Consortium to build Bandar Malaysia

Impressive: Artist’s impression of Bandar Malaysia.

Consultant makes assumption based on huge size of land involved

PROPERTY consultancy CH Williams Talhar & Wong says Bandar Malaysia will likely be developed by a consortium of developers.

“We are looking at equity participation. The asset of this company is the land,” says managing director Foo Gee Jen.

He says the consultancy generally sees this form of cooperation in any mega development. There is no specific master plan yet.

“Generally, we want to be flexible in terms of development. We want creativity and entrepreneurship to thrive,” he says.

CH Williams is the transaction advisor for 1MDB RE Sdn Bhd which is the master developer of 486 acres located on the fringe of the city.

Earlier this week, CH Williams invited interested parties to submit expressions of interest to develop the land. The deadline for submission of interest is July 10 noon.

Foo says these expression of interests effectively set the stage for the development of Bandar Malaysia.

He says that considering “the acreage and gross development value of the land which will involve billions of ringgit”, a consortium of developers may have to come in.

Unlike the development of Kwasa Land Sdn Bhd’s 2,330 acres in Sg Buloh, which was sub-divided into plots, and KL Sentral which MRCB largely developed on its own, the development of Bandar Malaysia will take a different route.

Foo: ‘We are looking at equity participation.’

It will not be carved out. And neither will it be developed with a series of joint ventures with various developers, he says.

He says whoever comes in will have to calculate or make an assumption of the land value, make a bid on the land value on a gross basis, determine what sort of equity partnership and other criteria.

They will have to determine their own equity (with respect to their consortium partners), payment terms – cash up front, deferred payment terms – and their respective investments, he says.

The guiding factor for the development of the different components will be based on government policy and vision for Bandar Malaysia.

“It has to be in line with the government policy. That will be the guide. However, there is no hard and fast rules about the components. It depends on the strength of the partnership, their strong points and what will be marketable. A big water feature and a park, the high speed rail terminal, the two MRT lines, KTM Komuter terminal, Bus Rapid Transit and Express Rail Link are the catalyst. So the interested parties will have to use their entrepreneurship, planning skills for the land. They will have to come up with their own development content based on certain guidelines and numbers,” Foo says.

Broadly, it will be “a tender sort thing” to help with transparency. Foo says the request by his client to submit expressions of interest is the “first stage”.

“We will shortlist and make our recommendations to 1MDB RE, who will make their decisions. We, as transaction advisor, will be obliged to explain to the interested parties (the process of selection and evaluation). There will not be much information during this first stage,” says Foo.

The expectations of the land owner will be made known, the parties will know “the direction” the development is going to take.

“We are talking about investments that go into billions of ringgit so there must be a certain level of reasonableness (in the shortlisting process).

Stage 2 involves the shortlisted candidates signing non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) after which they will be given a lot more information in the Memorandum of Information.

After they have submitted their proposals, there will be a few months for evaluation.

“We hope to wrap things up by October of this year,” says Foo.

On the time line and duration for the completion of the project, Foo says this is a broad development which will take time. It is not possible to say that it will be completed in 15 to 20 years.

He says the 71-acre KL Sentral, the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (about 80 acres) took 15 to 20 years. The last parcel of KL Sentral is yet to be developed. The different parties occupying the land currently have yet to be relocated. These being City Hall’s air surveillance unit and the air base.

Factors like the country’s economic development, how the infrastructure work together, and other national and global factors are considerations. So the time line of 15 to 20 years is just a general guide line.

According to the advertisement on June 22, 1MDB plans to make Bandar Malaysia “a catalyst” for the transformation of Greater KL with its connectivity.

According to the advertisement which appeared in various media, the 486-acre master planned development will be an exemplary and mixed-use community of “the highest standards.”

1MDB RE is looking at four broad development content.

> Transport oriented development

It will be the best-connected address as upcoming KL-Singapore High-Speed Rail terminus will be located there. The Mass Rapid Transit, Line 2 and 3, KTM Komuter, Electrical Rail Line, Bas Rapid Transport will be there. There will also be links to major highway networks.

> Sustainable city living

Amenities will be sophisticated to suit future lifestyle

> Global Business hub

It will have world-class built environment and offices. There are plans for a dedicated commercial hub for creative industries.

> Tourism destination

With a planned waterfront promenade and vibrant retail boulevard, it aims to be a one-stop destination for shopping, festivals, culinary and culture.

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Eastern & Oriental sees over 3,000 people registering for Tower 1B of Tamarind project

Posted on June 30, 2015  | 338 views |  Topic : Featured, Featured Dev, Property News.

Christina Lau with a scale model of the RM900mil Tamarind project.

