A ONE for KL ITS razor-sharp edges slash into the imagination, a far cry from the currently prevalent aesthetic of seductive curves and organic contours. It's situated in the white hot zone of real estate that ripples out from the locus of the Kuala Lumpur City Centre. It's ONE KL, and it was the best-kept secret in residential property...until now. Even before the Government's liberalisation of ownership in the property sector sent developers and buyers into a feeding frenzy, ONE KL's distinctive silhouette sparked more than a few inquisitive glances, and an equal number of speculative reports.
ONE KL condominium has been the first project in Malaysia to have 1 exclusive pool at every unit. The following article is extracted from The Star Online about ONE KL Condominium:
Saturday April 7, 2007
However, developer ONE KLCC Sdn Bhd kept the lowest of low profiles, with little known about the company other than the fact that well-known investor Chua Ma Yu owns it. The brains behind the project, right from the conceptual level to design and development, was none other than his eldest daughter, managing director Carmen Chua. 
Any real estate developer worth his or her salt needs little prompting to trot out the old chestnut that location is everything, and the younger Chua is no exception.
“There are two main selling points. The first one is definitely the location. It's the closest you'll find to the Twin Towers. We're right in the heart of the city centre,” she says.
“The next thing is the fact that it is a unique product. Every apartment has a swimming pool, every apartment is a duplex, and the quality we're putting in, in terms of the specifications and the finishing, surpasses everything.”
ONE KL goes by the intriguing, self-explanatory tagline of “94 apartments, 95 pools“. As Chua explains, the initial plans involved a conventional duplex with a simple indoor garden. However, concerns arose over the maintenance of trees indoors, in particular the growth or their roots.
“My father said we might as well fill it up with water – and that's how the concept of the private swimming pool was born,” she says.
Technical ingenuity
Of course, a 35-storey apartment building with approximately 2,500 cu m of water in its 95 pools is quite the logistical tightrope to walk, as any leak could prove disastrous. With this in mind, main contractor Shimizu Corp of Japan has utilised a new waterproofing technology, the asphalt membrane system. Chua describes it as a skin that stretches and moves with the building, preventing cracks in the swimming pool area. According to Shimizu general manager Kei Ishiguro, it is a Japanese material that has been developed under more severe climate conditions than those in Malaysia. The waterproofing details are being finalised in Shimizu's head office in Tokyo.
Shimizu was selected by Datuk Chua Mayu on the basis of its track record, which includes the Lot 10 shopping centre and the Sheraton Imperial Hotel. It is currently working on projects including Phase II of Mid Valley City.
The ONE KL project makes use of the Top-Down construction method, which involves the casting of the ground floor first and using that floor as a working platform. This approach, which allows the substructure and the superstructure to be constructed simultaneously, is commonly used in Hong Kong and Japan where working space is at a premium.
Ishiguro points out that similar logistics issues were faced, due to ONE KL's proximity to KLCC and the problem of traffic congestion, but were overcome by using this method.
“We believe we have been able to establish a good business relationship, with mutual respect. Ms Carmen is smart, professional and a fast decision maker,” he says of Chua. She has similar praise for the company, which vetted the designs in both Singapore and Tokyo before they reach Malaysia for construction.
ONE KL's design architect was SCDA Architects Pte Ltd, which is responsible for the Ladyhill and Lincoln Modern developments in Singapore.
Treading water
Going back to her earlier statement about specifications, Chua takes great pains to point out that ONE KL is replete with the finest fittings and finishings, made possible by an interesting twist of costing.
In Malaysia, land costs account for 30% of total development costs, with construction charges making up the latter 70%, compared with the reverse in Singapore. According to Chua, this means that additional monies can be spent on ensuring finishings surpass the standards of those in the island nation.
However, this doesn't mean that certain practices cannot be adopted on both sides of the Causeway. Indeed, ONE KL is the first development in Kuala Lumpur to be completely fitted out with Miele kitchen appliances, as is the norm in Singapore.
Chua also points out other details that reflect the amount of thought put into the project, including electronic fingerprint access for the individual high-speed elevators that provide access to each apartment.
In addition, the turning points and gradients of ONE KL's car park ramps have been designed specifically to accommodate typically low sports cars such as Ferraris and Porsches. It also has a curtain wall-like façade which is not normally used for a condominium.
All the same, in an industry dominated by established players, how has it been for the relatively young Chua?
“It was actually quite challenging, because I started out fresh. I didn't have experience in this industry, but I had a very strong team behind me. The Japanese (contractors) have taught me a lot, as has my dad,” she says.
“The first year was the toughest, but after that you just kind of catch on to things, and you have to learn fairly quickly because you're dumped into the deep end.”
The seed that would germinate into one of Kuala Lumpur's most distinctive developments was a parcel of land measuring about one acre, which CMY Capital had owned for over ten years. Initially, an office tower was planned for the site.
The prospective 35-story development, which would have been christened Waterfront House, was put on hold following the freeze on commercial properties in the area following the development of KLCC. The response was simple enough – a venture into the lucrative residential property segment.
Making her mark
Upon graduating from the London School of Economics in 2005, Chua had career opportunities aplenty, beginning with a paternal directive to try her hand at portfolio management. However, upon beginning the conceptualisation of ONE KL with the architects, she found herself hooked.
“I found I had this huge interest in architecture and in the birth of a new concept. I actually sat down with all the architectural plans, looked at the interior designs, changed certain layouts and ended up loving it,” she enthuses.
“My father and I worked very closely in the design and development of ONE KL, which helped strengthen our relationship, and the end result is a spectacular building. We're trying to create a landmark. ONE KL is not a business venture, but rather a project that represents the legacy of our founder – Chua Ma Yu.”
Spectacular it may be, but don't just take her word for it. A little over a year since its end-2005 launch, all of ONE KL's units have been snapped up. At its last transaction price of some RM1,600 per sq ft before the removal of RPGT, that works out to a cool RM5.8mil per unit – all without advertising or marketing.
As Chua points out, the development's existence and attractions spread by word of mouth alone.
The first to take up the offer were her family (for which two units have been reserved) and their close-knit community of friends, who spread the word to friends of their own.
It's little wonder that ONE KL is regarded by some as one of Kuala Lumpur's most exclusive addresses. The development is currently 92% locally-owned, with foreigners taking up the remaining 8%.
The company also owns Wisma CMY, the old Wisma Kemayan, a 22-year-old office tower which has been refurbished to the tune of RM5mil. Property development looks to be the way forward for Chua, but has she given thought to going down the path of portfolio management that her father has walked for so many years?
“That's where I started, and initially I thought I would go back to it after a couple of years. But we'll see, because right now I'm very interested in property development. It's more creative and more personal, and you can put your stamp on it,” says Chua. With ONE KL, slated for completion in 2009, one might say she already has.
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