BBCC, rejuvenating the city centre

RECALLING the olden days when Bukit Bintang used to be the entertainment centre of Kuala Lumpur, chief executive officer of BBCC Development Sdn Bhd Datuk Richard Ong said its Bukit Bintang City Centre (BBCC) development can rejuvenate the city centre once again as an entertainment hub.

Earlier this year, BBCC had inked an agreement with Mitsui Fudosan Group subsidiary Mitsui Fudosan (Asia) Pte Ltd and Sony Music subsidiary Zepp Hall Network Inc to develop a 1.4 million sq ft lifestyle mall and a concert hall that can house an audience of over 2,000 people, respectively.

“Bukit Bintang was arguably the heart of Kuala Lumpur and entertainment hub in the 1950s and 1960s. Entertainment has been the hallmark of Bukit Bintang. You can find cinemas, street food, and even joget dance in the streets of Bukit Bintang,” said Ong. He was speaking at TheEdgeProperty.com’s “Symposium on Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail 2016”. His presentation was focused on how BBCC is set to be “The new heartbeat of Kuala Lumpur”.

“Look at the evolution of KL’s Golden Triangle, it’s moving south. As the city centre is already well established, newer developments are moving south such as the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) and Merdeka PNB118. But having said that, I think there’s still a lot of space for our BBCC,” he declared.

Believing that connectivity is absolutely vital, Ong said the developer will be investing RM30 million into creating the central transit hub to be located within the BBCC development.

The developer is going to do a lot more besides banking on the existing transportation system that already surrounds BBCC, which will be developed on the former Pudu jail site.

According to Ong, the transit hub will connect the Light Rail Transit (LRT), the future Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and the monorail lines.

“This is something we’re doing on our own for the benefit of commuters. It will cost us RM30 million, but we want seamless connectivity from the stations for everyone who comes to BBCC or live within BBCC.

“BBCC will be counting a lot on connectivity. Forget about cars, the future is going to be the rail lines including the KL-Singapore High Speed Rail. You have the MRT connected to the monorail and LRT right in front of BBCC.

“If you take the LRT you can reach Chan Sow Lin where you can transit and then reach the HSR station located at Bandar Malaysia (in Sungai Besi). Connectivity is very important not only in the Klang Valley but beyond that, to Singapore and even the whole world,” said Ong.

The 19.4-acre BBCC has a gross development value (GDV) of RM8.7 billion. It is located at the intersection of Jalan Imbi and Jalan Pudu. It is being developed by a consortium comprising UDA Holdings Bhd, Eco World Development Group Bhd and the Employees Provident Fund in a 40:40:20 share structure over a period of 8 to 10 years.

Besides the 1.4 million sq ft lifestyle mall, the integrated development will comprise a lifestyle street, entertainment hub, hotel, 350 units of 715 sq ft to 1,423 sq ft offices within the strata office tower, six luxury residential towers, an 80-storey signature tower, parks and gardens, and the transit hub.

Organised by TheEdgeProperty.com, the symposium themed “Where to invest — Don’t miss the boat” was supported by The Edge Malaysia with Bukit Bintang City Centre as the presenting sponsor.

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This story first appeared in TheEdgeProperty.com pullout on Sept 2, 2016, which comes with The Edge Financial Daily every Friday. Download TheEdgeProperty.com pullout here for free.

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