KUALA LUMPUR: Over 3,000 people registered their interest with Eastern & Oriental Bhd (E&O) for Tower 1B of The Tamarind, which was its first executive apartments project, at the Seri Tanjung Pinang development on Penang island.

E&O marketing and sales general manager (Penang) Christina Lau said on Monday there was an overwhelming response to Tower 1B, which consists of 552 units. Tower 1A, the first tower which also consisted of 552 units, was launched in February this year and was close to sold out.

“I believe the successful launch of the first tower helped to drum up the keen interest for Tower 1B. People also recognised that this was an opportunity to own a prized property in a much-desired address in Penang,” she said in a statement.

Lau said the project’s attractive pricing, which starts from RM600,000 backed by E&O’s strong brand and track record, were among the top reasons for The Tamarind’s appeal.

The Tamarind, a 6.9-acre freehold high-rise development with an estimated gross development value of RM900mil, features two blocks of 33 storeys comprising 1,104 units in total where a typical unit size of three bedrooms and two bathrooms start from 1,047sq ft.

The project also saw E&O partnering with renowned home furnishing specialist IKEA to collaborate from the inception of its show unit interior design to providing its full furnishings within.

This maiden partnership marked the first time a Malaysian property developer has approached IKEA to officially team up in setting up a property show unit.

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Jamek mosque redevelopment not a new plan

PETALING JAYA: The redevelopment of the Jamek mosque in Kampung Baru under 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s (1MDB) corporate social responsibility activities is not a new initiative, the company said.

It said the redevelopment plan was first announced by Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak during his visit to Kampung Baru on Feb 5, 2011.

“Yayasan 1MDB contributed RM20mil to the project from 2011 to the present day,” it said in a statement.

1MDB said construction work kicked off in 2012 and the redevelopment was scheduled for completion by the end of next month.

The Prime Minister had wanted the mosque to also be a vibrant community centre for Kampung Baru residents and to serve as a catalyst for the planned development of the area, it said.

“1MDB regrets that various parties have resorted to using the project to serve their own agenda,” it said.

According to its website, 1MDB’s other CSR projects undertaken by Yayasan 1MDB include new canteens for 48 primary schools in Sarawak as well as scholarship and academic grants to study medicine, dentistry and pharmacy for religious school students.

1MDB also collaborated with Dong Jiao Zhong and Huaren Education Foundation to provide academic grants to Unified Examinations Certificate holders from Chinese independent schools to help with their tertiary studies.

It partnered with the Sri Murugan Centre as well, giving academic grants to students who excel in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia and Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia examinations to help further their studies.

Last Friday the Prime Minister, who was opening the mosque’s new main prayer hall, said that the redevelopment project was fully borne by 1MDB.

“I asked for assistance from Yayasan 1MDB, which has come under fire on social media, with this project.

“But this redevelopment is 1MDB’s contribution to Muslims, particularly those in Kampung Baru,” Najib was quoted as saying.

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I-City developer confident of hitting RM500mil sales target

Big plans: (from left) Eu, executive chairman Tan Sri Lim Kim Hong and his wife Puan Sri Tey Siew Thuan sharing a light moment after the AGM. Eu says the focus on sales growth is part of the group’s plan to be a RM3bil company.

SHAH ALAM: I-Bhd, the master developer of i-City, is confident of sustaining double-digit sales growth to nudge it towards its target of RM500mil in annual revenues in three years.

The revenue growth would come mainly from its property development segment.

Deputy chairman Datuk Eu Hong Chew pointed out that the company’s property development hit a revenue of RM201mil for 2014, which was more than double the RM95mil recorded in the previous year.

“Sales of the property development segment for the first half of this year is 30% higher compared with the first half of last year,” he told reporters after the company’s AGM here yesterday.

The company’s i-City project contributed the majority of the sales for the first half of this year.

Eu said the focus on sales growth was part of the group’s plan to be a RM3bil company.

“Apart from the larger revenue contribution from the property development segment, we expect I-Bhd’s investment property portfolio to reach RM1bil by 2018.

“At the same time, we expect the revenue from the leisure segment to double compared with last year’s revenue of nearly RM50mil,” he said.

The group recently unveiled its RM3bil investment plan for a series of integrated tourism-related products at its 72-acre freehold i-City “ultrapolis” situated along the Federal Highway, hoping to attract over 30 million visitors a year by 2020.

The integrated tourism-related products comprising Leisure Park @i-City, three hotels (including the Best Western i-City Hotel and a planned four-star hotel by Hilton), the CentralPlaza @i-City super regional mall with a riverfront food and beverage (F&B), a convention and performing arts centre and a medical tourism project.

