PJD can clear off all units

Lim Lian Seng

KUALA LUMPUR: Property developer PJ Development (PJD) Holdings Bhd is confident the unsold portions of its residental and commercial units worth RM220mil from six property projects spread across the country will be sold by year-end, said chief operating officer Lim Lian Seng.

The six property projects are Endah Promenade in Sri Petaling, Impian Meridian in Subang-USJ, Taman Putri Kulai and Mont’ Callista in Johor, Harbour Place in Butterworth, Penang and Bukit Istana in Kuantan.

The six property projects have a total gross develoment value (GDV) of RM1.5bil, according to Lim.

“We have sold about 85% of the residental and commercial units from the six property projects worth a GDV of RM1.2bil,” he told StarBiz, but added that a sold-and-unbilled portion worth RM300mil had yet to be collected.

“There shouldn’t be any problem of collection from the sold-and-unbilled portion,” he said.

On the unsold portion of the residental and commercial units worth RM220mil from the six property projects, Lim said the company had launched a Mega Cash Home Bonanza promotion that would entail giving away RM340,000 cash to attract homebuyers.

The promotion period is from Feb 28 until June 30.

“Those who buy homes from any the six selected property projects within the period would automatically qualify for the cash monthly prizes and the opportunity to win the grand prize of RM200,000 cash,” he said, adding that the promotion was to create awareness of PJD’s property projects.

“With the economic downturn, cash is king and we want to collect as much cash as possible from our projects so that we can shop around for more land to develop, especially in the Klang Valley,” he said.

Lim said the company was lucky because many of PJD’s property projects were at the matured stages of their development.

“Thankfully the bulk of the residential and commercial buildings of our property projects were sold well before this economic crisis,” he said.

However, Lim conceded that some luxury property projects by PJD, like the Duta Kingsbury property project in Sri Hartamas, needed to be restructured to make it more attractive to home buyers.

“The houses were initially priced about RM2mil and above each but we plan to scale the project down and build more affordable homes averaging about RM1.5mil each,” he said.

By The Star (by Danny Yap)

Walton remains committed, reassures customers

PETALING JAYA: Walton International Property Group (M) Sdn Bhd says it remains committed to its Malaysian clients, citizens and authorities.

“Walton operates to the highest ethical and business standards in Malaysia and around the world,” Walton Asia chief operating officer Kent Britton said in a statement yesterday.

Last week, it was reported that Bank Negara had raided Walton following complaints from the public on land banking schemes promoted by the company.

The central bank had cautioned the public to be cautious of this type of land banking schemes promoted by Walton.

“Walton wishes to assure valued clients, employees, partners and the Malaysian public at large that it is co-operating fully with Bank Negara to resolve this matter as quickly as possible,” the company said.

Walton and the other members of the Walton group of companies constitute one of North America’s leading land-based real estate investment groups.

“In Malaysia, as elsewhere, we are committed to positive relationships with our valued clients and with the citizens and governments of the countries in which we do business,” Britton said.

“We are fully open and transparent in our professional relationships with regulatory authorities, and responsive to requests for information and cooperation,” he added.

Some earlier reports said Walton had made references to deposit-taking and interest schemes, and to distribution of real estate investment trusts (REITs).

“Walton does not distribute REITs, nor offers deposit-taking or interest schemes,” the company said.

It said the company offered clients the opportunity to purchase ownership of high-quality land in highly-researched and carefully-selected growth areas within Canada and the United States.

“Walton’s Malaysian clients hold legal titles to the North American land that they own, safely and securely registered in the respective jurisdictions,” the company added.

Britton said Walton was careful about the land that it selected and had delivered consistent returns to its clients in Malaysia and around the globe.

“In the last three years, we have returned the equivalent of RM1.5bil to Walton clients globally, including to those here in Malaysia,” he said.

He added that the company was proud to have been in Malaysia since 2002 as a respected member of the country’s growing and important international business and financial community.

Walton is a international corporation with 13 offices in seven countries.

By The Star

Four Seasons KL launch delayed

VENUS Assets Sdn Bhd, controlled by property tycoon Ong Beng Seng, has postponed the launch of its RM2 billion Four Seasons Hotel and Condominium tower project in Kuala Lumpur due to the worsening economic conditions.



Sources said the launch was also being delayed as it was still firming up details on development matters.

