Mycom teams up with Merrill Lynch

Mycom teams up with Merrill Lynch
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They will jointly develop land in Kenny Heights

By YAP LENG KUEN

KUALA LUMPUR: Mycom Bhd is teaming up with Merrill Lynch Asia to jointly develop 16.2 acres, valued at RM450mil, in Mont’ Kiara, just two months after striking a deal with Westcity plc of London to develop another parcel of land in the same location.

This could be the first time that a US fund is involved in a joint development project in Kuala Lumpur and signals the confidence of foreigners in Malaysia's property market where prices have yet to peak.

Compared with an average S$4,000 per sq ft in Singapore, property in Kuala Lumpur is still fetching around RM1,500 to RM2,000 per sq ft in good locations around the KL City Centre (KLCC).

This positive response from foreigners is the result of steps by the Government following the exemption from real property gains tax.

Mycom’s development of the entire 88 acres under Kenny Heights is also seen as possibly “the last integrated development on the last choice site” in the suburban area of KL.

The joint venture with Merrill Lynch, on a 49:51 basis, is for the development of Parcels 1, 4 and 5 of Kenny Heights. The previous deal with Westcity was for a similar joint development of 10 acres in Parcel 3, valued at RM300mil.

“Kenny Heights is a very exciting project to us. It is unparallelled to any single development in Kuala Lumpur except for KLCC,” Mycom chief Datuk Yap Yong Seong, also known as Duta Yap, told StarBiz. “It will evolve into a new suburban city with about 23 million sq ft of gross floor area.”

The land belonging to Kenny Heights Development Sdn Bhd was injected into Mycom (58%) and Olympia Industries Bhd (42%) under their restructuring schemes that have just been completed.

It is planned as the main commercial centre and high-class residential area next to Kenny Hills. The project is segmented into nine parcels and is to be developed over 15 years.

It will comprise 3,000 residences, hotels with a total 1,600 rooms, 3.8 million sq ft of offices, 3.9 million sq ft of retail space, 500,000 sq ft of conference facilities, a 350,000-sq-ft medical centre and 150,000 sq ft for a cultural centre.

Indeed, it is envisioned to be twice the size of Covent Garden in London, three times that of Roponggi Hills in Tokyo and four times that of the Rockefeller Centre in New York.

Some of the world’s leading architects and designers, such as Adjaye and Associates, Benoy, Conran and Partners, Foster & Partners, ga.a architects, Heatherwick Studio, Jerde Partnership, Kengo Kuma and Associates and WDA, will be involved in the creation.

The market is already abuzz with news of the entry of these two foreign partners into Mycom. Analysts expect more surprises from Duta Yap, who looks like he will have more good news regarding his prime pieces of land and properties in the city.

Upon completion of these transactions, Mycom will be almost completely de-geared.

These transactions are likely to lead to more US and European interests in the Malaysian property investment scene.