Dutaland expects Kenny Heights to draw wide interest

An artist’s impression of the residential villas in Kenny Heights Estate

DUTALAND Bhd anticipates drawing the interest of local and foreign investors for its Kenny Heights integrated midtown development.

Over the years, almost every single piece of land in Kuala Lumpur has been occupied, given the massive property developments, and now there is not much freehold land left.

The popularity of properties in Kuala Lumpur, one of Asia’s throbbing business and financial hubs, has boosted property prices skyhigh.

Dutaland group managing director Datuk Yap Yong Seong said Kenny Heights was perhaps the last mixed-use development in the Mont’ Kiara, Damansara Heights and Kenny Hills areas.

“Location is the key to success for any major property development,” he said, adding that Kenny Heights was sited just 5km north of central Kuala Lumpur.

Dutaland, formerly Mycom Bhd, bought the 88-acre freehold land 32 years ago. The land is jointly owned by Dutaland’s wholly-owned subsidiary KH Estates Sdn Bhd (58%) and Olympia Properties Sdn Bhd (42%), a unit of Olympia Industries Bhd.

“We are not in a hurry for new launches. The most important thing is to offer good schemes to the investors and have a proper project planning.”

Yap believes that investors would knock on the company’s door if it offered a good scheme with quality properties.

“There are six architects involved in this development. We have spent tens of millions of ringgit on the layout alone. We want to build a second Suria KLCC,” he said.

Kenny Heights is being developed by Dutaland’s wholly-owned subsidiary KH Land Sdn Bhd.

Yap said Kenny Heights was ideally sited for living or business as it had ready access to highways – Sprint, NKVE and Jalan Duta – linking it to the city centre, Petaling Jaya, KL Sentral and the KL International Airport.

Divided into nine parcels, Kenny Heights will be developed over the next 15 years. The entire development comprises residences, offices, hotels, retail space, medical centre, art gallery, school and design centre.

The proposed development has been approved for a gross floor area of about 23 million sq ft, of which 70% would be commercial properties and 30% residential.

Yap said Kenny Heights would be shaped by some of the world’s premier architects and designers.

The first phase of Kenny Heights, covering 23 acres, includes Kenny Heights Estate (Estate), Kenny Heights Sanctuary (Sanctuary) and Kenny Heights Central (Central).

Yap said half of the 49 four-storey luxurious town villas in the Estate had been sold since April through private events and roadshows in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Hong Kong. Of the buyers, 40% were foreigners.

He said the villa’s signature feature was a 36ft-long private swimming pool in a garden in the master room. The villas consist of four to five bedrooms each and have built-up areas from 5,300 sq ft to 6,700 sq ft. They are priced from RM900 to RM1,700 per sq ft.

“The Estate is expected to draw a gross development value of RM200mil and is projected to be ready by the fourth quarter of 2010,” Yap said.

After launching the Sanctuary condominium next March, the developer will also launch Central in the same year.

The 10-acre Central will comprise hotel and hotel residences, terrace villas and serviced apartments as well as a neighbourhood retail component.

Asian Finance Bank Bhd, the financier for Kenny Heights development, aims to bring in foreign investors, especially from the Middle East.

On other Dutaland projects, Yap said 60% of its serviced apartments in The Regent Residences KL had been sold since the soft launch in April.

The size of the 115 serviced apartments ranges from 548 to 3,719 sq ft and the units are priced from US$400,000.

By The Star (by Rachael Kam)

Naim Cendera wants to venture into peninsula

Note: Financial year ends Dec 31

KUCHING-BASED Naim Cendera Holdings Bhd is looking to venture into Peninsular Malaysia’s property sector in the next three years when the market gets back into high gear.

It is also harbouring plans to expand into neighbouring Sabah as well as venture overseas.

Corporate affairs director Ricky Kho said although the management team had done some studies of the Klang Valley market and looked at some potential land, nothinhg had been firmed up yet.

“We will not rush into Peninsular Malaysia until we are ready. The property market here is different from our home base in Sarawak. It will take time to learn about the market conditions before we can move in,” Kho told StarBiz.

The company is studying various proposals, including joint ventures with potential partners. The current market slowdown will be a good time to expand its land-bank.

Naim Cendera has RM500mil of unutilised bonds and about RM70mil in cash reserve which could be used to buy land.

Having gained a higher profile with the recent accolade bestowed by FIABCI Malaysia on its managing director Datuk Hasmi Hasnan, who was named Property Man of the Year at the Malaysia Property Award 2008, the developer is looking forward to more good breaks.

Since its foray into property development nearly 15 years ago, Naim Cendera has built some 15,000 houses in Sarawak with a cumulative gross development value (GDV) of RM1.8bil.

Its flagship developments are Miri’s Permyjaya New Township, Desa Ilmu in the university town of Kota Samarahan and the upmarket Riveria satellite township in Kuching’s southern corridor.

Under Hasmi’s dynamic stewardship, Naim Cendera is now Sarawak’s biggest housing developer.

To strengthen its market leadership, the company plans to expand its market share in the state to 30% from 20% now.

It also aims to triple its annual sales to 3,000 houses from the current average of 1,000 units.

Nearly 80% of the houses built by Naim Cendera are priced from RM150,000 to RM200,000, with the balance comprising high-end residencial units of up to RM1mil.

“Our aim is to be a one-stop property shop, offering a complete spectrum of property-related products and services.

“However, with the market slowdown, sales for the current financial year ending Dec 31 (FY08) are expected to moderate to about RM200mil from RM225mil in FY07,” Kho said.

Naim Cendera’s huge land-bank of almost 2,800 acres, including 400 acres in Kuching, have an estimated GDV of RM5bil.

It also owns land in the industrial town of Bintulu, which is located within the Sarawak Corridor for Renewal Energy – an ambitious regional plan to spearhead the state’s second phase of industrial development.

Meanwhile, the company’s construction division has a good spread of projects worth an outstanding order book of RM2.4bil.

Kho said the medium-term prospects remained good and the group was aggressively bidding for more jobs. The target is to clinch RM8bil worth of projects over the next five years.

Given its remarkable track record of timely delivery and award-winning quality, he said the prospects for securing these contracts looked good.

Meanwhile, Naim Cendera’s venture into the fast-expanding oil and gas sector is making significant contributions to its bottom line.

For FY07, its new oil and gas division contributed 10% to group revenue of RM646mil. The division has achieved the status of a Petronas-licensed contractor for major construction, civil, and mechanical and engineering works.

“Going forward, the company’s plans would involve gradual diversification, but only into areas where its core competencies as well as capital and human assets can be leveraged to maximise shareholder value,” Kho said.

By The Star (by Angie Ng)

Dubai property giant sacks 500 workers

DUBAI: Dubai property giant Nakheel - behind such grandiose projects as a one-kilometre tower and artificial palm-shaped islands - said yesterday it has fired 500 staff because of the global financial crisis.

The government-controlled developer, one of the biggest employers in the booming Gulf emirate, also said it would be scaling back work on some of its projects.

"Approximately 15 per cent of the total workforce, which amounts to 500 employees, was made redundant," it said in a statement, describing the move as "a responsible action in light of the current global market conditions."

It is the largest job cut to be announced in the wake of the global financial crisis in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates and in Dubai, a city of opulent hotels and shopping malls which hosts hundreds of thousands of foreign residents.
Nakheel is in charge of developing several iconic projects in Dubai, including three palm-shaped man-made islands, only one of which is completed and a cluster of islands in the shape of a map of the world.

By AFP