More office space for PJ’s Section 13

The site for the future PJCC

PETALING JAYA: The Brunsfield Group of Companies is targeting multinational companies who are on the lookout for a Petaling Jaya business address to take up space at its upcoming corporate office-cum-showroom building that will be coming up along Section 13’s Jalan Kemajuan.

Its executive director of property development Chan Chee Keong told theSun its central location would ensure the success of its project, known as Petaling Jaya Commercial Complex (PJCC).

“The commercial site is also near popular eateries like Restaurant Unique Seafood. Nearby existing and upcoming commercial developments point to the potential of this area as well,” said Chan.

Having obtained its building plans and development order approvals recently, construction of the eight-storey project with a gross floor area of 378,172 sq ft and a net letable area of 289,997 sq ft on a freehold 3.48-acre site will start in June. Completion is in 36 months and the developer plans to lease the building enbloc.

“We have started the pre-leasing exercise and have received a few enquiries.

Such a building will be ideal for businesses that also need warehousing or storage facilities to accompany the office. Behind the main block of PJCC, there is space for such facilities,” he added. The Sime Darby Group and Brunsfield jointly own the site. PJCC will house showroom facilities
on the ground and first levels while the remaining upper floors will be for office use. According to Chan, rental rates are between RM4 and RM4.50 psf.

Meanwhile, a consultant familiar with the area believes that the project will do well because of its location. Kim Realty principal Vincent Ng also told theSun that the whole Section 13 area has been zoned for commercial use.

“Nowadays Jalan Kemajuan is very much considered a main thoroughfare and with its close proximity to the Federal and Sprint highways, it will be suitable for businesses that are looking for an office away from the city centre, which is getting too crowded,” said Ng.

Ng also noted that bungalows along Jalan Kemajuan have been transformed into business premises over the past few years. “Businesses here front the main road and enjoy good exposure. Demand for land here is also on the rise and I believe people are willing to pay more than RM200 psf, depending on the size and location of the site,” he added.

As land prices become more expensive in the city centre, Ng also feels that businesses are moving away from the city centre to suburban areas. Citing Damansara Heights as an example, he said rental rates for office space there is in the region of RM5.50 psf.

“Rental rates in the Section 13 area are easily going between RM3.50 and RM4 psf, such as those in Jaya 33, which is fully occupied, and 3 2 Square’s tower block,” said Ng, adding that PJCC could command a rental rate of about RM4 psf if it were to be a nicely done up modern building.

With the appreciating land cost at Section 13, Ng also felt that it would be a waste to offer industrial properties.

By theSun (by Loo Pik Kwan)

Films and TV shows prompt Britons to buy slice of paradise

LONDON: With its deserted shores and pristine waters, year-round sunshine and lush vegetation, the island idyll was as much a star of the film The Beach as its Hollywood hero, Leonardo diCaprio.

So it is perhaps not surprising that some film-goers have sought to emulate the fictional young hedonists in the 2000 thriller by seeking their own utopia in Thailand. And according to a new survey by a foreign exchange company, Foreign Currency Direct, they are among the one fifth of Britons who have bought a foreign property after being influenced by a film or television series.

With the help of the polling company YouGov, the firm asked 2,000 people what prompted their investment in bricks and mortar abroad. After analysing their replies, it picked out the 10 films and television series that have tempted buyers to start a new life, or buy a second home, abroad.
Among the favourites are the James Bond films, which have frequently featured the azure waters and lively nightlife of the Caribbean, and The Lord of the Rings, which is said to have encouraged fans to seek a new life in its mountainous backdrop, New Zealand.

The cobbled streets, fishing boats and shimmering sea of The Talented Mr Ripley have strengthened the appeal of rural Italy, despite harbouring a celluloid psychopath played by Matt Damon. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin has, apparently, prompted an influx of romantic home buyers to the Ionian island of Cephalonia.

An interest in moving to Argentina may have been aroused by the 2004 hit The Motorcycle Diaries, which depicted the journey of a young Ernesto “Che” Guevera and his friend Alberto Granado from Buenos Aires to Venezuela.

