This article first appeared in City & Country, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on July 17, 2023 - July 23, 2023

The 23-storey Plaza OSK, owned by OSK Holdings Bhd, has changed a fair bit since City & Country’s last visit in 2019. The office building in Jalan Ampang, formerly known as Menara MBf, was completed almost 40 years ago in 1984 and has undergone a major facelift, in both hardware and software.

It has a land area of 57,597 sq ft, total built-up area of 320,410 sq ft and net lettable area (excluding the car park) of 234,873 sq ft.

Plaza OSK is the Bronze winner of the 10 Years and Above — Non-strata Office category in The Edge Malaysia Best Managed & Sustainable Property Awards 2023.

In an interview with City & Country, OSK Realty

Sdn Bhd CEO of property investment Sara Fang Horton explains that an old building is akin to an old car, which needs to be maintained to ensure it has a long lifespan. Much of the equipment at Plaza OSK was ageing, hence the need for a refurbishment.

OSK Realty is the property management subsidiary of OSK Holdings.

“When we took over the building in 1997, we made sure that the maintenance was done on time, but it has been 25 years. So, we started a major refurbishment in 2019. We made five physical changes and ensured that they were running well so that we could provide the right environment for our tenants to run their businesses,” she says.

Changes were made to the chiller system, lift system, toilets, surveillance system and basement car park. The water-cooled chiller system has been replaced and the lift system has been modernised to include an upgraded interior and lift motor room.

Plaza OSK now uses the Personal Occupant Requirement Terminal system, a destination dispatch lift system where terminals with card readers are placed at each floor. After passengers scan their access cards at the terminal, the system predicts the best lift car to respond and the terminal will show the allocated car the passenger will take to get to their destination.

The toilet upgrade is an ongoing project, as only the facilities on 10 floors have been upgraded so far.

The CCTV cameras have also been changed from analogue to high definition, while the basement car park has been repainted and lights have been replaced to give it a fresh look. Pay-per-use electric vehicle chargers have also been installed in the car park.

“The other type of refurbishment is the [software] to promote good mental health for our tenants. We have a gymnasium, where tenants can engage a personal trainer at a nominal fee. We want to [help] our tenants stay healthy and the idea is that, if they want to avoid traffic jams after work, they can go to the gym [first],” Horton says.

In addition, the Solar PhotoVoltaic system has been installed on the rooftop, and the black acrylic floor directory has been upgraded to a digital signage at the building’s main entrance.

All lighting in the common area has been replaced with energy-saving LED bulbs and lighting in the common washroom has been incorporated with timer and motion detector control. A Building Automation System has also been adopted for centralised air-conditioning.

Certain air-handling units (AHUs) have also been replaced because of wear and tear. The new AHUs are equipped with inverters, which has resulted in 20% savings in electricity consumption compared with the previous AHUs.

Horton notes that the refurbishment has created a refreshing work environment for the tenants and staff in Plaza OSK.

“After refurbishment, our maintenance requires fewer materials, fewer skilled labour hours and less time to complete the works, resulting in an overall cost saving. In the long term, it also helps with energy saving; we at least maintain our operating expenditure and consumption of energy [especially now, when the tariff has increased]. And I welcome ESG (environmental, social and governance), as our world needs it. What ordinary people like us can do is very minimal on energy saving compared with what corporate giants can do,” she adds.

OSK Realty has completed Phase 1 of the refurbishment and will start work on Phase 2 soon. Still in the works is an upgrade of the food court on Level 2, to give it a better environment and raise its hygiene level. Plans are afoot to set up a café on the ground floor so that office workers can have meetings in a casual environment.

Horton notes that it will be a café with al-fresco seating. While it will be run by an operator, OSK Realty will determine the look and feel of the café.

“All of these as well as future plans for improvement would eventually provide better amenities as well as a modernised office working environment for our current tenants. At the same time, it addresses the competition brought on by the oversupply of office space in the market,” she says.

“We are looking at how we can further improve. We want to look into things the environmentally friendly way, how to insert ESG into our planned preventive maintenance. For example, we are going for a more environmentally friendly cleaning method such as steam cleaning because chemicals can damage our equipment. It is something we are doing now. The challenge will be the cost. It will cost a bit more now but the benefit is long term and the lifespan of the equipment will be longer.”

She adds that OSK Realty is looking to digitalise its property management system to ensure that the maintenance works are done well.

Horton explains that the decision to improve and upgrade the building is also to increase both staff and tenant satisfaction as well as their comfort level, while contributing towards the group’s sustainability initiative, with the intention to increase the value of the building to achieve higher rentals.

“The other reasons and motivation to replace or carry out improvements to Plaza OSK are also very market-driven. We want to stay competitive in the office industry and provide top-notch service to our tenants in a quality, reliable and highly functional office tower,” Horton says.

“With our location in the city and near public transport, we feel that it is not just the address but we are providing a quality environment for the tenants. Good maintenance can have a positive impact on the capital appreciation of the building. Ultimately, we want Plaza OSK to be well known in Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia as a building with a good working environment, and that is safe, clean and equipped with the latest facilities.”

Plaza OSK has an in-house security team to ensure the quality of the building’s safety and security. It offers female drivers “walk to your car” security service after 7.30pm.

With tenant management relationship focusing on personal touches, OSK Realty hopes that Plaza OSK will stay relevant in the highly competitive office market in Kuala Lumpur.

The building enjoys an occupancy rate of 97.45%, with OSK Holdings taking up 13 floors, or 41.8%. Its tenants include Bank of China, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Malaysia and China Airlines.

Horton notes that, as the building ages, the biggest challenge is to maintain its ageing equipment. “We do routine preventive check-ups and change the parts of our equipment according to the scheduled replacement timeline. We have professionals in many different fields from whom we seek input for our repair and maintenance works.

“Foreseeable challenges come from new office buildings in the vicinity. Therefore, to attract new potential customers, we have incorporated more facilities to accommodate workers in and visitors to Plaza OSK. In the coming years, we will carry out more refurbishment and enhancement works to ensure that we will always be a competitive address.”

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