Formerly known as Selayang Springs, the project is being developed by KL Northgate Sdn Bhd.
KL Northgate took over the project which was abandoned by Barisan Tenaga Perancang (M) Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of the Masa Group of Companies, in 2014.
Barisan Tenaga had launched the project in 2009. According to the original master plan, it was supposed to construct four residential towers with 1,160 condominium units and a commercial component. With a gross development value (GDV) of RM600 million then, it was expected to be completed this year.
When the project was abandoned in 2014, Barisan Tenaga had completed 65 per cent of the development.
KL Northgate came in to “rescue” the project and revised the master plan. Instead of six condominium blocks, it will now have five residential towers, a four-star hotel, a commercial hub and an indoor water theme park.
The commercial hub will include the six-storey Paragon Mall with a gross floor area of 1.8 million sq ft, and 54 units of 3½-storey and 4½-storey shop offices and retail shops.
The estimated GDV for the revived development is RM3.6 billion but it may exceed the amount in years to come as KL Northgate adds value by investing in landscaping, among others.
According to land valuers, the 7.3ha site should be worth between RM250 million and RM300 million. Land value has been increasing as more developments take place in Selayang.
Bina Puri Holdings Bhd is one of the earliest developers in Selayang, with its Bukit Idaman township which predominantly features condominiums. Newer developments include Eco Sky by Eco World Development Sdn Bhd and Lakeville Residence @ Taman Wahyu by Mah Sing Group Bhd.
Meanwhile, next to Paragon @ KL Northgate is the 1.2ha Selayang hotspring, which was discovered more than four decades ago.
KL Northgate is planning to redevelop the hotspring and has obtained the authorities’ approval.
According to KL Northgate’s major shareholder, Datuk Eddie Chai, the investment to redevelop the hotspring is RM6 million to RM7 million.
“We are going to give the hotspring a new lease of life by adding a landscaped garden, walkway and food and beverage outlets. We are planning for it to become a new tourist attraction in Selayang.
“The hotspring has been around for ages but no one wants to go there because it has not been maintained properly. We will beef up security and maintain the hotspring,” Chai told NST Property.
Project partner
The Paragon @ KL Northgate will see construction resuming in the fourth quarter of this year.
This comes after Anzo Holdings Bhd’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Harvest Court Construction Sdn Bhd, announced the receipt of a letter of intent awarded by KL Northgate for the project.
Chai, who is managing director of Main Market-listed Anzo, expects Harvest Court to receive the letter of award for the RM1.2 billion contract by July or August.
Harvest Court will partner MCC Overseas (M) Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian subsidiary of China and Hong Kong-listed Metallurgical Corp of China Ltd, to develop the entire Paragon @ KL Northgate project. The funding will come from MCC.
Chai said Anzo and MCC were formalising a joint-venture agreement on the project which would take about six years to be fully developed.
“We are close to finalising the agreement and will submit it to the relevant authorities for approval soon.”
Phase 1 will consist of the ground work, Paragon Mall and car park. Construction will take about three years.
Bright prospects
Paragon Mall will be the biggest mall in northern Kuala Lumpur when it is completed.
Although consumer sentiment is weak and malls in general are struggling to perform, especially the small to mid-sized ones, KL Northgate is confident of its prospects.
Chai said the area surrounding the development has an immediate market catchment of almost three million residents and a majority were in the middle to upper middle-income group.
“Paragon Mall won’t be just any mall. It will have a good tenant mix to cater for every segment of the market. Adjacent to it will be an indoor water theme park to provide something additional for shoppers.”
It was reported that KL Northgate is in negotiations to secure strong anchor tenants such as a retail giant, an established supermarket chain, a popular KTV chain and numerous international fashion brands.
Other tenants secured include department stores Sogo and Parkson, cinema operator Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC) and home and living concept store HomePro.
The highlight of the mall is the largest virtual reality game park in the country. The developer has earmarked 120,000 sq ft for the park.
KL Northgate will invest about RM100 million to roll out virtual reality and augmented reality platforms to bring family entertainment to new heights.
“We have planned the layout for Paragon @ KL Northgate in such a way that when people go there, they can spend the entire day at the mall and theme park, besides enjoying the food and beverage outlets,” said Chai.
He said Paragon @ KL Northgate was carefully planned to ensure that everyone, including the residents living within the development, hotel guests and visitors, would benefit from it.
Chai said northern Kuala Lumpur was an under-served market with no new large-scale malls to meet the demand of the population.
There are two malls in Selayang at present — Selayang Capitol Complex and Selayang Mall — which have been operating for more than 20 years.
Selayang Capitol is a stratified mall with a net lettable area (NLA) of 320,000 sq ft, while Selayang Mall has an NLA of 380,032 sq ft.
Under construction is Selayang StarCity Mall, an integrated retail, leisure and entertainment commercial centre. Developed by Sierra Delima Development, a subsidiary of Leadmont Development Sdn Bhd, the mall is scheduled to open this year.
The seven-storey mall offers visitors four levels of retail space spanning a NLA of about 550,000 sq ft. It will house more than 230 shops.
The anchor tenants include the Store Corp Bhd’s Pacific department store, AEON Co (M) Bhd’s MaxValu Supermarket and GSC.
Selayang StarCity Mall is part of the RM1.6 billion Selayang StarCity project, which includes designer suites and four-star serviced suites managed by the Holiday Villa chain.
Amenities and accessibility
Selayang does not have many attractions except for the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia and Batu Caves, while Templer’s Park is located in neighbouring Rawang.
Facilities include Selayang Hospital, a public library, Universiti Teknologi Mara’s medical faculty, International Islamic University Malaysia and Selayang Community College.
Connectivity has improved over the years. KL-Kuala Selangor Expressway Bhd built the Kuala Lumpur-Kuala Selangor Expressway, which spans the north of Templer Park to Assam Jawa town in Kuala Selangor, in 2011.
The expressway has benefited several housing and industrial projects in Selangor, including Selayang.
It provides easy access to Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong, New Klang Valley Expressway, Duta-Ulu Kelang Expressway and the Middle Ring Road 2.
It also provides links to major road networks that leads to the East Cost Expressway, North South Expressway and in future, the West Coast Expressway.
New rail link study
Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Corp Sdn Bhd is studying the possibility of constructing a rail link between the city centre and Bandar Baru Selayang where there is high demand for public transport.
It is understood that MRT Corp has engaged Min Consult to undertake a feasibility study.
The study will determine whether it is feasible to build a MRT or light rail transit.
It will also determine the best possible alignment for the proposed rail plan, known as the Selayang Link. The study will be presented to the Land Public Transport Commission.
It is understood that the rail link will start from Jinjang to Bandar Baru Selayang at a distance of about 10km.
In 2013, MRT Corp had looked at a proposal to build the third MRT line known as the Circle Line (looping around Kuala Lumpur city) to include a link between Selayang and Putrajaya.