Equalbase Building $63M Shed in Malaysia’s Penang

Equalbase has begun construction of a MYR 300 million ($63.6 million) warehouse as the Singapore-based developer’s first carbon-neutral logistics facility in Malaysia’s Penang.

Located in Val d’Or in the mainland section of the state, the new shed will span more than 600,000 square feet (55,742 square metres) of gross floor area on a 4.6 hectare (11.4 acre) site, Equalbase said Tuesday in a release.

Dubbed Valdor I, the warehouse will incorporate building materials such as carbon-cured concrete to achieve a 30 percent reduction in CO2 emissions, according to Equalbase, which is backed by US private equity firm Stonepeak.

“The groundbreaking for construction of Valdor I marks a significant milestone for Equalbase as we look to strengthen our footprint in the region,” said Equalbase executive director Paul Lee. “This development stands out for its commitment to sustainability, aligning with our aspirations to achieve carbon neutrality across all our developments by 2040, surpassing the standard benchmark by a decade.”

Budding Logistics Hub

Equalbase is investing in the latest project via Amberock Malaysia, a development vehicle of Northmod, Equalbase’s fund management arm.

Scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2025, Valdor I is 6 kilometres (3.7 miles) from Penang’s Batu Kawan Industrial Park and just over 30 kilometres by bridge from the state’s international airport on Penang Island.

Penang is promoting development of a logistics hub in the mainland’s Seberang Perai area, with the additional development of Penang Science Park South as an area for general and halal food industries, according to Equalbase.

“Our focus on Penang is strategic as the state has a thriving and investor-friendly economy with a diverse array of companies in an established global business services environment,” said Lee, who is a managing partner at Northmod.

Follow-Up to Johor

Founded in 2009, Equalbase is expanding in Singapore, South Korea, Germany, Indonesia and Vietnam, in addition to Malaysia.

The builder last year hooked up with Malaysian conglomerate Sunway Group on the 103° logistics project in Johor. Named after the southern Malaysian state’s longitude, the MYR 8 billion ($1.7 billion) development is 5 kilometres from the Malaysia-Singapore Second Link bridge connecting the two Southeast Asian countries in Sunway City Iskandar Puteri township.

To date, Equalbase has invested $400 million and completed over 4 million square feet of warehouse space in Malaysia. In 2022, the company sold a 1.5 million square foot shed in Johor to Malaysia’s Axis REIT in a MYR 390 million (then $92 million) sale-and-leaseback transaction.

Equalbase also has a pair of logistics centres in its home patch of Singapore and two warehouses in South Korea.