Putrajaya Holdings in talks to sell building

PUTRAJAYA: Putrajaya Holdings Sdn Bhd (PJH) has identified three investors for the en bloc sale of its 26 Boulevard office building in Putrajaya's Precint 3, said chief executive officer Azlan Abdul Karim.

The investors comprised two local parties and one foreign purchaser, he said.

“We will give the first option (to purchase) to the local investors but we will, of course, consider the best offer,” Azlan told reporters at a seminar yesterday.

The 12-storey building has 48,000 sq m gross floor space and is valued at more than RM200mil.

“We expect to finalise the sale by the beginning of the next quarter,” Azlan said, adding that PJH was also in negotiations to sell a parcel of land to a local investor but did not reveal the potential buyer's identity.

“We have an investor and will make an announcement by the end of this month,” he said.

Earlier in his presentation on Creating A Liveable And Vibrant Putrajaya, Azlan said more commercial projects should be emphasised in the federal administrative capital.

Azlan Abdul Karim

“When Putrajaya was developed, commercial amenities were not given enough emphasis.

“Because of that, Putrajaya has become too governmental, resulting in an imbalanced racial mix,” he added.

According to Azlan, Putrajaya needs more commercial amenities such as shopping complexes, night markets and cinemas to make it more vibrant.

“We have set up eight cineplexes and are looking for operators,” he said, adding that PJH was targeting to open five cineplexes, to be managed by Golden Screen Cinemas, next month.

Other notable projects by PJH include the Nexus World-School, an international school that will be managed by the Garden International School; and the Pullman Lakeside Putrajaya, a four-star hotel to be managed by Accor. These projects are slated to be up and running by September.

Azlan added that Putrajaya's distance from Kuala Lumpur was another cause for concern, suggesting that alternative forms of transportation such as light rail transit (LRT) and monorail be implemented.

According to him, Putrajaya is already equipped with “quite an extensive'' network of underground LRT and some overhead monorail lines and stations that are spaced out roughly 500m apart.

“The Government had appointed PJH to manage the construction of these (LRT and monorail) facilities. Despite an extensive network already in place, it is still not operational,” he said.

Azlan did not comment on why the LRT and monorail projects were not up and running, but added that the implementation of such service would greatly benefit the capital.

By The Star (by Eugene Mahalingam)