Thinkproperty Blog

JOHOR BARU: The entrance fees for Asia's first ever Legoland theme park in Nusajaya are too high for locals, said Malaysian Tourists Guides Council president Jimmy Leong.

He said Legoland Malaysia should have a two-tier ticket system to cater to both locals and foreigners.

“Other places of interest, like the cable car ride in Langkawi or the Istana Muzium here, have implemented such a system,” he told The Star yesterday.

Leong pointed out that foreign visitors are charged US$7 (RM21) while Malaysians have to pay RM5, with a RM1 discount for Johoreans for entry into Istana Muzium.

JOHOR BARU: The Johor Premium Outlets is set to open its doors on Friday.

The upscale outlet will feature more than 80 designer and branded stores offering factory prices with daily discounts of between 25% and 65%.

A special sneak preview has been organised for invited guests, including government agency personnel, tomorrow.

State Tourism and Domestic Trade committee chairman Hoo Seong Chang said the opening of the JPO was timely with the current school holidays in Malaysia and Singapore.

GEORGE TOWN: Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has admitted that the state government has not been building affordable homes.

However, he said the state had provided low-cost houses through its Penang Development Corporation (PDC).

“Almost 11,000 low-cost homes had been built by the state government,” he pointed out.

“Some 3,000 were built through the PDC and the rest by the private sector.

PETALING JAYA: The Housing and Local Government Ministry is working on a new Strata Management Act which would help “guide” those living in stratified property.

“Among other things, the new Act would put the guidelines on stratified property owners’ rights and responsibilities in place,” said its minister Datuk Seri Chor Chee Heung.

The new Act will replace the Building and Common Property Maintenance and Ma­­nagement Act, which was passed in 2007.

Chor said the new Act was necessary as selfishness made it difficult for those living in condos, apartments and flats.

PETALING JAYA: Proposals have been invited for the main plan design of Malaysia City, a development at the former Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) air base in Sungei Besi.

The proposal to take part in the pre-qualification of the main plan must be sent to the Malaysian Institute of Planners office in Plaza Kelana Jaya before 4pm on Nov 15.

The main developer for the 196ha site is 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Malaysia City is envisioned to become a new landmark within Greater Kuala Lumpur. It will include a commercial area, residences and lifestyle amenities.

PETALING JAYA: With property stocks trending lower over the past several weeks and its shares halved from the initial public offer price of RM2.60 in June, UOA Development Bhd is manoeuvring around the current soft patch with a proposed purchase of 9.8 acres.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the company said it had proposed to buy the freehold Kepong land for RM72.9mil cash.

The stock closed three sen higher at RM1.28 yesterday.

Chief operating officer David Khor told StarBiz that a residential development was being planned for that land and work would commence next year.

PETALING JAYA: Kimlun Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Kimlun Corp Bhd, has accepted a letter of award from Nusajaya Lifestyle Sdn Bhd for the construction of a retail mall and ancillary buildings in Medini Iskandar, Johor Baru. The contract is worth RM51mil.

PETALING JAYA: The vacant plot of land that used to house Panasonic air-conditioner plant at the intersection of Federal Highway and Damansara Puchong Highway (LDP) will soon get a new landmark with the planned development of the Icon City project.

Built in the 1970s, the plant in SS9, Petaling Jaya, has been left vacant for the past four to five years since Panasonic relocated its factory to an industrial zone in Section 21, Shah Alam.

The 20-acre site was acquired by Mah Sing Group Bhd in 2009 from vendor, Panasonic HA Air-Conditioning (M) Sdn Bhd, for RM89mil or at RM104 per sq ft.

The parcel has a few advantages high visibility with direct frontage to two busy highways the LDP and Federal Highway; good connectivity to multiple highways; and proximity to the KTM stations in Seri Setia, Setia Jaya and Kelana Jaya.

PETALING JAYA: SP Setia Bhd has proposed to acquire the remaining 40% stake in KL Eco City Sdn Bhd (KLEC) from Yayasan Gerakbakti Kebangsaan for RM75mil.

This will be satisfied via the issuance of 19.4 million new SP Setia shares at an issue price of RM3.87 per share.

Currently, KLEC is a 60%-owned subsidiary of SP Setia. Upon completion of the proposed acquisition, KLEC will become a wholly-owned subsidiary.

GEORGE TOWN: Ivory Properties Group Berhad will develop the Bayan Mutiara mixed development project tendered out by the Penang Development Corp (PDC).

In a press release, its board of directors announced that the group had received and accepted the letter of acceptance from PDC on July 25.

“We received the letter for the proposal for purchase and development of 102.56 acres of land located in Bayan Mutiara of which 67.56acres are existing land and 35 acres are to be reclaimed for a proposed mixed development.

“The proposed project shall be subjected to the terms and conditions to be mutually agreed upon between the parties in an agreement to be entered into at a later date. Ivory will undertake to make the necessary announcements in due course.

Building and land sold to Soaring Profit

PETALING JAYA: Eastern & Oriental Bhd (E&O) is selling a building and the freehold 27,744 sq m it is located on for RM134mil cash to Soaring Profit Sdn Bhd.

The land and building in Penang is part of the E&O Group's 240-acre phase one of the Seri Tanjung Pinang mixed development project (see pic).

In a Bursa Malaysia filing yesterday, E&O said the building was completed in May this year and subsequently leased to hypermarket retail operator Tesco for a 20-year period.

