EmHub Kota Damansara: The Benchmark for Ramp-Up Factories

EmHub matters because it is no longer a concept shown through floor plans and artist impressions. It is a completed ramp-up business hub with operating companies, a resale market, rental listings and several years of transaction evidence.

That makes it one of the most useful reference projects for understanding this emerging property category in Malaysia. Buyers considering newer ramp-up developments such as The NeX in Kota Damansara or Armani Bizcore in Bukit Raja can now study what happened after EmHub was completed—not merely what was promised when it launched.

What Is EmHub?

EmHub is a leasehold ramp-up commerce hub located near Jalan Teknologi and Persiaran Surian in Kota Damansara.

The development was designed around a relatively straightforward business problem. Many small and medium-sized companies need storage, loading access and operational space, but they also require offices, meeting rooms or a customer-facing showroom. A conventional shop office may be too limited, while a substantial landed factory may require more land, capital and maintenance than the business genuinely needs.

EmHub combines these functions within strata business units connected by a vehicle ramp. Suitable commercial vehicles can travel to the operational floors, allowing goods to be loaded closer to each unit instead of passing through a single ground-floor loading area.

The developer positions EmHub as a business community of more than 460 companies, supported by shared facilities and common management. Its completed status means the model can now be assessed through actual use rather than marketing claims.

Why the Ramp-Up Concept Matters

A ramp-up factory is not simply a multi-storey shop office with a wider driveway.

The vehicle ramp is intended to function like an elevated industrial road, bringing vans and suitable trucks nearer to units located above ground level. This reduces the handling involved when goods must otherwise be transferred from a common loading dock through cargo lifts.

At EmHub, commonly advertised unit specifications include approximately 10kN per sq metre of floor loading, around 60-amp electrical supply and internal heights approaching six metres for certain configurations. Upper-floor units may also have dedicated parking or loading spaces near their entrances.

These details matter because industrial property is ultimately an operational tool.

A business may appreciate an impressive façade, but the property only works when its vehicles can enter, turn and unload efficiently; its floors can support the intended activity; and its electrical supply is suitable for the equipment being used.

Ramp-up factories therefore sit between several conventional property categories:

• More operationally capable than an ordinary shop office
• More presentable and systematically managed than many ageing industrial estates
• More compact and affordable in absolute terms than many substantial landed factories
• Less independent and less suitable for heavy industrial use than a purpose-built factory on its own land

EmHub is useful because buyers can now see how these compromises function in a completed development.

The Businesses EmHub Was Designed to Serve

EmHub is most relevant to businesses that need several activities under one roof.

These may include:

• Importers and distributors
• E-commerce and fulfilment companies
• Furniture and interior-product suppliers
• Electrical and electronic equipment businesses
• Automotive-parts distributors
• Medical-equipment suppliers
• Building-material companies
• Corporate merchandise businesses
• Light-assembly operators
• Businesses combining showroom, office and storage space

Consider a distributor that needs to display products, receive customers, store inventory and pack orders.

The traditional arrangement may require a showroom in one location and a separate warehouse elsewhere. This increases travelling time, separates administrative staff from operations and may require the business to manage two leases.

A ramp-up unit can combine those functions.

That does not mean every occupant needs the same balance of space. Some businesses prioritise the warehouse volume, while others need a presentable front section, meeting rooms and offices. The value of the unit therefore depends not only on its size but also on how easily it can be adapted to the company’s operations.

Why Kota Damansara Supports the Concept

EmHub is located within a mature urban and commercial catchment rather than a remote industrial estate.

Kota Damansara connects with Sungai Buloh, Petaling Jaya, Damansara, Subang and the northern part of the Klang Valley. It is surrounded by established residential neighbourhoods, businesses, universities, healthcare facilities and retail activity.

This matters for two reasons.

First, businesses can reach a substantial customer and supplier market without operating far outside the urban area.

Second, the surrounding population provides access to administrative, sales, technical and warehouse employees. Recruitment may be easier than at a more isolated industrial location.

The surrounding road network also connects the area with Persiaran Surian, the NKVE, DASH, the North-South Expressway, Penchala Link and other parts of Petaling Jaya.

However, an urban industrial location also carries a trade-off. Kota Damansara traffic can become congested, and buyers should not assess accessibility only through a weekend site visit. The relevant question is how the internal ramp and surrounding roads perform when employees, deliveries, customers and commercial vehicles arrive during normal working hours.

EmHub’s 2018 Launch Price

EmHub was launched in 2018 from approximately RM485 per sq ft.

This figure remains useful because it shows the original entry point for the project, but it must be interpreted carefully.

