MALL CATALYST
JAKEL Trading Sdn Bhd plans to build another Jakel Mall with two towers comprising serviced apartments, hotel and offices with a gross development value of RM1.3 billion.
TEXTILE retailer Jakel Trading Sdn Bhd has acquired a parcel of land worth RM180 million for a mixed-development project that has a gross development value (GDV) of RM1.3 billion.
Jakel group managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Mohamed Faroz Mohamed Jakel said the company will build another Jakel Mall with two towers that comprise serviced apartments, hotel and offices on the land here.
“The land is next to our Jakel Mall Kuala Lumpur. The construction is expected to commence in 2019.
“The new mall will complement our existing mall as it will give us more space to sell our products,” he told NST Business in an interview recently.
Faroz said Jakel is the only Bumiputera-owned company that has a mall in Kuala Lumpur city.
The new mall would be a catalyst to attract more crowds to Jakel stores.
“We will build a 300,000 sq ft mall that can house between 150 and 200 shops. The mall will have food courts and middle-class apparel brand stores,” he said.
Previously, Jakel had received many enquiries from middleclass brands to rent its shoplots in its mall. But the mall did not have sufficient space to cater for all of them.
“Hence, we will offer them retail space at our new mall. We will bring Bumiputera companies to our new mall. Our main target is to bring in local products and operators.
“Currently, we have many new entrepreneurs and young startups in the Muslimah apparel business,” he said.
Faroz said the four-storey new mall will have a pedestrian bridge connecting to Jakel Mall KL.
“The new mall is expected to be completed in 2022. I foresee there is much room for Jakel to grow in the local market. Most of the textile traders are not keen to expand in the Malaysian market.”
On the serviced apartments they will range from 550 to 1,200 sq ft.
Faroz said there is a high demand for apartment units in the area as there are two mass rapid transit stations about 200m from the mall.
“The new mall will have a total 1.5 million sq ft of gross floor area and a total net lettable area (NLA) of 1.2 million sq ft, comprising 300,000 sq ft of NLA for retail space, 550,000 sq ft of net saleable area for serviced apartments and 350,000 sq ft NLA for offices.
“We believe there is a huge demand mainly due to old offices and buildings with limited facilities in the area. Jakel will utilise about 100,000 sq ft for office space and the remaining 200,000 sq ft will be rented out.”
Faroz said the company has seen an encouraging footfall.
“We have pulled in huge crowd in recent years. We have rejuvenated this area since 2014. This place has become a new centre for Muslim shoppers,” he said, adding that his aim is to make the area a Muslimcentric hub.
“We have all the Muslim brands under one roof. We also have crowds which come from Lulu hypermarket.”
Faroz said despite the economic downturn, Jakel has attracted numerous new customers this year thanks to endorsements by local celebrities.