Southeast Asia’s tallest tower to open next year

Southeast Asia’s tallest building and the second tallest in the world, the Merdeka 118 tower in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is due for completion by mid-2023, according to developer PNB Merdeka Ventures. Construction of the tower is 92-per cent complete, Merdeka Ventures CEO Ab Aziz Tengku Mahmud said, noting that “Merdeka” means independence while 118 represents the number of floors in the building. Merdeka 118 tops out at 678.9 meters, grabbing the title of Southeast Asia’s tallest building from Landmark 81 in Ho Chi Minh City, which is 461.2 meters high. Third are now the Petronas Twin Towers, also in Kuala…

Southeast Asia’s tallest building and the second tallest in the world, the Merdeka 118 tower in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is due for completion by mid-2023, according to developer PNB Merdeka Ventures.

Construction of the tower is 92-per cent complete, Merdeka Ventures CEO Ab Aziz Tengku Mahmud said, noting that “Merdeka” means independence while 118 represents the number of floors in the building.

Merdeka 118 tops out at 678.9 meters, grabbing the title of Southeast Asia’s tallest building from Landmark 81 in Ho Chi Minh City, which is 461.2 meters high. Third are now the Petronas Twin Towers, also in Kuala Lumpur, at 451.9 meters.

First Park Hyatt hotel in Malaysia

The building will have around 288,000 square meters of floor area, including some 158,000 square meters of rentable office space. The top 17 floors will house a Park Hyatt hotel.

The Park Hyatt will be the tallest hotel in Kuala Lumpur and the first-ever hotel in Malaysia under this luxury brand, with 252 guestrooms and the highest dining point in the tower.

“The offices can be moved into first while the hotel will be ready by the third quarter of next year,” Mahmud said.

Offices for local and international companies

PNB Merdeka Ventures, which is a subsidiary of Malaysia’s state-owned Permodalan Nasional investment company, is targeting a tenancy mix of 70 per cent local companies and 30 per cent multinational companies.

A must-visit attraction at the Merdeka 118 tower will be the Level 116 mezzanine, where Southeast Asia’s highest observation deck is located in the tower’s spire at 566 meters.

Groundbreaking work for the Merdeka 118 project worth five billion ringgit ($1.12 billion) officially started in February 2016 when it was launched by then prime minister Najib Razak. In early June 2021, the Merdeka 118 tower officially became Malaysia’s tallest building when the final roof slab was completed and the peak of Level 118 was safely reached.