Monday, August 2, 2010

Redeveloping Kampung Kerinchi

THE rapid development of Bangsar South City in Kampung Kerinchi by UOA Group is now changing the landscape of the area that used to be a slum with squatters.
UOA Holdings Sdn Bhd general manager David Khor says the group is braving itself with the challenges and is optimistic of successfully developing the project within a few years. “We are trying to lift the image of Kampung Kerinchi and along the way, contribute back to the people here by providing new amenities, jobs and upgrading the access roads,” Khor tells StarBizWeek in an interview recently. The group, he says, is lucky in the sense that when it bought the land in 2005, the squatters had already been assisted by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to be relocated to the nearby flats. Spanning 60 acres with gross development value of RM4.5bil, the development of Bangsar South is set to be fully completed in the next five to seven years. “The plan is to have an equal 50:50 ratio of commercial and residential component. About 20% of the development is already completed,” he says. The development is called Bangsar South City because it shares the same postcode with Bangsar even though the location is in Kampung Kerinchi, says Khor. Before starting the development, Khor admitted that when the project was fully completed, traffic problems might arise as more people come to live and work. “The result showed that the access roads are still sustainable to handle traffic. However, we do have plans to build new access roads when the time comes,” he says. UOA is building grade A offices, retail avenues, boutique condominiums, service suites and a clubhouse. Two blocks of condominium called Acacia and Begonia which are now completed and enjoying 80% sales and in two months, the group will launch the service suites. “The selling and rental rates for our residential and commercial properties are still competitive as compared to our neighbour, Bangsar, where the price for residential is around RM450 to RM500 per sq ft while the rental rate for our commercial side is around RM5.50 psf,” he says. In January, Bangsar South City was awarded the MSC Malaysia Cybercentre status by the Government.

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