While it was unclear what the details were, the company has obtained Kuala Lumpur City Hall's approval to increase the condominium block to 65 storeys from 60.

It has also completed piling works at the 1.04ha site, sandwiched between Menara Maxis and Wisma Central.

Business Times was told that Venus Assets was considering launching the project at the end of this year or next, provided the business environment improved.

It had considered launching the project last year. The project then was to comprise a 72-storey condominium block, later reduced to 60, and a 38-storey hotel building.

The condominium block was to be a joint project between Venus Assets and KLCC Holdings Bhd, developed on a 0.64ha site adjacent to Menara Maxis and owned by KLCC Holdings. Another 1.04ha was reserved for the 38-storey hotel building.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the plan was aborted. Instead, Venus Assets will build the 65-storey tower featuring condominium and hotel units.

"Venus Assets is quite comfortable at the moment and is not rushing to launch the development. It will wait and see how the market turns out over the next few months," a source said on condition of anonymity.

The tower will house 240 hotel rooms, 150 condominium units, six levels of parking and four retail floors. It will take four years to build.

The source said it was wise of Venus Assets to delay the launch as it would not be able to fetch the required market price.

Venus Assets was looking at pegging the condominium units from RM3,000 per sq ft (psf), and the hotel rooms from RM750 per night.

"I don't think they will be able to get that now as prices have fallen by 15-25 per cent for luxury condominiums in Kuala Lumpur. If they launch now, their development value may drop by that range," the source added.

Venus Assets is the owner and developer of the tower project. Its chairman is Tan Sri Syed Yusof Syed Nasir, who handles the business interests of Selangor's Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah.

The Sultan and Syed Yusof are close associates of Ong, who owns Four Seasons resorts in Bali, Singapore and the Maldives.

Ong is the controlling shareholder of Singapore's Hotel Properties Ltd, Southeast Asia's second largest hotelier by market value.

By Business Times (by Sharen Kaur)

Strategy to turn Iskandar into tourism hotspot

ISKANDAR Investment Bhd (IIB), which coordinates the development of Iskandar Malaysia in Johor, aims to transform Medini into a world-class integrated tourism destination by setting up more theme parks and hotels for holiday-makers.

Part of the overall tourism strategy for Iskandar Malaysia, in which Medini is located, has been to develop a multi-park destination containing a number of complementary international theme parks.



Managing director Arlida Ariff said the strategy is designed to attract a large number of visitors to Iskandar, increase the visitor length of stay and spend per visitor.

She said IIB and Khazanah Nasional Bhd are committed to the strategy and have been in discussions with a number of theme park operators.

"We continue to maintain dialogues with the operators for potential opportunities to create complementary leisure and tourism destinations in Iskandar," she told Business Times.

The first of three major theme parks planned for Medini is Legoland Malaysia, also Asia's first.

A pact was reached with Merlin Entertainments Group to build the park for RM750 million.

Construction of the park, which Merlin will design and operate, will commence by March 2010.

Legoland Malaysia is the centrepiece of a RM3.5 billion integrated complex earmarked for completion by 2013. The complex will have a lifestyle retail centre, offices, hotels, serviced apartments and homes.

Arlida said apart from theme parks, there will be other attractions relating to arts and culture, adventure-eco tourism and golf-themed holidays, complemented with world-class entertainment, retail and restaurants.

"The idea is not to view tourism products in isolation but to see Iskandar as an integrated tourism site to encourage longer stay and repeat visits," she said.

Medini, which is Malaysia's single largest urban development to date, is expected to bring in a gross development value (GDV) in excess of US$20 billion (RM69.6 billion) over a period of 15 to 20 years.

The development is divided into three distinct clusters with separate themes, namely lifestyle and leisure, culture and heritage, and financial.

Medini Iskandar Malaysia Sdn Bhd, a public-private sector partnership between IIB and its consortium partners, Global Capital and Development Sdn Bhd and Cultural Cluster Sdn Bhd, is the project development vehicle for the clusters.

Global Capital comprises Mubadala Development Co, Aldar Properties PJSC and Millennium Development International.

Cultural Cluster is majority-owned by Al-Nibras 2 Ltd, a Labuan-based private fund company managed by Kuwait Finance House (Labuan) Bhd.

By Business Times (by Sharen Kaur)