A warehouse development joint venture of Logos and Sime Darby Property broke ground Friday on the partnership’s maiden asset, E-Metro Logistics Park in Malaysia.

Situated within Sime Darby’s Bandar Bukit Raja township in Klang, Selangor, the park is the first development under the the SDPLOG joint venture’s Industrial Development Fund, which last month announced a first closing on 70 percent of the planned capital commitments for the fund, which is expected to raise up to $250 million.

The 51:49 JV of Sime Darby Property, a unit of the Kuala Lumpur-based conglomerate, and Sydney-based industrial specialist Logos has signed up as co-investors two of Malaysia’s biggest financial institutions — state-backed investment manager PNB and pension fund KWAP — to anchor the development vehicle.

“Together with Logos Property, we are developing high-quality and sustainable logistics real estate assets that deliver integrated solutions with world-class facilities for our stakeholders and investors,” Azmir Merican, Sime Darby Property’s group managing director, said in a release. “The E-Metro Logistics Park will benefit from the high demand for logistics and warehousing solutions in the Klang Valley, following global trade flows and supply chain development in addition to a shift in consumer preference for goods that are bespoke and custom-made for their needs.”

Built to Order

E-Metro Logistics Park is planned as a 177 acre (71.6 hectare) freehold development totalling 8 million square feet (743,224 square metres) of gross lettable area on completion.

The park will include built-to-specification and ready-built solutions according to clients’ commercial needs, the partners said Friday. The project aims to meet the Gold LEED sustainability standard in line with the JV’s commitment for all its developments.

The property is accessible via key highways such as New Klang Valley Expressway, Federal Highway, New North Klang Straits Bypass and West Coast Expressway, connecting the park to hubs like Port Klang and Kuala Lumpur’s international airports.

E-Metro Logistics Park’s first two phases will feature a respective 800,000 and 1.2 million square feet of gross lettable area. The first phase is expected to be completed for identified tenants in June 2023.

“We have recently awarded the first major construction contract to a local contractor and the design team for the next phase includes a prominent local architecture firm,” said Logos Malaysia head David Aboud. “This demonstrates the depth of globally competitive talent that exists in the Malaysian construction sector, which coupled with the local and regional expertise from the SDPLOG partnership, will see us deliver a state-of-the-art logistics solution for the Malaysian market.”

Partnerships Bloom

Logos, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed ESR Group, and Sime Darby Property first announced their JV last September after setting aside a 177 acre (71.6 hectare) development site in Klang, home to Malaysia’s busiest container port and many industrial parks.

The tie-up with Sime Darby is the second big initiative in Malaysia in the last few years for Logos, which in January 2021 launched a joint venture with local partner Global Vision to develop a $371 million logistics complex in the Klang Valley.

The site for the Global Vision project is a 71 acre piece of land in Section 16 of the Shah Alam area of Selangor state, sitting close to the Federal Highway connecting Kuala Lumpur with Port Klang.