Magna Prima plans RM1bil 5-in-1 project

KUALA LUMPUR: Magna Prima Bhd will embark on a mega five-in-one integrated development at Jalan Kuching here this year.

Group managing director Steven Lee Kian Seng said the project, with a gross development value (GDV) of RM1.1bil, would comprise three-storey shop lots, eight-storey signature offices, two blocks of serviced apartments, a boutique hotel and a three-level retail mall.

“We are thrilled to be embarking on this project which is Magna Prima’s biggest project to-date,” he said at the company’s annual dinner in Kuala Lumpur last Saturday.

Construction on the 10.23-acre freehold site will be undertaken in four phases, with the first phase to begin in July. The final phase is targeted for completion by the third quarter of 2012.

Lee said the project would re-affirm the company’s standing as a major award-winning property contractor and developer in the country.

“When I took over the management of Magna Prima in 2005, I had a heavy responsibility ahead of me. I had to re-energise a demoralised team and motivate them to work with me towards building a new Magna Prima into one of the country’s top property developers, and a prominent brand name in the region.

“Quality, innovation, hard work and teamwork will be the cornerstones of the new Magna Prima as we steer it towards profitability and growth,” he added.

On its award-winning “six-star” The Avare in Kuala Lumpur, Lee said it had won the CNBC Asia Pacific Property Award in the high-rise development category.

The Avare, he noted, was being built at a “breathtaking rate of seven floors a month and all 78 units sold within a year.”

Magna Prima posted a whopping 944% rise in pre-tax profit to RM37.6mil for the year ended Dec 31, 2007 from RM3.6mil in 2006. Revenue also rose by 326% to RM344.4mil.

By The Star (by S.C.Cheah)