The group has invested RM70mil in its Leisure Park @i-City which draws about 90,000 visitors per week, and it planned to invest up to RM100mil more by 2018.

On CentralPlaza @i-City – a regional mall, to be jointly-developed with the Central Pattana Group, he said the construction work is expected to start in the final quarter of this year. “Furthermore, the mall will be complemented by a riverfront F&B development, deriving from the concept of the popular Clarke Quay in Singapore, to provide visitors a great shopping and dining experience by the river.

“A state-of-the-art convention and performing arts centre will be constructed adjacent to the mall, which is set to be an ideal place to host a wide range of MICE (Meeting, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibition) events and world-class performances,” he said.

Due to i-City’s status as Malaysia Multimedia Super Corridor cyber centre, Eu said the group was looking to invest in a robotic surgery centre which would drive a revolution in health services in the country as part of its medical tourism plan.

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PPB confident Puteri Harbour project will succeed despite property glut reports

Lim: ‘Puteri Harbour is the jewel of Nusajaya and the ongoing projects by several other developers within the vicinity are testimony that they too are optimistic of the prospects here.

NUSAJAYA: PPB Group Bhd is upbeat that its newly launched integrated waterfront development in Puteri Harbour will attract strong interest from local and foreign buyers.

Its managing director Lim Soon Huat said that despite negative news reports on Iskandar Malaysia’s property market outlook due to possible property glut, the company was confident that its project would do well. He said the location of the project overlooking Singapore would be its strong selling point as waterfront properties were rare and highly valued by property buyers.

“Puteri Harbour is the jewel of Nusajaya and the ongoing projects by several other developers within the vicinity are testimony that they too are optimistic of the prospects here,’’ Lim said on Saturday.

He said this after the opening of Southern Marina sales gallery and show units and the launch of the phase one of Southern Marina Residences, comprising of two tower blocks.

The two tower blocks – the 33-storey and the 35-storey blocks comprise 456 units of condominiums with five different floor plans, ranging from 769 sq ft to 2,262 sq ft at prices starting from RM880 per sq ft.

The waterfront development on a 5.05ha site also comprises of a 38-storey tower block of Seafront Residences, a 34-storey block of office and suites and 200,000 sq ft of waterfront retail space, expected to be completed by 2019.

The entire project with a gross development value of RM1.5bil is a joint-venture between Khazanah Nasional Bhd which has 30% equity and PPB Group and Kuok Brothers holding 70% stakes.

“We’ve already sold 50% of the 456 condominiums units for the phase one with 80% of the buyers are Malaysians and 20% are Singaporeans, mainland Chinese and buyers from Hong Kong,’’ said Lim.

He said that works on the two condominium tower blocks already started and expected to be completed by 2018, and phase two and phase three would start by the end of 2016.

Lim said that another strong selling point of the project was its close proximity to the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine and Puteri Harbour Ferry Terminal and just minutes away from the Second Link Crossing in Gelang Patah to Singapore.

“Right now there are already ferry services from Puteri Harbour to Batam Island and and Karimun Island in Indonesia and soon there will be services from here to Harbour Waterfront Terminal in Singapore,’’ he said. Lim said the company would also be targeting wealthy Indonesians from the two islands as rich Indonesians would normally own properties outside of their country.

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Meda buys land in KL from BCM for RM180mil

PETALING JAYA: Property developer Meda Inc Bhd is buying two parcels of freehold land in Kuala Lumpur from BCM Holdings Sdn Bhd for RM180mil.

The company is planning to build serviced apartments and commercial property with an estimated gross development value (GDV) of RM881.9mil.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Meda said the gross development cost of the project was estimated at RM705.5mil. It expected to make a profit of RM176.4mil from the development.

Meda said the project is scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of 2015 and be completed in four years.

The proposed acquisition represents a timely and unique opportunity for Meda to acquire landbank in the Klang Valley, aside from strengthening its position as a developer in the area.

Also, the two properties are located in a prime area within a mature industrial estate known as Chan Sow Lin in Kuala Lumpur and close to other established developments, such as Fraser Business Park, Southgate Commerical Centre, the Tun Razak Exchange and Sunway Velocity, it said in the filing with Bursa. It added that the project would have several phases, with Phase 1 expected to contain 294 units of serviced apartments and shop offices/shop lots.

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Gabungan AQRS eyes MRT Line 2

By ZUNAIRA SAIEED

It will bank on its experience in MRT Line 1 job worth RM391mi

Azizan: ‘We are not like other construction companies that are hunting for projects, but we want to leverage on creating value and opportunities.’

KUALA LUMPUR: Property-and-construction outfit Gabungan AQRS Bhd is aiming to clinch a contract from the upcoming Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Line 2.

