As with the Kuala Lumpur City Centre, the Penang Global City Complex is in the right place, in the heart of the Pearl of the Orient.
As with the KLCC in Kuala Lumpur, the land where Penang’s Turf Club now sits is among the most valuable on the island. And Penang, after all, has real limits on its physical expansion.
When the biggest consideration — location — is taken care of, the chances of success surge. Less well-placed comparisons abound. Take Cyberjaya, the KLCC’s counterpart at the other end of the Multimedia Super Corridor. Or Nusajaya, only now getting its second wind with the Iskandar Development Region after the letdown of the hype of the Second Link.
But let’s not compare with laggards, but benchmarks. The KLCC has been an astounding success; a showcase for the capital and the country, much of it probably due to securing Petronas in a central role as developer. It brought Malaysia to the world’s notice as the country with the world’s tallest buildings for more than seven years.
The cachet of the Petronas Twin Towers has made it the address in the country and propelled rental rates far above what most office building owners can dream of charging.
To live in the vicinity of the KLCC park means buying a million-ringgit luxury condominium. The surroundings and the facilities have made it an ideal place to work and play.
So the PGCC has big shoes to fill, and the promoters a big game to play. Inevitably, there will be detractors; those who will doubt it will succeed, who will ask if there is any corporation big enough to play Petronas’ role, who will ask if there will be enough demand for the floorspace.
Just as there were those who believed the Twin Towers would collapse under their own weight into the limestone cavern under the site; that it would not be finished on time; that its almost four million square feet of space would remain empty.
They were wrong — but only because KLCC did it right. Everything from the design to planning and engineering, management, and positioning, was exemplary. Being a mega-project did not mean that it could never succeed, just that they had to plan for it.
The ones that have failed did not have as sound a plan. Indeed, they ignored some of the most basic lessons in real estate.
