Kuala Lumpur construction update – 2024 edition

This is a summary of the major construction projects in Kuala Lumpur that I visited in April 2024.

Merdeka 118

Merdeka 118

Merdeka 118 topped out in November 2021 at 678.9 metres, though it is still not quite ready to open.

Merdeka 118 is close to the Chinatown area (a few minutes’ walk), so there will be a lot of foot traffic drawn to this tower like moths to a flame. The landscaping in front of the tower isn’t complete, but so far, it looks like the city planners have once again blown an opportunity to landscape the area for pedestrians.

There is a road in front of the tower that comes from Chinatown. There is no obvious footpath access to the tower from the other side of the road.

I went down a side road to see how the access was looking, and it looked like an area where you would leave dumpsters.

I know it’s not finished, so this might not be the final layout, but the road already looks repaved for cars and not pedestrians.

Signage for the Park Hyatt Kuala Lumpur is on the front entrance (due to open in Q4 2024), while the mall podium is still a skeleton.

Bukit Bintang City Centre

Bukit Bintang City Centre (BBCC) is partially open, with the main mall and shopping plaza feeling more lively than on my last visit.

This project is being built in stages, with the SWNK Houze now under construction. There is no word on when the signature tower will start construction.

Continuing with the terrible walking experience that KL offers, getting to BBCC is a nightmare to get to by foot if you are coming from Chinatown or Bukit Bintang.

BBCC, so close yet so far.

The footpath on the other side of the road of BBCC abruptly ends, and another road merges into the main road. There is no place for pedestrians to safely cross or walk further from here.

A typical KL pedestrian hellscape.

I thought I would use the Hang Tuah monorail station as a pedestrian overpass, which is next to BBCC. There is no through access for pedestrians, so I had to come back down from the station and walk further along to another overpass.

Dear Kuala Lumpur, get your footpath act together! I know urban planning mistakes were made in the past, but there is no excuse for any new urban development not to have footpaths baked into the plan. On the government side, it should be the law that all new developments and road rebuilding have footpaths.

From the developers’ perspective, it would make financial sense to have easy pedestrian access from the high foot traffic area of Bukit Bintang to BBCC. I was in Bukit Bintang, and I was thinking of going back over to BBCC, but walking there is like going through an obstacle course, and I didn’t go back.

Read more about Bukit Bintang City Centre.

Tun Razak Exchange

Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) is a 70-acre development that is being touted as the new financial district of the city. This is an amazing project in that so much available land was close to the city centre, and that it is being built relatively quickly.

The Exchange 106 is 445.5 metres high (6.4 metres shorter than the Petronas Twin Towers). One of the things I like about KL’s skyline is that the big towers have architectural variety and that there is enough space around the towers to offer a view.

The main mall of TRX (The Exchange TRX) opened in November 2023. I went on the weekend of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, so the mall was insanely busy. I will need to go back to see what it looks like on a normal day.

There is a little park on the rooftop and walkways interlinking different parts of the shopping area.

There is a kids’ area called The Play Space, which was also overwhelmed by the holiday crowd. While it’s great to see such a space, it highlights the lack of public space available for kids (and adults) in the inner city area. Parks shouldn’t just be something that is attached to a mall.

TRX is connected to two metro lines, and the station is purpose-built to interchange seamlessly with the two lines. The TRX complex was planned with the metro station, so going from the metro station to the mall was easy. Going from the metro to the outside is a different matter. I wanted to go outside from the metro, and I emerged at the back side, where there was a jumble of service roads and a bus area.

The complex is still under construction, so there are still construction fences everywhere. Looking at what is already open, it still feels like pedestrians are an afterthought.

I walked to the entrance nearest the Bukit Bintang area, where you would expect the most foot traffic. Here, at least, there has been thought put into landscaping a beautiful pedestrian area. The centrepiece of the main entrance is a giant raintree that nobody dared to touch.

This is Rain Tree Plaza, and the tree has been turned into a mini park, with a water feature built around the tree. There are boulevards in the city lined with these wonderful trees, but this tree feels more sacred standing here by itself.

I love the old rain trees of KL and Singapore, and seeing this made me wonder if new rain trees are being planted for future generations to enjoy. Some new trees have been planted here, in addition to trees in giant pots.

8 Conlay

8 Conlay features 3 towers on a retail podium. The 68-storey tower will be home to Kempinski Hotel and Hotel Residences. The two residential towers are the world’s tallest spiralled twin residential towers.

8 Conlay has been delayed by legal disputes, with the most recent update in February reporting that legal actions between the developer and creditors were still ongoing.

Bandar Malaysia

Bandar Malaysia is a new urban area on the old Sungai Besi Airport site. The KL-Singapore high-speed railway terminal station will be here if/when it is built.

The original plan was cancelled, but the Finance Minister said that the government would take over the Bandar Malaysia project.

Oxley Towers @ KLCC

Oxley Towers is a 3-tower development, with the tallest tower being 78 stories.

Oxley Towers @ KLCC (on the right).

Sunway Belfield

Sunway Belfield is located between Chinatown and KL Sentral. It’s being built in an area without tall neighbours, so it’s going to have incredible views of the city skyline. The advertising images are selling the view of Merdeka 118 as a feature.

I walked to this construction site the last time I was here, mainly because I was so intrigued about what was in this location. I had never been to this area, despite having stayed near there so many times. There is a good reason why I had never been there, which I discovered when I tried to walk there.

Without consulting a map, I tried to walk there by just walking towards it. The building is surrounded by big roads. Some of the roads are impossible to legally cross, so if you were to live here, you would have to learn which roads to use.

I didn’t try to walk to the site on this trip because I couldn’t be bothered trying to find the right road again. I will go when it’s open.

Waldorf Astoria Kuala Lumpur

Waldorf Astoria Kuala Lumpur is under construction in the Bukit Bintang area. Instead of building a new tower, though, they are refurbishing the former Hotel Istana, which closed down during the pandemic. It’s a rare sight to see an old building being refurbished here, so it’s good to see this in practice.

Pavilion Square KL

Pavilion Square KL is being built on a long and skinny parcel of land between Bukit Bintang and KLCC, behind the Royale Chulan Kuala Lumpur.

Pavilion Square KL worksite. RIP the view from Royale Chulan Kuala Lumpur.

This is a narrow block of land, but the area makes it highly valuable. The skinny end has a flatiron shape to make the most of the land.

Pavilion Square KL is opposite the Pavilion mall and hotel complex at the top of Bukit Bintang.

It was a nightmare trying to cross this road. I walked down to a pedestrian crossing, but cars were still going through. I was glad to see that this project is promoting a footbridge as a feature.

In addition to my call for footpaths to be a mandatory feature, I think that these big mixed-use developments should also include sky bridges connecting to other buildings or a network of footbridges. There is a sky bridge system from the Pavilion Mall that goes to KLCC, which is a good example of what the city should aspire to do to make it more walkable.

The KLCC-Bukit Bintang Walkway.

Plaza Rakyat

Plaza Rakyat (The People’s Plaza) is a mixed-use development that stalled during the 1997 Asian financial crisis. The project was supposedly being revived in 2015, but nothing has occurred since then. A local news site recently reported that the Plaza Rakyat project revival is still in limbo.

The abandoned Plaza Rakyat construction site.

Read more about the big projects of KL at Future Kuala Lumpur.