Malaysian three-tower complex to be built in just 1.5 years?
Published on 23/01/2015
Another major construction project has been announced for Malaysia, as a large-scale mixed-use development is currently being planned for Kota Kinabalu. French developer Vinci Construction Grands Projets is in charge of delivering the impressive new scheme, but it has a surprisingly limited time in which to do it.
The project handover has been scheduled for July 2016, which means Vinci has about one year and six months to complete the project. This will be no easy feat, as Malaysian property developer Jesselton Group only awarded Vinci the contract on January 7th so barely any preparatory work has been completed.
Vinci clearly believes it has the capacity to complete the scheme within the time allotted, otherwise it would not have accepted the contract in the first place. But how much work actually needs doing, and what is the scale of this new mixed-use development?
The three-tower complex
In total, the size of the development is to be 125,000 sq m. This will primarily consist of a residential complex made up of three high-rise tower blocks, with each of these planned to be 20 storeys tall. In total, this will provide 333 apartments for the residents of Kota Kinabalu.
In addition, Vinci will be constructing a seven-storey podium with two additional underground levels. This will be used to house a shopping mall that will span 20,000 sq m, along with a car park with room for more than 900 vehicles.
For this hard work, Vinci will be awarded €70 million (around $82.4 million). However, this value is only for the aboveground part of the contract, and does not include the foundations or the two underground levels of the podium.
The local area
This major development is set to be constructed in Kota Kinabalu, a small tourist city on the north side of the island of Borneo. It is the capital of the Malaysian state of Sabah. The settlement is known for playing host to a number of international conferences, as well as being a popular spot for holidaymakers.
The area is familiar to Vinci as well. The firm found success in the Malaysian market by winning the design-build contract to construct the Menara Hap Seng tower project in Kota Kimbalu. This was awarded back in July 2013, for a total of €60 million, and features a ten-storey office building, three-storey podium and a four-level car park.
Vinci is therefore well-known in Malaysia, helped by the company winning another contract to construct the Berjaya Central Park residential and office complex in Kuala Lumpur. It also previously handed over the Berjaya Time Square shopping centre in 2003.
Talking about its recent contract win, Vinci said in a statement: "This further success confirms Vinci Construction Grands Projets as an operator in Malaysia, where local developers appreciate the quality of the structures it has completed and is currently building."