“From RM485 per sq ft” was a starting price. It was not necessarily the average price paid by every buyer. The final purchase cost would have varied according to:

• Floor
• Unit configuration
• Size
• Frontage
• Corner or intermediate position
• Ground-floor accessibility
• Purchase timing
• Promotional package

The launch price therefore provides a historical baseline rather than a precise basis for calculating the return of every original purchaser.

Upper-Floor Transactions Have Formed a Clearer Price Range

New transaction information provides a more detailed picture than the earlier portal asking data alone.

The supplied transaction comparison records several EmHub sales for Level 1 and above between July 2025 and February 2026. These transactions ranged from approximately RM696.77 to RM910.81 per sq ft.

Examples include:

This is a much stronger basis for understanding EmHub than simply quoting a handful of current advertisements.

The figures show that upper-floor units are not trading at one uniform rate. Instead, the completed market has formed a relatively broad band, with many recorded transactions falling within approximately RM700 to RM850 per sq ft and selected units reaching closer to RM900 per sq ft.

Differences may reflect the unit’s floor, configuration, frontage, fit-out, condition and specific operational appeal.

Separate Brickz data covering 14 transactions between May 2024 and March 2025 recorded a median price of approximately RM1.675 million and a median rate of RM716 per sq ft, providing additional support for a secondary-market benchmark around the RM700-per-sq-ft level.

Ground-Floor EmHub Units Belong in a Different Category

One of the most important new insights is that ground-floor and upper-floor units should not be analysed together.

The supplied data includes a ground-floor transaction at approximately RM1,167.12 per sq ft, based on a RM2.5 million transaction for about 2,142 sq ft.

This should not be interpreted as the market value of a typical EmHub unit.

Ground-floor space can command a premium because it may offer:

• More direct vehicle and customer access
• Stronger frontage
• Better visibility
• Easier loading
• Greater showroom potential
• Less dependence on the ramp
• A broader range of possible occupiers

A ground-floor unit may function partly as an industrial showroom or customer-facing commercial space, while an upper-floor unit is more dependent on its warehouse, fulfilment and operational usefulness.

The RM1,167-per-sq-ft transaction therefore demonstrates ground-floor scarcity and commercial utility, not a project-wide average.

This distinction is important because a sales presentation may compare the original RM485-per-sq-ft starting price with the RM1,167 ground-floor transaction and describe the difference as appreciation of approximately 141%.

Mathematically, the comparison is understandable. Analytically, it is too broad.

It compares:

• The lowest original project entry price
• With one later ground-floor transaction
• Without confirming that both units had comparable positioning, specification or use

A more responsible conclusion is that EmHub developed several distinct pricing tiers after completion. Upper-floor units formed a broad transaction range from approximately RM697 to RM911 per sq ft, while scarce ground-floor space could achieve a materially higher rate.

What Current Asking Prices Show

Current resale advertisements remain useful when interpreted alongside the transaction evidence.

Standard units are being marketed around figures such as:

Some larger, fitted or more prominent units are advertised at much higher PSF levels. Property portals currently show examples ranging from below RM700 per sq ft to more than RM1,000 per sq ft, depending on how the unit is classified and measured.

Asking prices should not be treated as transactions.

The same unit may be advertised by several agents, and sellers may test the market above the level at which a buyer is prepared to complete. However, when current advertisements and recorded sales are examined together, they show that the market has established a recognisable hierarchy:

1. Standard or less prominent upper-floor units
2. Better-positioned, fitted or more commercially useful upper-floor units
3. Scarcer ground-floor units with direct frontage and accessibility

That hierarchy is more informative than one project-wide average PSF.

EmHub’s Rental Market

EmHub has also established a visible rental market, which is another important sign that the product has moved beyond its original sales concept.

Current asking rents include examples such as:

The mainstream upper-floor asking range appears to sit broadly around RM2.70 to RM3.50 per sq ft per month, although the final rate depends heavily on condition and fit-out. Ground-floor or more visible spaces may be positioned above this range.

A bare warehouse-office unit cannot be compared directly with one that already includes:

• Extended mezzanine space
• Air-conditioning
• Lighting
• Meeting rooms
• Director’s office
• Racking
• Electrical upgrades
• Showroom finishes

Industrial tenants often assess the cost and time required to make a unit operational. A more expensive fitted unit may therefore be more attractive than a cheaper bare unit if it allows the business to start operating sooner.

What the Rental Numbers Actually Prove

The rental data should not be used to promise a specific return.

For example, a unit purchased for RM1.5 million and rented at RM6,500 per month would show a gross asking yield of approximately 5.2% before expenses.

