KL's upcoming tallest tower already half full

492m tower due for completion this year; most tenants from financial sector

The 106-storey The Exchange 106 in Kuala Lumpur, slated for completion by the end of this year, will be 40m taller than the landmark Petronas Twin Towers (centre, in the background), which is currently Malaysia's tallest skyscraper.
The 106-storey The Exchange 106 in Kuala Lumpur, slated for completion by the end of this year, will be 40m taller than the landmark Petronas Twin Towers (centre, in the background), which is currently Malaysia's tallest skyscraper. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

KUALA LUMPUR • Malaysia's upcoming tallest skyscraper, The Exchange 106, has signed up tenants for nearly half of its floor space to large institutions, an industry source said.

The 106-storey project in Kuala Lumpur is slated for completion by the end of this year.

The tenants have taken up to 47 per cent of the 2.6 million sq ft of the project's floor area, with another 9 per cent under negotiation, the source said.

These prospective tenants are "big space users" that are mainly from Malaysia's financial sector, the person said.

When completed, The Exchange 106 will be 492m tall. This is 40m taller than the current local champion, the 452m-high, 88-storey Petronas Twin Towers.

But The Exchange 106's bragging rights as Malaysia's tallest will last only for a few years.

Another structure will eventually take its crown - the Merdeka PNB 118, with 118 floors and a height of 630m.

Previous reports say this project, which is being developed by Malaysia's national equity fund Permodalan Nasional Berhad, will be ready by 2020.

The tallest skyscraper in the world is Dubai's Burj Khalifa with a height of 829.8m.

The Exchange 106 is located in Kuala Lumpur's new planned financial district, Tun Razak Exchange, or TRX, at the southern edge of Malaysia's capital city.

The tower project is being built by Indonesian commercial property developer Mulia Group.

Malaysia's Ministry of Finance Inc was reported to have recently bought a 51 per cent stake in Mulia Property Development, the project's developer and a unit of the Indonesian group.

The Mulia Group bought the 1.38ha TRX land in 2015 for RM665 million from the then 1MDB Real Estate, a Malaysian Finance Ministry company now named TRX City.

The Exchange 106 has an asking rental price of RM17 (S$5.70) per sq ft - higher than the RM13 psf sought by Menara 3 of the Petronas Twin Towers, a premium commercial building.

According to Mr Christopher Boyd, executive chairman of real estate adviser Savills Malaysia, the various incentives and favourable tax practices given to The Exchange 106 are equivalent to about RM2 psf. This means the effective rental rate is actually lower than RM17 psf.

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on January 12, 2018, with the headline KL's upcoming tallest tower already half full. Subscribe