The company is working on the viaduct guideway and other related works of the Sungai Buloh to Kota Damansara segment of MRT Line 1 worth RM391mil.

The company has an orderbook of RM1bil.

Executive director Datuk Azizan Jaafar said at a media briefing that a single package for Line 2 is expected to be worth between RM1.4bil and RM1.5bil.

The new line of the railway project offers 10 main packages compared with eight in the first line.

“We are very optimistic of getting the package, given the experience that we have garnered from the construction of the MRT,” Azizan said.

However, he said the bid for a Line 2 contract would be “price-dependent”, as the company had to ensure that it was profitable.

“We certainly do not want a price that would serve as a disadvantage. We want the job, but we also want it be cost-effective,” Azizan said, adding that profit margins were more important than a larger order book.

“We are not like other construction companies that are hunting for projects, but we want to leverage on creating value and opportunities,” he said.

Azizan is confident that the company would be successful in winning the bid for a Line 2 contract. Results from the bids will be announced in October.

“If we are successful, the construction of Line 2 will start in December or early next year, whereby the earnings contribution will be reflected in the financial year ending Dec 31, 2016,” Azizan said.

Meanwhile, executive director for corporate and investments Alex Lam told StarBiz that the company would use a combination of its own funding and bank borrowings for the Line 2 project.

Azizan also said that the joint-venture mixed-development project with Suria Capital Holdings Bhd known as One Jesselton Waterfront will start construction by early next year.

Chief executive officer Alvin Ng Chun Kooi said the company was looking towards a “sustainable business model” with recurring income from its properties to sustain its profitability. “We are lucky that the company’s various projects worth RM3.39bil is expected to sustain the company for the next six years,” Azizan added.

We are not like other construction companies that are hunting for projects, but we want to leverage on creating value and opportunities.’

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Bina Puri to build RM195mil twin towers in Iskandar

Executive director Matthew Tee.

KUALA LUMPUR: Bina Puri Holdings Bhd will build two blocks of 23-storey office towers in Medini’s central business district, Iskandar Malaysia, Johor costing RM195mil.

The company said the skyscraper project to be completed within 29 months will be developed by its wholly-owned subsidiary, Bina Puri Sdn Bhd.

In a statement, Bina Puri said its subsidiary had accepted a letter of award from Medini Development Sdn Bhd on June 15, 2015 to undertake the development of the twin office towers.

With the addition of this new award, the group’s unbuilt orderbook stands at RM2.13bil to date and it managed to secure new projects of up to RM738mil in 2015, said group executive director Matthew Tee (pic).

“Securing this project will increase the groups active involvement in construction and property development in Johor.

“We have scaled up our involvement in Iskandar Malaysia over the past five years,” he said.

Other notable projects in Johor include the RM300mil Royal Malaysian Police’s Batalion Six Camp Complex in Muar and the RM293mil Eastern Dispersal Link in Johor Baru, both completed in 2011.

The group is also developing two properties with a combined gross development value of RM314mil.

These are the ongoing RM204mil Lakehill Resort in Masai and RM110mil Petrie Villa four-storey link houses in Johor Baru, he said. – Bernama

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Sunway eyes RM1.5bil in new projects

PETALING JAYA: Sunway Bhd is aiming to add at least RM1.5bil in new contruction projects by the end of the year, as the company drums up support ahead of Sunway Construction Bhd’s prospectus launch next Monday.

A Reuters report said the initial public offer (IPO) had an indicative price range of between RM1.15 and RM1.20 a share, valuing the IPO at RM498mil on the top end.

“We are confident of sustaining these figures to add to our present order book of RM2.8bil. We are still working on a few prospects. An order book of RM4bil will sustain us for two years,” said Sunway chief financial officer Chong Chang Choong.

The outlook of the sector remained strong on the back of large government infrastructure projects under the Economic Transformation Programme and those announced in the Budget 2015.

Chong told reporters this after the company’s AGM yesterday that it also targeted to grow its property business.

“Our unbilled sales are about RM2.5bil while the total gross development value for the group is RM5.7bil for both existing and ongoing property development projects.

“The average take-up rate to date is more than 70%,” he added.

Chong also said the current consolidation in the property industry locally presented a “good opportunity” for developers to expand their landbank.

“It is good to do this when the market is softer as expectations will not be so high. We are always on the lookout for opportunities to expand our landbank,” he said.

On the company’s prospects, Chong was cautiously optimistic and hoped to deliver a set of satisfactory results for FY15. “We always strive to register a (profit) growth of at least 5%-10% every year. But over the last few years, we have always outperformed this target,” he said.

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