Country’s tallest building to be called KL118 Tower?

KUALA LUMPUR: The Warisan Merdeka tower, Malaysia’s future tallest building, could be officially known as KL118 Tower and will also feature four residential blocks, all worth some RM5 billion.

Until now, the 118-storey skyscraper has been known as Warisan Merdeka. But an established Finnish company, which was awarded a lucrative contract to supply elevators and escalators for Warisan Merdeka, may have opened the lid on the tower’s official name.

KONE Corp, in announcing that it has received an order from PNB, yesterday said: “…will be supplying 105 elevators and escalators to KL118 Tower, a 118-storey mixed-use tower developed by PNB Merdeka Ventures Sdn Bhd in Kuala Lumpur”.

PNB Merdeka is a subsidiary of PNB, the country’s biggest asset manager.

KONE said the project will feature more than 400,000 square metres of residential, hotel and commercial functions, and will be linked to a metro station.

“KL118 Tower is expected to be the tallest building in Malaysia upon completion in 2019, a new landmark of the country. Its second phase of development will consist of another four residential towers,” it added.

According to previous reports, the whole development will take shape on a 7.6ha site, located within the enclave of Stadium Merdeka and Stadium Negara.

The two stadiums will be retained as national heritage buildings.

The project’s gross development cost is expected to be around RM3 billion.

Warisan Merdeka will be the tallest building in Malaysia at more than 500 metres, surpassing the 452-metre Petronas Twin Towers.

Business Times recently reported that PNB Merdeka is expected to award a few more contracts over the next several months for clearance works and infrastructure development.

The contract for the superstructure will also be tendered out by year-end or early next year.

In March, the first contract worth RM74 million went to Pintaras Geotechnics Sdn Bhd, a unit of Pintaras Jaya Bhd, which will undertake the foundation works for the tower.

KONE, which is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd in Finland, said the supply of 105 energy-efficient elevators and escalators for KL118 Tower was booked in the current quarter.

The company, however, did not disclose the contract value.

~ By BUSINESS TIMES