size of the space they want.

“A similar concept had been adopted earlier in E&O’s Dua Residency condominium project on Jalan Tun Razak. To our knowledge, none of the condominiums in KLCC area has this concept,” adds Chong.
Dua Residency was launched in 2004 at RM550 psf. It is developed over four acres of freehold land, and has some 288 units in two blocks of 20-storey residential towers.

Future projects
E&O still has two land parcels in the KLCC area, where it plans to build more condominums — one on Jalan Yap Kwan Seng and the other on a 1.44-acre site on Jalan Conlay. Chong says E&O hopes to launch at least one of the projects in the KLCC area next year if the economy improves.

The company plans to build 40 storeys of luxury condominiums on the 1.3-acre plot on Jalan Yap Kwan Seng to tap the growing market for young urban professionals, both locals and expatriates.

In Penang, E&O hopes to launch the last project of its Seri Tanjung Pinang Phase One (STP1) by year-end. The RM1.3 billion luxury condominium project will be launched in phases, with 200 units planned for the first phase.

Phase Two of Seri Tanjung Pinang (STP2) will start with the reclamation of 740 acres of land, says Chong.

“We have to date developed about 70% of the 240-acre land reclaimed in Phase One. Phase Two is still undergoing planning. The St Mary Residences and the luxury condominium project in STP1 should keep us busy this year,” says Chong.

E&O via Tanjung Pinang Development Sdn Bhd owns a concession to reclaim and develop 980 acres in Tanjong Tokong in the northeast coast of Penang. Under the agreement, the company has until 2017 to reclaim the remaining land.



This article appeared in City & Country, the property pullout of The Edge Malaysia, Issue 763, July 13-19, 2009