A consortium of Malaysian and Australian firms will commence construction of a 2.7 billion dollar inner city redevelopment project here early next year, a report said Monday.

The owners of the Tamansari Riverside Garden City project include Malaysian firm ASIE Sdn Bhd, financial services group Macquarie, and engineering and construction firm Leighton from Australia.

Macquarie will also undertake financing and conduct international sales of the residential and commercial properties, the New Straits Times said.

Company officials could not be reached for comment.

The consortium members signed the joint-development agreement recently, the newspaper reported.

The 22.3-hectare development, which is expected to take seven to eight years to complete, will include a 60-storey tower, it said.

The Malaysian government initially awarded the project to redevelop the area known as Pekeliling Flats to ASIE in 1998 but progress had been slow due to difficulties in relocating local residents.