Faber to launch RM600m Klang Valley, Sabah projects

FABER Group Bhd plans to launch new property projects worth some RM600 million in the Klang Valley and Sabah over the next 18 months.

Its property arm, Faber Development Holdings Sdn Bhd (FDH), has 18ha, which is enough to launch five niche projects and keep it busy for four years, managing director Adnan Mohammad told reporters at a briefing in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

"We are not holding back on development. We have to keep moving under current market turbulence," Adnan said.

Adnan said Faber is focusing on niche projects as it is easier to adjust prices for raw material costs and such developments offer higher margins.

In Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, FDH will launch Taman Hilltop Perdana in early August, a two-year project worth RM32 million, comprising 34 units of triple-storey semi-detached homes.

FDH senior general manager Khalid Abdul Majid said it is targeting medium to high income groups. The units will be priced at RM870,000 to RM1.1 million each.

Also in Kota Kinabalu, FDH will launch phase 2 of Lucky Heights, a RM110 million high-end condominium project with 300 units, each priced from RM300,000, by the second half of 2009.

Phase 1 was completed 20 years ago.

FDH, in a venture with City Hall, is also launching 40 units of semi-detached homes and six bungalows at Taman Danau Desa. The semi-detached units will be priced at RM1.9 million each while the bungalows start from RM2.5 million.

The RM90 million project, which is part of its multi-billion ringgit Taman Desa at Old Klang Road, Kuala Lumpur, will be launched in early 2009. Faber started developing Taman Desa in the mid-1970s.

The homes will be built on 2.3ha with leasehold title owned by City Hall, which will get 20 per cent of the project's profit, Khalid said.

"Whether good times or bad, we are confident of the sale of the product due to its locality," he said.

Also at Taman Danau Desa, FDH will launch 38 units of three-storey superlink homes, worth RM60 million by the third quarter of 2009.

At FDH's existing development, the RM600 million Laman Rimbunan mixed development project in Kepong, it will launch phase four and five comprising 160 units of semi-detached units and three bungalows by year-end.

"We plan to sell the semi-d homes for between RM1.1 million and RM1.3 million each while the bungalows will double that. We are targeting buyers from Sg Buloh, Kepong, Rawang and Selayang. We are bullish on the product because of the take up rate at our previous phases," Khalid said.

The 40ha project, in which FDH has a 55 per cent stake and the rest held by Metro Kajang Bhd, has six phases and the first three phases, worth RM300 million, have been launched since end 2004.

By New Straits Times (by Sharen Kaur)