The Berjaya group is planning to develop a US$500 million (RM1.6 billion) property project in Japan, making it the second major Malaysian firm to invest in the Land of the Rising Sun in less than a month.
On April 15, YTL Corporation completed the purchase of a prime Japanese resort for RM205 million and it plans to purchase more properties there.
Berjaya, controlled by Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun, plans to build a hotel and residential properties on Okinawa Island in the south of Japan.
Development is due to start in 2011 or 2012 and the work will take about five years.
Executive director of Berjaya Hotels and Resorts Valen Tan said the group was building a community which will have exclusive residential properties.
Berjaya Hotels and Resorts is the leisure arm of Berjaya Land Bhd.
"The US$500 million is for the entire project. A huge portion, 80 per cent, will be for the hotel and residences," Tan told Business Times in an interview.
"We are in the process of acquiring land there (coastal area in southern Okinawa), 90 per cent of the land (36.45ha) has been acquired, there is still about 10 per cent (4.05ha) to be acquired from the (land) owners," Tan said.
The up-market hotel and residences project will have about 200 rooms.
"We are looking at possibly starting development in one-and-a-half to two years' time when the planning, zoning and permits will come through," he said.
Berjaya has yet to decide if the residences will be sold or leased out.
Tan said that the island is an ideal location as it offers year-round sunshine, compared with other parts of Japan where it snows.
Berjaya Hotels operates six hotels in Malaysia and five hotels abroad. Locally, its top performing hotels are Berjaya Langkawi Resort, Berjaya Redang Resort and Berjaya Times Square Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.
Abroad, its best performing owned and managed properties include its two properties in Seychelles - Berjaya Beau Vallan Bay Resort & Casino and Berjaya and Berjaya Eden Park in London.
It also owns some hotels which are managed by international hotel chains including the Intercontinental Hanoi Westlake Hotel and Sheraton Hanoi Hotel and Towers in Vietnam.
BLand is also building a US$3 billion (RM9.6 billion) resort-type township on a 74.4ha land on Jeju island in Korea.
The development will feature 600 mid-rise apartments, 200 villas and a five-star hotel with 250 rooms and a casino hotel with 500 rooms, a shopping centre and a medical centre.
By Business Times
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