About 80% of office tower Symphony Square has been taken up since developer Symphony Life Bhd obtained the certificate of completion and compliance for the building in 1Q2019, says the company’s chief operating officer Stewart Tew.

A 75:25 joint-venture project between Symphony Life and landowner Al-Ambia Sdn Bhd, the 20-storey corporate office tower sits on a 1.87-acre leasehold parcel in Jalan Prof Khoo Kay Kim (formerly known as Jalan Semangat) in Section 13, Petaling Jaya.

About 80% of the net lettable area of 265,560 sq ft is office space (a total of 17 levels) and the remaining is retail. Tew says some tenants have moved in, while some are still renovating the units. Symphony Life has also moved its headquarters there, taking up 15,129 sq ft.

“Many companies like to be in Petaling Jaya … Apart from the lower rentals, good connectivity with the highway, better traffic conditions and public transport, it is near many amenities and it is also easier to find workers here. It is an MSC-status (Multimedia Super Corridor) building,” he tells City & Country.

“It is a joint-venture project with the landowner, which is also our contractor. We are not selling the units, because we believe in controlling the tenancy mix. More than 60% of the retail area and some 80% of the office space is tenanted.”

Its office tenants include Boardroom Outsource Services Sdn Bhd, Volvo Car Malaysia, Otis Elevator Co Malaysia, Eppendorf Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd, Zimmer Biomet (M) Sdn Bhd and Universal Music Sdn Bhd.

Meanwhile, its retail component has a mix of F&B and lifestyle tenants such as Vintry, San Francisco Coffee, Therefore Café and Mary Kay. The rental is RM5 psf, and Tew expects the occupancy rate to reach 90%.

Symphony Square is accessible via Federal Highway, Sprint Highway and Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong.

In view of the oversupply of office space in the Klang Valley, general manager Yong Yuet Lan says the design of the office building is important, and factors such as whether it is an MSC Malaysia Cybercentre, is green compliant and has the right floor plate size are important.

She says the tenants are mostly multinational corporations and established local companies that have moved to Symphony Square because of relocation, expansion or upgrading purposes. The office building also has a green podium measuring 5,315 sq ft, a private drop-off at Level 4 for office tenants and an auditorium that can seat 120.

“Symphony Square is dual-compliant, with MSC status and Green Building Index certification. It has an office floor plate of 15,740 sq ft, a right size for many companies,” Yong says.

“The building features centralised air-conditioning zoning. Tenants can turn on the air conditioners based on zones after work hour, and they will be charged based on the zones. This can help save electricity.”

Other features include dual-power feed, multi-telecommunications service, fibre-optic backbone, visitor management system with concierge, rainwater harvesting system and 24-hour security with CCTV surveillance.