Commercial property:Grade A office in the suburbs

A Grade A 21-storey purpose-built office space within an easily accessible lifestyle development is what the owner of Menara Kencana, Kencana Capital Assets Sdn Bhd, is offering prospective tenants. While the property located in Solaris Dutamas in KL is certainly of a higher profile than its previous property investments — such as Marc Residences and UOA Bangsar, both in KL — director Datuk Mokhzani Mahathir is quick to point out that the venture was mainly to find office space for the group of companies under Kencana.

“We’ve been looking for a space of our own for some time now... over the years as investments within the Kencana Group grew, the number of companies has also increased. So, housing all these companies in one building has always been our plan,” he says. (Besides Kencana Capital Assets — an investment holding company with interests in oil and gas and IT and property — companies under the Kencana Group include Kencana Petroleum Bhd, an integrated solutions provider for the oil and gas industry that is listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia.)

The companies under the Kencana Group are expected to occupy 120,000 sq ft, almost half of Menara Kencana’s 255,000 sq ft of net lettable area. The remaining space will be leased for between RM4.50 and RM4.80 psf and Mokhzani is confident that by the time the building is ready for occupancy in 1Q2010, it will be fully tenanted.

His confidence stems from the property’s features as well as its location. Menara Kencana is the only purpose-built office tower in Solaris Dutamas — a Sunrise Bhd development. “We worked closely with Sunrise and saw from the master plan that the other commercial components were not of this size,” he says, adding that Sunrise too had earmarked the purpose-built tower to serve as an anchor for its entire mixed development.

The building was built according to Kencana Group’s specifications, which meant that the needs of prospective tenants have been considered. It boasts an array of features such as fibre optic infrastructure for high speed IT connections, uninterrupted power supply, flexible air-conditioning for extended working hours, and structurally strengthened loading zones.

The office space will have only two tenants on each floor. For the more discerning businesses, there are seven executive floors available, with higher ceilings and upgraded washrooms.

Parking will not be a problem as there are 300 bays located near the lobbies of the lifts. Visitors will have easy access to the building by driving directly to their own dedicated porte cochere or porch on the ground floor. In terms of security, surveillance cameras have been installed in the car park and the lobbies for round-the-clock monitoring.

Menara Kencana is viewed as more than just a business address. “There are plans for a wellbeing centre and a gym within the building,” says Mokhzani. With such facilities,  you can do a workout at the gym or unwind with your friends at the wellbeing centre. Besides, Solaris Dutamas also has ample retail, entertainment and food and beverage outlets.

Mokhzani believes that Menara Kencana will win over prospective tenants looking for a decentralised business address. Located 500m off Jalan Duta, Menara Kencana boasts easy access to the rest of the Klang Valley via the North-South Expressway, North Klang Valley Expressway, Duta-Ulu Klang Expressway and Sprint Highway.

Partnerships are the way to go
Apart from Menara Kencana, Kencana Capital Assets also owns 11 acres of land in Shah Alam facing the Federal Highway and about 100 acres of development land in Plentong, Johor.

Mokhzani says while the company is keen to pursue property development, this is still at the exploratory stage. “We will continue to look at opportunities for investment and balance these investments with the time frame required to see returns.”

In venturing into development, partnerships will be key. “We are a small outfit, so it makes sense for us to look at partnerships to undertake property development,” he adds.

For details, call (03) 2094 5118.





This article appeared in Commercial Property, the Special Focus pullout of The Edge Malaysia, Issue 761, June 29 - July 5, 2009.