The space was bought mainly by a Hong Kong private equity group, said Datuk Lennon Tan, founder and chairman of developer Takashimaya Construction & Development Sdn Bhd.
Times Avenue is located next to Berjaya Times Square. The 15-storey building has nine levels of executive office suites, three floors of retail lots, two levels of penthouse offices and a sky lounge. Construction will start in December and is due for completion by end-2013.
Tan plans to sell the remaining space to local investors.
"I am bullish on the market for office space and expect the whole project to be sold by the end of this year," Tan said yesterday in Kuala Lumpur, after unveiling the project.
Times Avenue is the first commercial building to feature a high-tech multi-level automated valet car parking system. This is its selling point.
The RM10 million system uses technology from South Korea and is widely used in Europe.
It allows customers to initiate their vehicle retrieval simply by scanning their bar coded valet parking ticket at the built-in reader. Their vehicle is automatically stacked vertically alongside the building, saving them time to look for parking.
"We hope to set a new benchmark in office space where security and safety is concerned. We hope land owners and developers will look into the system, which is a high selling point for their projects," Tan said.
Takashimaya was set up in 2004 by Tan and Fanny Foo Youe Moi, an entrepreneur.
Tan said Takashimaya has no links to Berjaya Group, or its founder Tan Sri Vincent Tan.
By Business Times
