EkoCheras Mall slated for opening middle of next year

KUALA LUMPUR (July 18): Ekovest Bhd plans to have the EkoCheras Mall completed for opening by middle of next year.

“[The opening of the mall] is in [line] with our schedule. Originally, it was supposed to be developed as shops, but now we have amended our development order to build a shopping mall instead,” said Ekovest managing director Datuk Seri Lim Keng Cheng at a press conference following the launch of KL River City today.

The mall, which will have some 625,000 sq ft of net lettable area, is part of EkoCheras, a 12-acre mixed-use development comprising serviced apartments, office suites, hotel suites and the retail component.

Previously, the group had announced that some of its key tenants include Golden Screen Cinemas, Village Grocer, Borders Books and Starbucks.

Meanwhile, the KL River City project will see the rehabilitation and transformation of a 2.2km stretch of the Gombak River.

KL River City is located within Precinct 1 & 2 of the River of Life (ROL), a seven-year project under the Economic Transformation Programme for Greater Kuala Lumpur to rejuvenate the Klang and Gombak rivers.

The development cost for the 2.2km stretch of river will be RM950 million.

“KL River City will see the upper deck being used for water-based activities while the river bank will allow for business activities by residents living in the surrounding area such as trading while the lower deck will be used to channel water [from floods and heavy storms] into a flood tunnel below the city,” Lim explained.

Meanwhile, Ekovest is set to receive an additional 30 acres of land in ROL in a land swap deal with the government which Lim expected to generate an additional gross development value (GDV) of RM9 billion. It currently owns 30 acres of land in ROL for property development projects worth an estimated GDV of RM6 billion.

Some of the projects are EkoTitiwangsa, EkoRiverCentre, EkoGateway, EkoQuay and EkoAvenue. Currently, EkoTitiwangsa is the only project on-going at the moment.