But the owner must still consider:

• Negotiated rent
• Vacancy
• Maintenance charges
• Sinking fund
• Assessment and quit rent
• Insurance
• Agent fees
• Repairs
• Fit-out expenditure
• Tenant incentives
• Financing cost
• Reinstatement after the tenancy

The stronger conclusion is not that every EmHub unit delivers a 5% yield.

The stronger conclusion is that the project has developed a sufficiently active rental market for owners, tenants and valuers to identify a practical monthly rental range.

That is important for newer ramp-up developments because it provides an existing reference for what businesses may be prepared to pay for completed urban industrial space.

What EmHub Appears to Have Validated

The Market Understands the Product

When EmHub launched, ramp-up industrial space was still unfamiliar to many Malaysian SME buyers.

The completed project now demonstrates that businesses understand the logic of combining warehouse, office, fulfilment and showroom functions within one managed development.

Upper-Floor Industrial Space Can Retain Meaningful Value

The transaction range shows that buyers are not valuing upper-floor units merely as compromised industrial space.

Recorded sales from approximately RM697 to RM911 per sq ft indicate that the market assigns meaningful value to properly designed upper-floor units when vehicle access and operational specifications are adequate.

Ground-Floor Scarcity Creates a Separate Premium

The RM1,167-per-sq-ft transaction illustrates how direct frontage and ground-level access can create a materially different price category.

This is a lesson for future ramp-up projects: developers and buyers should not treat every floor as commercially equivalent.

A Managed Industrial Environment Appeals to SMEs

Many older landed factories offer independence but operate within industrial areas with inconsistent security, parking, external maintenance and presentation.

EmHub offers a more controlled environment. For companies that receive clients, suppliers or international partners, this can be part of the property’s practical value.

The Product Can Support a Secondary Market

EmHub now has recorded transactions, resale advertisements and rental listings.

That does not mean every unit sells quickly or performs equally well. It does mean the market has enough evidence to differentiate units by floor, use, condition and accessibility.

What EmHub Has Not Proven

EmHub should not be used as evidence that every ramp-up factory will automatically succeed.

The completed project benefited from several specific conditions:

• A mature Kota Damansara catchment
• Established surrounding businesses and residential areas
• Strong urban road connectivity
• A product size accessible to many SMEs
• A relatively early position within the ramp-up segment
• Limited comparable completed stock at the time

A newer project in another industrial corridor must still demonstrate that its own location, pricing, specifications and business catchment are suitable.

EmHub also does not prove that every original purchaser achieved the same appreciation.

A buyer who entered at a higher original price, purchased a less prominent unit or spent significantly on fit-out may have a very different result from someone comparing the lowest launch price with a later ground-floor transaction.

The Practical Limitations Remain Important

Ramp Access Is Shared Infrastructure

The entire concept depends on the proper operation and maintenance of the ramp.

Parking discipline, delivery management, vehicle restrictions and traffic flow can directly affect daily business operations.

Strata Management Affects Commercial Performance

At an industrial development, management quality is not only about appearance.

It affects:

• Ramp condition
• Loading access
• Security
• Waste disposal
• Parking enforcement
• Fire systems
• Drainage
• Signage
• Common-road maintenance
• Long-term sinking-fund requirements

Poor management can reduce the operational efficiency that originally justified buying into a managed industrial project.

Operational Independence Is Limited

A landed-factory owner generally has greater control over access, signage, renovation, machinery, outdoor space and operating procedures.

An EmHub owner must comply with strata rules and share the wider building infrastructure.

There Is No True Private Yard

Businesses requiring outdoor storage, vehicle marshalling, container staging or bulky machinery may still find a landed industrial property more suitable.

Heavy Industrial Users Remain a Poor Fit

EmHub is more suitable for distribution, fulfilment, storage, showroom use and lighter industrial activity than for heavy manufacturing, pollutive operations or businesses dependent on frequent container-trailer movements.

Why EmHub Is the Right Reference for The NeX

The NeX is located in the same broader Kota Damansara business market, making EmHub the most obvious completed reference.

The comparison should not be reduced to:

EmHub launched at RM485 psf and later reached more than RM1,000 psf, therefore The NeX will follow the same path.

That would be too simplistic.

The more useful lessons are:

• Kota Damansara has demonstrated demand for ramp-up business space
• Upper-floor units can establish meaningful transaction values
• Ground-floor units may form a separate premium category
• Businesses will pay for integrated warehouse, office and showroom functions
• Completed management and vehicle circulation matter
• Unit position and operational suitability create large price differences

The supplied comparison deck positions The NeX at approximately RM688 to RM792 per sq ft for Levels 1 to 8 after rebate, with ground-floor pricing around RM928 per sq ft. It also projects higher future-phase pricing, but those future figures remain marketing estimates rather than achieved market evidence.

