Malton going prime in Petaling Jaya

By New Straits Times

Public-listed Malton Bhd is aiming to end the year on a high note with the launch of two major projects in prime locations of Selangor.

The first is a mixed commercial venture that's breaking ground on a 2.63-acre site in Petaling Jaya city's main thoroughfare of Jalan Utara.

Located beside the Tun Hussein Onn Eye Hospital and close to the Armada Hotel, the company said its subsidiary Khuan Choo Property Management Sdn Bhd (KCPM) will develop the site into a cluster of business suites and retail lots in seven-storey blocks.

While the project has yet to be officially named, sources within the company say that the name "VSquare" is being bandied about.

Malton senior sales manager Andrew Goh said the company could launch the project by early December and is already inviting prospective buyers to register their interest.

The first offering, he said, would be business suites at an indicative price of RM480psf.

KCPM's involvement with the site is via a development agreement it entered into with the board of trustees of Lutheran Church in Malaysia and Singapore (LCMS) in October 2003.

Under the terms of the agreement, KCPM will build for the church an 85,000sq ft building costing at least RM12.5 million on 38,000sq ft of land next to the 2.63-acre site.

The developer has 24 months to complete the building, after which LCMS will transfer all its rights to the 2.63-acre site.

Based on the agreement's total consideration of RM19.5 million, it implies that the site is worth RM170psf.

Another undertaking Malton is preparing for launch is a high-end serviced apartment near the Saujana Golf and Country Club in Shah Alam.

Situated next to the Japanese International School and fronting the Subang Airport highway, the 6.02-acre project has been planned to accommodate 360 units in three blocks of 13 storeys.

To be called Amaya Condominiums, Malton's Goh said the project will boast units with the look and feel of semidees and bungalows.

"We're still at the planning stage and will release more details closer to our launch in late December," he said, but indicated starting prices could be in the region of RM500,000.

This would be similar to what another serviced apartment in the area called Hijauan Saujana is tagged at.

Undertaken by Focal Aims Bhd subsidiary, Esquire Corner Sdn Bhd, units of between 1,700sq ft and 4,200sq ft are being offered together with facilities, private lift access and extra storage space on the parking levels from RM600,000.

The developer is also expected to offer a limited number of twoand three-storey penthouses from the RM900,000 mark.