Casa del Rio Melaka apartments may be sold for RM20m in all

The 32 high-end apartment units in Casa del Rio Melaka, located along the Malacca river, may be sold for an estimated RM20 million collectively.

These apartments form part of the RM102 million Casa del Rio Melaka boutique hotel, mall and apartment project which will open in June 2010.



"The apartment units will measure between 1,134 sq ft and 2,109 sq," Tan Sri Syed Yusof Syed Nasir, group managing director of Casa del Rio (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, the project developer told Business Times in an interview.

Set to be launched within the next two months, these two-bedroom and three-bedroom units are said to have received encouraging response.

Once they are sold, the buyer has the option of appointing Casa del Rio to manage for them.

The four-storey building will also have 64-bedroom suites that will all sit on 1.29ha along the Malacca River.

Meanwhile, Syed Yusof expects the hotel to register an average occupancy of 60 per cent to 65 per cent in the first year of operations.

This could rise to 70 per cent in the second year.

"We expect a positive cash flow. We are looking at about RM450 per night to RM1,000 per night for the larger suites," added.

Casa del Rio is Spanish for "Home by the River". The hotel has Spanish influences, but also retains the local character in keeping with Malacca as World Heritage site.

Syed Yusof also operates the 570-room Concorde Hotel Kuala Lumpur, the 381-room Concorde Shah Alam and the 338-room Concorde Inn KLIA.

By Business Times (by Vasantha Ganesan)