The rental receivable from the building, which has about 269,418 sq ft of gross floor area and 1,042 car park bays, is RM7.6mil per annum.

SEREMBAN: The Negeri Sembilan government has decided to adopt the Projek Perumahan Rakyat to provide housing assistance for the poor in the state.

The Projek Perumahan Rakyat was initiated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to provide low-income earners with the opportunity to own a home.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Hassan said the Projek Perumahan Rakyat would help reduce the burden of the poor.

The Reserve @ Puncak Kayangan Kemensah saw 27 units taken up with 10 expected to be sold by end of July, the chairman of Weststar Construction Sdn Bhd and managing director of Weststar Group, Tan Sri Syed Azman reported.

The Reserve is jointly developed by Asset1, an Australia-based property developer, and Weststar Construction Sdn. Bhd.

This is Asset1’s first residential property project in Malaysia.

The Reserve is an enclave of low-density, 37 guarded bungalows residences within a natural, landscaped setting in Ulu Kelang.

MARAN: More than RM300mil has been allocated for the development of Felda townships over the next few years.

Announcing the economic package for the development of the townships, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said they included a modern sports complex, housing projects and the setting up of haemodialysis centres.

The multi-million ringgit development projects were expected to spur desired growth and make the Felda community a role model for others to emulate, he said after launching the national-level Settlers' Day celebration at the Nadi Kota mini stadium here yesterday.

PROPERTY developer Tambun Indah Land Berhad is anticipating at least 15% revenue growth this year from RM128mil recorded last year.

Its managing director Teh Kiak Seng said the company currently has six ongoing projects with total gross development value (GDV) of RM500mil.

“We will launch three more pro-jects at the end of the year, namely the BM Residence in Bukit Merta-jam, Capri Park in Butterworth and Kelisa Residence in Seberang Jaya with total GDV of RM110mil.

“We will have another project in Jelutong with three blocks of apartments and a block of office podium with GDV of RM200mil. Hopefully it can be launched by early next year,” he said after the company’s annual general meet- ing at Eastin Hotel in Penang last Friday.

SUNWAY Vivaldi and Sunway Rydgeway have been chosen as winners in the Condominium and Multiple Residences categories respectively in the Asia-Pacific Property Awards 2011 in association with Bloomberg Television.

Sunway City’s Sunway Vivaldi received the Five-Star Award for the 2011 Apartment Category while SunwayMas’ Sunway Rydgeway received the Highly-Commended Award for the 2011 Development (Multiple Units) category.

Successful entrants were presented their awards at a high profile gala presentation dinner at the Longemont Hotel in Shanghai on May 31.

“We are elated to receive the inaugural BCI Asia Top 10 Developers Award. It is a gratifying feat to be recognised as one of the best property developers in Asia as well as to be acknowledged for our commitment in driving a positive impact on the region’s built environment,” said Sunway City Bhd Property Development managing director Ho Hon Sang, who was present to receive the award.

RESIDENTS of Bukit OUG condominium in Kuala Lumpur voiced their objection against a project in the area at a meeting with City Hall (DBKL) officers yesterday.

The residents are objecting against the increase in density from 50 people to 500 per acre if the said the project, The Treez, is carried out.

Bukit OUG Condominium Residents Association vice-president Charles Ho Fook Wah said they had no problems with the development on private land, however, they were concerned with the problems arising from an increase in population density.

Ho and his fellow neighbours are worried that traffic congestion will worsen with the development.

MUAR: TAFI Industries Bhd is bidding for three tenders to refurbish and supply RM10mil worth of furniture for three property development projects in Malaysia.

Group executive chairman Saw Eng Guan said the company was confident of securing at least one of the contracts based on its track record in supplying furniture to its clients.

The company had RM8mil contracts in hand to supply furniture for the refurbishment of several educational institutions and residential property projects in the country.

Among them are the Monash University branch campus in Selangor, Marlborough College in Nusajaya, Iskandar Malaysia and Bayu Marina Serviced Aparments in Johor Baru.

PETALING JAYA: Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Temasek Holdings have teamed up to develop RM30bil worth of real estate projects in Singapore and Iskandar Malaysia in Johor.

Two separate joint venture companies, the first called M+S Pte Ltd which is 60% owned by Khazanah and 40% by Temasek, will develop six parcels of land in Singapore into office, residential, hotel and retail buildings of up to 501,020 sq m worth RM27bil.

The second, a 50:50 joint venture called Pulau Indah Ventures Sdn Bhd, will build service apartments, a corporate training centre, and commercial, retail, residential and wellness-related development worth RM3bil over an area of 1.37 sq km.

SHAH ALAM: Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor Bhd (KPS) expects its property division, Kumpulan Hartanah Selangor Bhd, to be profitable again in the current financial year ending Dec 31, 2011 (FY11), boosted by some new and ongoing property launches.

Chairman Raja Idris Raja Kamarudin said the projects were that of a proposed plan to build a resort in Pulau Indah, Klang, a soon-to-be-launched mix-development project in Section 14, Petaling Jaya and a commercial project in Bandar Baru Salak Tinggi, Sepang.

“Our strategies now are to unlock and increase the value of the group's assets and minimise our liabilities. Saying this, we are hoping that our property arm will have a turnaround in FY11,” he told reporters yesterday after the group AGM.

Kumpulan Hartanah Selangor posted a net loss of RM48.05mil in the first quarter ended March 31, 2011 on the back of RM46.7mil revenue against a net profit of RM1.46mil and revenue of RM46.34mil a year ago.