Emkay wants Cyberjaya land to build office towers

PRIVATELY-HELD property developer Emkay Group is on the lookout for land in Cyberjaya, Selangor, to build office towers.

Its senior general manager Mazrita Mazlan said that office space was in demand and easier to sell, giving good returns to the group as foreign multinational corporations liked to buy floor by floor en bloc.

"Office space is what the market wants right now as the government does not have enough buildings to house their ministries and agencies such as the Department of Environment and the Public Service department. Also, Cyberjaya is near Putrajaya with easy and fast connectivity," Mazrita told Business Times.

"Furthermore, office space which is usually sold en bloc is hassle-free because documentation process is under one company, making it faster to process at local government agencies compared to shop-houses," she added.

Mazrita said the group recently bought 1.4ha in Cyberjaya for RM7 million, on which it plans to build another two to three office blocks or special purpose buildings.

"We have sufficient experience to build office towers, such as our completed RM100 million Bangunan Mustapha Kamal in Cyberjaya and the RM350 million Menara Mustapha Kamal in Damansara Perdana, Petaling Jaya.

"But we plan to build office towers cautiously and will first undertake feasibility studies to see the project's viability," she said.

Mazrita added that some international firms, especially information technology (IT), find it cumbersome to buy land and build their own offices.

"They would rather tender out construction of the buildings and then rent or sell them to investors."

The Emkay group is owned and controlled by property tycoon Tan Sri Mustapha Kamal Abu Bakar, who is also the executive chairman and dominant stakeholder of associate company MK Land Holdings Bhd.

He holds 48.7 per cent of MK Land via privately-held MKN Holdings Sdn Bhd, which in turn is one of 15 companies owned by Mustapha grouped under the Emkay stable.

Emkay associate company Setia Haruman Sdn Bhd is also the master developer of Cyberjaya.

Mazrita believes that Cyberjaya is the place to be as it is home to 20,000 students, out of which half are foreigners.

It is also a workplace for 19,000 workers spread across 50 MSC Malaysia-compliant buildings spanning 5.8 million sq ft.

"Property price in Cyberjaya is competitive at RM350 per sq ft compared with other competitors at RM450 per sq ft, and rental yield here is 7 per cent per year," said Mazrita.

By Business Times