Fashion hub gets a makeover

With its well-ordered structure and comprehensive facilities, Kenanga Wholesale City looks set to revolutionise the fashion wholesale industry – and match it with eye-catching investment returns.

“Former downmarket ‘black area’ fetches million-ringgit prices” – it sounds like the stuff of movies. Indeed, the history of the Kenanga area is the envy of many mid- to low-end segments that started off just like it. Threatened with becoming a victim of its own success, however, this South East Asian fashion wholesale hub is undergoing a makeover.

The saviour is Kenanga Wholesale City, a well-ordered RM880 million, 22-storey complex off Jalan Loke Yew. Positioning itself as a one-stop centre, Malaysia’s first wholesale mall brings together an exciting mix of merchandise, including garments, accessories, shoes, gifts, stationery and other lifestyle products. With its GUARANTEED 8% NETT annual rate of return for the first three years, 80% of the freehold lots have already been snapped up.

Skyrocketing value

It wasn’t always this way. In the 1970s, a four-storey shoplot block went for RM190,000, with ground-floor rental from RM700 to RM800. The 1980s saw prices doubling to RM400,000 and ground-floor rental ranging from RM1,000 to RM1,500. With the fashion wholesale industry emerging in the early 1990s, prices soared to RM1 million per block, with ground-floor rental ranging from RM15,000 to RM20,000.

With its well-developed fashion wholesale niche, Kenanga’s ground-floor shoplots today fetch rentals of RM25,000. A whole block fetches a cool sale price of RM3.5 million – if you can even find one for sale. Success has its hiccups however – the area faces perennial traffic jams due to insufficient carparks and loading/unloading bays.

Knight in well-accessorised armour

Kenanga Wholesale City comes as a boon, adding about 800 retail lots sized between 192 sq ft and 1,997sq ft, and priced from RM390,000 to RM5 million. Scheduled for completion by end 2010, it offers a gross built-up area of 1.8 million sq ft and a net lettable area of 500,000 sq ft, on a 3.2-acre site.

Amenities include food outlets, rooftop and event spaces, and business services like money changers, courier services, ATM banking and porter services. The 1,800 carpark bays, loading docks, cargo and passenger lifts, wide walkways, ample escalators, 24-hour security and CCTVs add to efficiency and peace of mind.

Global boost

The Kenanga area now hosts 350-odd fashion wholesale operators who transact about RM2 billion of business annually, 30% for export and 70% for the local market. However, the developer believes that its tenants will double their transactions within a year once Kenanga Wholesale City takes off.

To achieve this, the management is working with the Malaysia Garments Wholesale Merchants Association on overseas promotion efforts, targeting Singapore, South Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines, Brunei and the Middle East.

Although the wholesale mall concept is new in Malaysia, it has proven successful in hubs like Pratunam Market in Bangkok, Dongdaemun in Korea, Mangga Dua in Jakarta as well as Shenzhen, Shenyang and Shanghai in China.

Hallmark of style and culture

Developer Kenanga Wholesale City Sdn Bhd is a member of an expanding group of companies which includes Daratan Asli Development Sdn Bhd, Central Market Sdn Bhd, Kha Seng Corporation Sdn Bhd and Kha Seng Textiles Sdn Bhd. Its projects include the turnaround of Central Market, which received the 2007 SME Brand Laureate Award in Corporate Branding, and an integrated commercial development along Jalan Loke Yew that includes a shopping mall, high-rise office blocks and a business-class hotel.

Guaranteed returns

Aside from new investors and business operators who previously lacked retail space, Kenanga Wholesale City is also targeted at business owners going global. With 80% to 90% financing, an average monthly instalment of RM5,000 gives you a comfortable, business-friendly environment – an inviting prospect for small/medium-size enterprises.

With the intense demand, interested purchasers should call now to take up the developer’s attractive leaseback option, GUARANTEEING an 8% nett annual rate of return for the first three years with an option to extend for another two years.

For more information, call 03-9221 8081/8086/8382, check out http://www.kenangacity.com.my/ or visit Kenanga Wholesale City’s showroom at 28, Jalan Gelugor, off Jalan Kenanga, 55200 Kuala Lumpur.