MCOBA Building Development

MCOBA has 2 properties in the form of land, with the former at Jalan Syed Putra, where the present MCOBA building is sighted and the later, at Bestari Jaya (formerly known as Batang Berjuntai). Both have their problems and need special efforts to overcome them before any development can take place.

The development of the MCOBA building at Jalan Syed Putra has been discussed many years ago. On the record, a developer had been appointed to build-up the property, but was penalised in failing to execute the job. However interest on this subject has continued throughout the times. At present, the MCOBA building needs a lot of repair and maintenance, and has become costly to maintain. There have been several breakdowns in the water supply due to old plumbing systems and breakdowns in the electrical system that called for rewiring. The latest incident was a couple getting trapped in the lift after attending an usrah session on the 4^th floor. Not to mention that the flooring and ceilings for most of the areas need repairs.

MCOBA owns 4 lots/pieces of land in Jalan Syed Putra. The present MCOBA building is presently sited over one of them. The total land area of all 4 lots is 2.8 acres or 122,000 sq. feet.

A Development Committee has been formed to develop these 4 properties; where the President as the Chairman, and assisted by one of the Vice Presidents as an alternate Chairman, and the Honorary Secretary as Secretary. Other members of the Committee consist of MCOBA members who are not members of the Jawatankuasa Pengurusan MCOBA (JPM). Led by a senior MCOB, they are selected based on their expertise to represent the various disciplines that are relevant to this project. All decisions of the meetings led by this senior member have to be tabled to the Main Development Committee chaired by the President or the Vice President.

The 4 pieces of properties are adjourned to each other. All are held under trustees. Three of these trustees have passed away, leaving only one alive. These trustees have been traced and in accordance to the decision in the MCOBA last Annual General Meeting, are now changed. To enhance the value of the land, MCOBA had consultations with various authorities. Simultaneously other related actions deemed by the Committee are taken with the Pesuruhjaya Tanah and Galian, and the Court. As a note, these four properties are now in the name of MCOBA, and will be jointly developed in this project.

The development on this property shall now be done on a joint-venture basis with an appointed developer appraised and evaluated on MCOB’s needs. An appointed MCOBA Project Management Team shall manage and monitor the development of the project.

A meeting to brief interested companies and developers was held on 9^th December 2015, at the Penthouse. It was strictly a technical briefing and was not attended by any JPM committee. A member of the Working Committee, the Project Manager designate, presented a brief to the attendees in the meeting. It was attended by 19 companies, including those associated with MCOBs. 14 companies showed their interest by buying the Request for Proposal (RFP) document.

Pertinent to MCOBA, the document contained the following;

1. The MCOBA land shall not be used as collateral for the development;
2. The development shall be fully finance by the Developer;
3. All costs relating to the enhancement of the said land shall be borne by the Developer;
4. Developer is required to propose a staggered cash up-front payment to MCOBA, commencing with the signing of the Development Agreement stage;
5. Developer is required to propose a profit guarantee based on the Gross Development Value (GDV);
6. Developer is required to meet all other commercial requirements, by the industry ‘best practise’ for a contract of this nature;
7. The building shall be of everlasting contemporary design and shall reflect MCKK and MCOBA as the premier institution. Proposals must reflect the best professional judgement as the important criteria in the planning, design and implementation stages.

An appropriate agreement shall be signed between the parties for the joint-venture.

Proposals for the development of the properties are expected to be submitted in early March 2016. A team of Project Management Consultant has been appointed by the JPM. This consultant will be processing, and evaluating the submitted proposals. The report then will be studied by two committees that have been formed, namely the Tender Evaluation Committee and the Tender Committee, prior to presenting to the JPM. After undergoing all these procedures, the JPM will then table it to the members of MCOBA for the approval.

Experiences of the past have helped MCOBA in identifying the challenges and difficulties in pursuing such project. Earlier attempts by previous Presidents and JPM members have paved the way for the present team to proceed ahead. There is a need for this project to continue irrespective of who is the President or which JPM leads MCOBA. This is why the Development Committee consists of professionals, are selected based on their expertise to represent the various disciplines that are relevant to this project. Its life span should be continued irrespective of the dynamic in MCOBA’s office bearers.