This article first appeared in City & Country, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on November 15, 2021 - November 21, 2021

The industrial sector has been the darling of the property industry, thanks to increased e-commerce activities as more people resort to online shopping for their necessities. This growing trend looks set to continue and Compass @ Kota Seri Langat (Compass) in Selangor aims to capitalise on it.

Kota Seri Langat is a 2,600-acre master development by Seriemas Development Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), and 220 freehold acres were carved out for Compass, an industrial park.

PNB, through its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary MIDF Property Bhd, along with KWEST Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan) (KWAP), and AREA Group of Companies signed a joint-venture agreement to develop Compass.

“Compass is a PNB brand that we helped develop, and all future industrial estates will be branded Compass. We are trying to get a uniform brand and this gives PNB a leg-up in this sector,” AREA Management Sdn Bhd executive chairman Datuk Stewart LaBrooy tells City & Country.

Compass, which has a gross development value of RM1.23 billion, is located in the centre of a triangulation between Northport and Westport, Kuala Lumpur International Airport and Shah Alam. Running through the industrial park is the West Coast Expressway (WCE), which LaBrooy believes will be the key attraction of Compass.

“The magic about this development, which caught my eye, is the WCE, which runs through Compass, and will be ready around 2023. An interchange, which is being constructed, will bring traffic directly to our industrial park,” says LaBrooy, adding that the WCE will connect to other expressways such as the Shah Alam Expressway (KESAS), South Klang Valley Expressway (SKVE) and New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE), which are connected to ports.

Moreover, four large housing developments are within a 15-minute drive: Tropicana Aman by Tropicana Corp Bhd; twentyfive.7 by Gamuda Land; Eco Sanctuary by Eco World Development Group Bhd; and Bandar Rimbayu by IJM Land Bhd.

The industrial park’s target market is international and local companies in logistics and manufacturing. LaBrooy highlights that it is also trying to attract food-related companies that make products for export. “They are scattered all over the Klang Valley at the moment. We are trying to pull them into one area and we are working with SME Corp to propose that they move [to Compass].”

Compass is divided into two components — Compass Industrial and Logistics Hub; and Compass SME Precinct.

The 58.84-acre Compass SME Precinct will come with ready-built factories and logistics facilities with ceiling heights of 10m to 12m (32ft to 39ft). They are slated for completion in 2023.

There is a total of 81 factories with selling prices of RM1.5 million to RM22 million. The types of factories are detached (18 units; built-up area of 13,000 to 48,000 sq ft); semi-detached (22 units; built-up area of 12,000 to 15,000 sq ft); terraced (seven units; built-up area of 3,600 sq ft); low-cost (19 units; built-up area of 1,200 sq ft); and hybrid cluster (15 units; built-up area of 8,000 to 17,000 sq ft).

“One type of hybrid cluster has a bungalow unit in front and two semidees in the back but they are joined, sharing a party wall. If anyone wants to buy the whole thing, they can have one operation in the bungalow unit and two subsidiary operations in the semidees. All have dual access,” explains LaBrooy.  The other type of hybrid cluster is the semi-detached cluster factories, which have a detached factory in the front and another at the back. Each component in a hybrid cluster can be bought individually.

The factories will have solar panel brackets for the customer to install solar panels for their use. “All the buildings will be solar plug-and-play ready. We have technical partnerships with people who can come in and do the full installation,” says LaBrooy.

Factories will also have solar-heated hot water systems, rainwater harvesting systems, roofs with translucent sections to allow in natural light, smart meter sensors, ventilation, LED lights and electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.

LaBrooy highlights that, by having the buildings green-ready, clients can take advantage of the tax incentives for green technology equipment.

The other component, the Compass Industrial and Logistics Hub, sits on 161.22 acres. It offers customers the option to design and build warehouses and manufacturing facilities to their specifications. Factory sizes can range from 100,000 to one million sq ft.

“We don’t have the prices for factories in the Industrial and Logistics Hub because it depends on what customers want and prices can vary,” LaBrooy says of this gated-and-guarded section.

The hub will have wide roads, 24-hour security with licence plate and facial recognition software, and urban parks with walkways and landscaping. Other services will include high-speed broadband, ample power and water.

Amenities will include a recreational area and business centre, and a workers accommodation complex with 3,000 beds across four blocks. LaBrooy says the complex will offer laundry services, a food court, a convenience store, sports/games facilities, a clinic, 24-hour on-site security and dormitory management services.

Currently, earthworks have been completed and the infrastructure will soon be put in, with the completion of this component scheduled for 2024.

Compass, which will be a green industrial park, is aiming for GreenRE certification and will have 5% of its total area set aside for landscaping and green spaces. The park will be launched early next year, with earnest sales after Chinese New Year. At present, previews are given for interested parties, says LaBrooy.

Compass will be managed by AREA, which will assist customers with all their needs. “We are providing end-to-end service — a one-stop centre — as we are not just selling buildings,” says LaBrooy.

The services provided will include professional construction management, sustainability and energy-saving solutions, green building accreditation, post-construction management and support services, professional park management and workers’ accommodation and dormitory management, automation technology and systems integration, and planning and design services.

Regarding the automation services, LaBrooy says the company has teamed up with Klang-based Cheng Hua Engineering Works Sdn Bhd “for the supply of consulting and system integration solutions for automated warehousing and manufacturing installations”.

This automation service is provided for all companies in both the Industrial and Logistic Hub and the SME Precinct.

Installation of solar panels as well as automation services are available for a fee. “The sales packages have been worked out, so they have an idea of pricing. It makes life easy for customers and the [solar energy] savings can be quite substantial,” says LaBrooy, who hopes to expand the park in the Kota Seri Langat development.

Compass @ Kota Seri Langat is poised to take advantage of the much-touted WCE, which is looking to open up access to more industrial parks along the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia.

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