RM1b Harrods Hotel KL to open its doors in 2018

TRADEWINDS Corp Bhd and Qatar Holding LLC will jointly develop the world's first Harrods Hotel in Malaysia, which is estimated to cost around RM1 billion.

Qatar Holding, which owns Harrods Group, also has on the drawing board to build Harrods Hotels in London and Italy.

The seven-star Harrods Hotel Kuala Lumpur, which will have more than 30 floors, will feature 250 to 300 hotel rooms and several floors for serviced apartments and retail space.

Two other luxury hotels under construction or being planned in Kuala Lumpur are St Regis at KL Sentral and the 65-storey Four Seasons Place near the Kuala Lumpur City Centre.
It is understood that the cost to build each Harrods Hotel room is RM2.5 million to RM4 million, depending on the size and finishing.

A six-star hotel room costs an average RM2.5 million to build and for five-star hotel rooms, it will cost about RM1.5 million to RM2 million each.

Qatar Holding vice-chairman Dr Hussain Ali Al-Abdulla said there will be a minimum of 200 rooms and the hotel will be ready in 2018.

The hotel will be owned and operated by Harrods Hotel Management Co, Hussain said.

"I can't reveal the project cost as we are calling for tenders in the third or fourth quarter of this year. We don't want bidders marking up the price," he said.

Hussain was speaking here yesterday, at the hotel's ground-breaking ceremony in Jalan Conlay. Also present was Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin.

In July last year, Qatar Holding and Jerantas Sdn Bhd signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop the hotel.

Jerantas is a joint-venture between PS Trading Sdn Bhd (34 per cent), which is owned by Tradewinds and Gagasan Simfoni Sdn Bhd (66 per cent).

Gagasan Simfoni is a 51:49 joint venture company set up by Pavillion Group and controlled by Malton Bhd's Datuk Desmond Lim, among others, and Qatar Holding, owned by Qatar's sovereign wealth fund.

Harrods Hotel forms part of an integrated development that will feature two serviced residences, an office block and a 400,000 sq ft retail mall.

The entire development will be undertaken by Jerantas on a 2.2ha site currently housing Chulan Square and Sri Melayu Restaurant. The land was acquired by Jerantas from the government for RM1,800 per sq ft, or RM429.68 million.

Hussain said at the signing ceremony that the cost to develop the hotel and the integrated development is about RM2 billion.

He said the hotel component will feature up to 300 hotel rooms, apartments and retail space.

On the pricing of the serviced apartments, he added that it would be higher than Banyan Tree Residences.

The last transacted price for the Banyan Tree was RM2,800 per sq ft.

Business Times understands that the retail mall will be injected into the Pavilion Real Estate Investment Trusts (Pavilion REIT) once it is ready in 2018.

Qatar Holding and Lim are major unit holders of Pavilion REIT.

Two restaurants to make way for Harrods Hotel

KUALA LUMPUR: Two popular dining joints in the popular Bukit Bintang shopping zone here, will be making way for Asia's first Harrods Hotel and Residence. 

The RM2 billion project will be located on the site of Chulan Square Restaurant in Jalan Raja Chulan and Restoran Seri Melayu in Jalan Conlay.

The Harrods Group portfolio is owned by Qatar Holding LLC, a unit of the Qatar Investment Authority.

In Malaysia, Tradewinds Corp Bhd (TCB) owns the franchise for the Harrods brand of products.

Qatar Holding vice-chairman Dr Hussain Ali Al-Abdulla said its objective was to open hotels in London, Sardinia in Italy and Kuala Lumpur.
"We have done the due diligence and will execute the projects. We are building Harrods hotels, Harrods apartments and retail units. The project here will cost RM2 billion."

Dr Hussain said the opening of the Harrods Hotel in London would be at around the same time as the one here, making it possible for Kuala Lumpur to host the world's first Harrods Hotel.

The Harrods Hotel here could be ready as early as 2016 if construction starts next year as planned.

The luxury hotel will boast of between 250 and 300 rooms and a residential component as well as retail.

Dr Hussain said the residential component would be sold at a higher price than that of the Pavilion Banyan Tree and Banyan Tree Residences, which is understood to be going for about RM2,000 per sq ft.