The NeX should therefore be evaluated on whether its design, access, specifications, pricing and management plan improve on the lessons visible at EmHub—not on whether a historical EmHub appreciation chart can be repeated.

Why EmHub Is Also Relevant to Armani Bizcore

Armani Bizcore applies a similar broad format in Bukit Raja, but the business geography is different.

EmHub serves Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya, Sungai Buloh and the northern Klang Valley.

Bukit Raja is a mature industrial corridor connected more closely with Klang, Shah Alam, Setia Alam, Port Klang and the wider western Selangor industrial economy.

EmHub validates the product category. It does not automatically validate every location.

A business comparing the two markets should consider:

• Where its customers are located
• Where suppliers and employees are based
• Frequency and type of goods movement
• Highway access
• Proximity to ports and industrial clusters
• Unit specifications
• Total purchase price
• Expansion plans
• Availability of surrounding landed factories
• Long-term management quality

EmHub is useful because it shows what the completed format can become. Armani Bizcore must still prove that the concept fits the Bukit Raja market.

What EmHub Tells Us

EmHub’s real success is not captured by one headline appreciation percentage.

Its stronger achievement is that it has helped establish ramp-up industrial space as a recognisable property category in Malaysia.

The project now has:

• A completed operating environment
• An observable business community
• Upper-floor transaction evidence
• A separate ground-floor premium
• A visible resale market
• A visible rental range
• Practical management and circulation lessons
• Relevance to a new generation of ramp-up developments

The market evidence also shows why industrial PSF must be treated carefully.

A standard upper-floor unit transacting around RM700 to RM800 per sq ft, a better-positioned unit approaching RM900 per sq ft and a ground-floor unit exceeding RM1,100 per sq ft are not contradictory figures. They represent different levels of accessibility, frontage, fit-out and commercial usefulness.

That is the most important lesson EmHub offers to buyers studying The NeX, Armani Bizcore and future ramp-up projects.

The market has accepted the concept—but it has not valued every unit equally.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is EmHub Kota Damansara?

EmHub is a completed leasehold ramp-up commerce hub in Kota Damansara. It combines warehouse, office, showroom and light-industrial functions within strata units connected by a vehicle ramp.

When was EmHub launched?

EmHub was launched in 2018 and was completed around 2022.

What was EmHub’s launch price?

The project was marketed from approximately RM485 per sq ft. This was a starting price and should not be treated as the average entry price for every unit.

What are upper-floor EmHub units transacting at?

The supplied transaction data shows Level 1 and above transactions ranging from approximately RM696.77 to RM910.81 per sq ft between July 2025 and February 2026.

Did an EmHub unit transact at RM1,167 per sq ft?

The supplied data records a ground-floor transaction at approximately RM1,167.12 per sq ft.

This should be treated as a ground-floor benchmark rather than a representative price for standard upper-floor units.

Did EmHub appreciate by 141%?

The 141% figure compares the original RM485-per-sq-ft starting price with one ground-floor transaction at RM1,167.12 per sq ft.

It illustrates the difference between those two figures, but it does not mean every EmHub unit appreciated by 141%.

What is the current asking rent at EmHub?

Many standard upper-floor rental listings are positioned around RM2.70 to RM3.50 per sq ft per month. Fitted and ground-floor units may ask for higher rates.

Is a ramp-up factory the same as a landed factory?

No. A ramp-up factory offers managed common infrastructure, security and direct vehicle access to upper floors, but it has less private outdoor space and less operational independence than a conventional landed factory.

Why is EmHub relevant to The NeX?

EmHub provides completed evidence that Kota Damansara businesses will consider ramp-up industrial space. It also shows how floor, frontage, accessibility and unit usability can create very different transaction values.

Why is EmHub relevant to Armani Bizcore?

EmHub validates the broad product concept, while Armani Bizcore applies it in the Bukit Raja industrial corridor. Buyers can use EmHub to understand the format, but must assess whether Bukit Raja better suits their business geography and operations.

Conclusion

EmHub has become Malaysia’s most useful completed benchmark for ramp-up factories because the market can now assess the project using actual transactions, rental listings and operating experience.

Its upper-floor transaction evidence shows that ramp-access industrial units can establish a credible secondary-market range. Its ground-floor transaction demonstrates the substantial premium that may attach to direct accessibility, frontage and showroom potential.

At the same time, EmHub shows why one headline PSF cannot represent an entire industrial project.

Floor, position, fit-out, vehicle access and operational usefulness have a major effect on value. The same is likely to apply to newer developments such as The NeX and Armani Bizcore.

EmHub’s most important contribution is therefore not a claim that every early buyer made the same return.

It is proof that the ramp-up concept can work, that a real market can form around it, and that buyers must still select the right unit for the right business.