1Gateway for Klang folk

Food and beverage heaven: A model of the 1Gateway project.

Klang will have a new food and beverage (F&B) landmark once the 1Gateway project is up.

Covering a sprawling seven hectares, the project in Taman Datuk Abdul Hamid will comprise shoplots and two towers — one to be taken up by hotel chain Novotel while the other will house offices.

Co-developer Legenda Erajuta Sdn Bhd (LESB) said it planned to turn 1Gateway into a food and beverage hub. Besides eateries, it also plans to attract banks and a hypermarket.

Parking will also not be an issue, with more than 3,000 parking bays included in the plans.

“I believe in Klang’s potential. The population is quite dense and the people’s buying power is great,” said LESB managing director Datuk Raymond Chan.

He said the new plans for 1Gateway would be completed in four years, starting from the date LESB receives approval from the relevant authorities.

LESB is a subsidiary of Sagajuta (Sabah) Sdn Bhd, who developed a string of projects in Sabah including 1Borneo, 1Sulaman, Warisan Square and Kingfisher Ujana.

1Gateway was previously known as Intania, which had been abandoned for several years.

Recently, developer Dermaga Suasa Sdn Bhd (DSSB) announced that LESB had agreed to come in as the white knight to save the project.

Phase One of the Intania project, comprising two blocks of shoplots, had already been completed and occupied, while another 16 units of shoplots under Phase 2B were 80% completed when it was abandoned.

Chan promised the buyers of Phase 2B that their units would be delivered within six months.

Buyers of Phase 2A, which comprised two blocks of 500-unit condominiums, would have their investment compensated in accordance with the sale and purchase agreements as the developer had decided against building residential property there.

The gross development value (GDV) of the project is projected to be more than RM400mil, down from the RM600mil when Intania was first launched in 1999.

“The minimum GDV is RM400mil. We are still revising it. It is no less than RM400mil, depending on market demands it could come close to the RM600mil (projected initially),” said Chan.

DSSB project manager Anthony Lee Tee said the project was affected by the economic crisis in 2001 and 2002, and work stopped in 2006 after encountering legal issues with PKA.

“Intania is a privatisation project between Dermaga Suasa Sdn Bhd (DSSB) and Port Klang Authority (PKA), with PKA being the landowner and the project initially awarded to DSSB,” said Lee.

Lee said in December last year, the PKA board “sensibly” decided to break the impasse and allow the project to continue.

By The Star