Dr Hussain said this at the signing ceremony yesterday between Qatar Holding and the sole developer of the property, Jerantas Sdn Bhd.

Both Qatar Holding and Jerantas will plough in an equal amount into the project.

Meanwhile, Ooi Ah Heong, the adviser for the development, said the hotel cum residences would be built on a 2.22ha site, which was bought for RM1,800 per sq ft, or roughly RM430 million.

Restoran Seri Melayu, which is owned by Amcorp Group Bhd, sits on land leased from Lembaga Kraftangan Malaysia.

Lembaga Kraftangan comes under the Information, Communications and Culture Ministry and acts as the custodian for the Federal Lands Commissioner.

It is understood that the land was tendered for sale by the government last year.

Ooi said the tenants had yet to be notified to vacate the land.

The land is now owned by Jerantas, which is a 34:66 joint venture between PS Trading Sdn Bhd (a wholly-owned unit of Tradewinds Corp Bhd) and Gagasan Simfoni Sdn Bhd.

Qatar Holding has an interest in Jerantas via Gagasan Simfoni.

Ooi, who is also a director of Pavilion Reit Management Sdn Bhd, said the opening of Raffles Hotels & Resorts within Pavilion Mall, here, was no longer possible.

Qatar Holding, Jerantas to sign MoU on Harrods Hotel

KUALA LUMPUR: The world-renowned Harrods department store has set its eyes on Malaysia as the site of a Harrods Hotel.
An invite sent to the media said Qatar Holding LLC would be signing a memorandum of understanding with Jerantas Sdn Bhd today to explore Malaysia, specifically Bukit Bintang, as the ideal site for the next Harrods Hotel development.

According to sources, Qatar Holdings will be working with Tradewinds Corp Bhd (TCB) on the venture.

TCB holds the franchise for the Harrods retail stores in Malaysia and had indicated as early as 2008 in its annual report that it could collaborate with Harrods in future residential, commercial and hotel projects, especially in Kuala Lumpur.

According to a source, there is also a possibility of Harrods Residences opening together with the Harrods Hotel.
“The Harrods Residences will be sold at a higher price than The Banyan Tree Residences,” the source said.

In September last year, the then Kuala Lumpur mayor Tan Sri Ahmad Fuad Ismail revealed that a consortium of three developers was proposing to build the Harrods Hotel.

Apart from Qatar Holding and TCB, sources identified the third interested party as Datuk Desmond Lim.

Qatar Holding and Lim both are the major unitholders of the Pavilion Real Estate Investment Trusts.

Ahmad Fuad had at the time identified a piece of land in Jalan Conlay near Restaurant Seri Melayu as a suitable site for the hotel.

The restaurant, which is owned by Amcorp Group Bhd, sits on land that is leased from Lembaga Kraftangan Malaysia.

Lembaga Kraftangan comes under the Information, Communications and Culture Ministry and acts as the custodian for the Federal Lands Commissioner.

It is understood that the government had put out a tender for the sale of the said land.

It also understood that Lim owns the lease on the strip of land where the Chulan Square restaurants are located.

The signing of the MoU, to be held at the Pavilion Mall, here, will be attended by Qatar Holding vice-chairman Dr Hussain Ali Al-Abdulla and Jerantas corporate representative Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Ismail.

A search on the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) revealed that Jerantas' main shareholders are PS Trading Sdn Bhd (33.99 per cent), Gagasan Simfoni Sdn Bhd (65.99 per cent), with Saharuddin Abdullah and Sumami Kiman each holding one share.

The directors of the company, appointed in March 2012, include Datuk Manan Md Said, Raja Sa'adi Raja Amrin and Shaharul Farez Hassan. Shaharul is group chief executive officer of TCB.

Manan and Raja Sa'adi have an equal share in Gagasan Simfoni and are directors of the company.

The Harrods department store in Knightbridge, London, was sold in 2010 by Mohammed Al Fayed to the Qatari royal family's investment firm Qatar Holding, which is also the investment arm of Qatar Investment Authority (QIA).

It was reported previously that a Harrods Hotel was planned on the rooftop of the department store. The status of this project is unknown.