IT is no stretch of anybody's imagination to say Embassy Row along Kuala Lumpur's Jalan Ampang is home to some of the country's most prime real estate-Spanning 2-2km (1-3 miles) along a historical thoroughfare that extends from the heart of the capital to the foothills of the Titiwangsa district in Selangor, the area played a prominent role in KL's evolution from a mere dirt road trade route serving a frontier tin mining settlement in the early 1800s to a haven for elite residents and the international crowd today-Jalan Ampang is a major traffic artery leading into the main financial district and KL City Centre, and the stretch called "Embassy Row" not only plays host to the city's main diplomatic enclave, but also some of the most elaborate of homes, hotels, shopping centres and state-of-the-art medical facilities-Given its longstanding position at the top end of KL's hierarchy of most desired locales, buyers and investors can be forgiven for thinking that opportunities there have all but dried up-On the contrary, new commercial projects are mushrooming as the city grows, as older residences make way for fresh concepts, and as a recently announced government-led initiative sees the area play a crucial part in transforming the capital into a top megapolis-Prestige makes the placeTo understand the special esteem KLites accord to Embassy Row is to understand its history which is inexorably linked with the city's-In the tin mining days of the early 1800s, "Ampang Road" as it was called then linked the simple trading settlement of "Kuala Berlumpur" to major depositories in the jungles of Ampang- The site around Embassy Row was then a busy scene of bullock carts and the occasional brawl between rival gangs before trade exploded and a community grew around its vicinity-At the dawn of the 20th century, KL began to grow in commercial stature, rapidly rising to become the Federation's premier city, and Jalan Ampang played host to many of the city's first elites- In fact, its profile rose in tandem with the city's-Post-war era mansions were a common sight along that stretch-As the city built upwards in today's downtown area, many of the structures gave way to skyscrapers- The last survivor was Bok House which was demolished in 2005- It was for many years occupied by the charming Le Coq D'or restaurant-East of the downtown area, though, many pre-war mansions still stand to this day around Embassy Row- During the post-war era, right up to the 1970s, foreign missions moved to the area, remodelled some buildings into embassies or private residences- Some were also converted into government buildings such as the Malaysia Tourism Centre which once served as a military base for the British colonial government, and before that was a mansion for pioneering KL businessman Eu Tong Sen-Sadly, many stand in ruins awaiting demolition to make way for redevelopment- However, a handful of acute developers are capitalising on the area's historical and emotional clout with projects that pay tribute to this-Among them, SDB Properties Sdn Bhd is developing a lowrise condominium, Dedaun, that leverages on the rustic surrounding cantilevered trees and showcase architecture that celebrate Embassy Row's second heyday of the 70s - when a new generation of KL's creme-de-la-creme began positioning themselves close to the city's heart-Featuring large and airy builtup areas of up to 4,291sq ft, the RM160 million luxury project was launched last year and is due for completion by 2013-Adding valueEmbassy Row's era as a diplomatic enclave may come to an end as embassies slowly - albeit reluctantly - migrate to the administrative centre of Putrajaya- Despite this, the area has already cemented itself as a prime hub for the expatriate and high-end communities and served by prestigious education institutions such as Sayfol International School, Mutiara Grammar International School, Fairview International and KL International school-Together with world-class medical facilities such as the Gleneagles Intan and Ampang Putri hospitals, KL City Hall (DBKL) has earmarked the area to be a major "wellness and medical" hub under its fiveyear Greater KL masterplan- Along with the support industries, that is expected to provide a boost to health tourism-DBKL said the infrastructure is already in place with banks, insurance agencies, hotels, restaurants, shopping malls and many other amenities located in the area-Embassy Row is also well connected to various parts of the Klang Valley via the Ampang-KL Elevated Highway, the Middle Ring Road 2, Duta-Ulu Kelang Expressway and the Putra LRT line-However, it will need more commercial centres and serviced apartments to fully realise the plan- Among the developers, Mah Sing Group Bhd (MSG) are undertaking two projects simultaneously - its RM305 million M Suites near the Great Eastern Mall offering small to medium-size serviced apartments and its 4-96-acre up-and-coming M City mixed development near the Flamingo Hotel comprising serviced suites, SoHos and a boutique retail mall-Located on opposite sides of Jalan Ampang, the two projects go against the popular belief that properties in the area are beyond the reach of the average investor-The serviced units at M Suites start from RM684,800 and those from M City from just RM398,000! MSG expects rents to be in the region of RM5psf and yields around the seven or eight per cent mark-Given the government's renewed focus on Jalan Ampang and the fresh impetus it will generate, Embassy Row now looks set to remain as prestigious and valuable to the city's future as it had been in the past-The evergreen investment hot-spot has seen its commercial values rise from RM400psf to RM500psf in the mid-2000s to almost RM900psf today- MSG purchased its M Suites parcel last year for RM857psf-Residential values have also spiralled, from RM650psf to more than RM1,200psf over the last five years, and are expected to rise by another 50 per cent in the next two years-...

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