KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 20): Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), through its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary MIDF Property Bhd; KWEST Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan) (KWAP); and the AREA Group of Companies (AREA), via its special purpose vehicle AREA Industrial Development Holdings Sdn Bhd, have signed a joint-venture (JV) agreement for the development of a 220-acre industrial and logistics hub, COMPASS @ KSL in Kota Seri Langat, Selangor. 

PNB president and group chief executive Ahmad Zulqarnain Onn said in a press release: “This partnership is in line with PNB’s real estate investment strategy and philosophy of partnering with leading real estate players. COMPASS @ KSL’s strategic location will benefit from the strong growth in e-commerce and Malaysia’s unique position in the global supply chain. In addition, this collaboration with AREA and KWEST will positively contribute to the development of Kota Seri Langat, the township established by PNB Development Sdn Bhd.” 

COMPASS @ KSL has a gross development value of RM1.4 billion. The development will be gated and guarded with a fully integrated suite of services for logistics and e-commerce operators, manufacturers, and small and medium enterprise (SME) industries.

The 220-acre site will be offering built-to-suit warehouses and manufacturing facilities for sale or lease with sizes ranging from 100,000 to one million sq ft. Smaller detached factories of 8,000 to 50,000 sq ft located at the SME precinct in the park will be built for sale. This will help meet the demand of SMEs wishing to operate from an industrial facility in the Klang Valley.  

KWEST CEO Sufian Abdullah said: “This collaboration is an important milestone for us at KWEST as we have partnered up with leading players in the industry to see innovative development projects such as COMPASS @ KSL come to life. As the property development investment arm for KWAP, we look forward to working closely with PNB and AREA in seeing the tremendous opportunities in this project realised.” 

AREA executive chairman Datuk Stewart LaBrooy said: “The AREA team has been working on this opportunity for over four years since we first identified the potential of the site’s location in 2016 and are delighted to have both PNB and KWEST as our partners in the JV. We see this as a start of a journey to build world class industrial estates to attract future foreign direct investments (FDIs) to Malaysia which in turn will bring with them employment opportunities for higher paying jobs for our graduates.” 

COMPASS @ KSL is strategically located in the centre of a triangulation between North Port and West Port, KLIA and Shah Alam, and is accessible to the Klang Valley via a dedicated link to the upcoming West Coast Expressway. The development will offer a professionally managed industrial park in a landscaped environment, with purpose-built and well-managed workers accommodation, 24-hour security, a clubhouse and sports facilities. 

The industrial and logistics hub has been conceptualised to leverage the demand for a new breed of warehouses that are emerging due to the disruption arising from the arrival of Industry 4.0 and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. It will be offering the market an opportunity to scale up and consolidate their operations as well as offering unique connectivity. The development is poised to contribute to the growth of high impact industries and provide the catalyst for industrial parks in Selangor.