Television series credited with stirring people into action include A Year in Provence, based on Peter Mayle’s diary of restoring a French farmhouse. About 13% of buyers in the South of France aged over 45 said they had been “seduced” by the series.

Rural Ireland has become popular partly as a result of Ballykissangel, the BBC drama set in a village in County Kerry, but filmed in County Wicklow. And the purchase of property in the Scottish highlands has been spurred by the panoramas of The Monarch of the Glen.

Further afield, the soap operas Neighbours and Home and Away, set in Melbourne and Sydney, have tempted Brits to Australia with images of detached houses and unfeasibly large kitchens. The cheaper cost of living was the biggest reason cited by owners for buying abroad, followed by fear of crime at home, the weather and investment or taxation.

By The Independent

Parkson to build RM214mil mall

PETALING JAYA: Parkson Holdings Bhd has proposed a RM214mil retail mall in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur with a minimum gross retail floor area of 690,000 sq ft.

In a statement to Bursa Malaysia, it said there would also be a basement floor of 328,000 sq ft – encompassing 900 parking bays and 6,700 sq ft of retail shops. It said the mall was expected to be completed in the second half of 2009.

By The Star

Gurney project in Penang may be reviewed

Guan Eng: State govt wants views from everyone


Raising concerns: Artist impression of Gurney Paragon, a mixed integrated development comprising a shopping mall, high-end condominiums and a heritage building.

PENANG: The state government will review the billion-ringgit Gurney Paragon project if there are “justifiable grounds”.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the state government would get views from all quarters and welcomes any objection.

“We will revisit the projects approved by the previous administration and if necessary, review them if these projects are adversely affecting people’s lives.

“The concerns expressed to us by NGOs have been taken into account and we want certain procedures to be complied with, as should be the way the government works,” he said after a dialogue session with members of the Free Trade Zone Penang Companies’ Association yesterday.

Lim was responding to calls by the Penang Heritage Trust (PHT) and Bar Council Legal Aid Centre to review and hold an open hearing on the project.

PHT chairman Dr Choong Sim Poey had told a press conference the state government should reassess the planning permission procedures practised by the previous Penang Municipal Council.

Gurney Paragon is a mixed integrated development by Hunza Properties (Penang) Sdn Bhd comprising a shopping mall, two blocks of high-end condominiums and a heritage building spread over 4ha of freehold land.

Located along Gurney Drive fronting the sea, the land was formerly occupied by the Uplands International School. The company bought it in 2004 for RM97mil.

Gurney Paragon has a total gross development value of close to RM1bil.

Piling work for the development has begun and the project is scheduled to be completed by 2010.

Lim said the state welcomed any view or suggestion on projects that had been approved by the previous state government.

By The Star

IJM: Builders to maintain profits

IJM Corp, Malaysia’s second-biggest builder, said the nation’s construction companies will be able to maintain profits for at least two years, dismissing concern that the government’s poll losses will slow spending on public works.

Opposition victories in five states won’t hamper IJM’s earnings, managing director Krishnan Tan told reporters today at an investor conference in Kuala Lumpur organised by the Malaysian stock exchange.

“It’s not peaking,” Tan said. “Awards may peak but jobs take two to three years to finish so one has to be clear that in terms of revenue spins, they’ll be on for two to three years.”

Shares of Malaysian builders including IJM have plunged on fears Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s spending plan for roads, bridges and ports may be delayed after the ruling coalition lost its two-third parliamentary majority. The Kuala Lumpur Construction Index has dropped 9.4 per cent since March 8.

“Most of the big construction companies already have substantial order books that will take them to two years of earnings,” Tan said. “If there’s a delay, it will be a delay in order-book enhancement. It shouldn’t affect the earnings in immediate terms.”

Many of the country’s large construction contracts have yet to be awarded, “so I don’t see how it can peak,” he said, referring to new orders.

By Bloomberg