PHB secures anchor tenants for Nu Sentral

Both Parkson and GSC take up about 25 per cent of the 460,000 sq ft net lettable area in Nu Sentral, says Pelaburan Hartanah Bhd

Pelaburan Hartanah Bhd (PHB) has secured two anchor tenants, Golden Screen Cinema (GSC) and Parkson, for its seven-storey retail development called Nu Sentral in Kuala Lumpur Sentral.

Nu Sentral is part of a bigger 2.4ha integrated commercial development called Lot G, being jointly developed by Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd and PHB.

"Both Parkson and GSC take up about 25 per cent of the 460,000 sq ft net lettable area in Nu Sentral," PHB managing director and chief executive officer Kamalul Arifin Othman told Business Times.

The development will also have a 27-storey office building with a net lettable area of 450,000 sq ft.

Lot G, with gross development value of RM1.4 billion, is slotted for completion in 2012. It is set to be one of the developments PHB plans to inject into its recently-launched Amanah Hartanah Bumiputera unit trust scheme.

Kamalul said PHB also was in the final stage of evaluation for the development of an integrated commercial complex on a five-acre site at Jalan Ampang.

"We are talking to several parties now, and looking at starting physical work on phase one in mid-2011," he added.

The development is slotted to have a gross development value of RM1 billion and also to be injected into AHB.

PHB is the sponsor for AHB, a RM1 billion unit trust aimed at increasing Bumiputera participation in the commercial property sector.

The fund enjoys beneficial ownership of five properties, ultimately owned by PHB. They are three office buildings CP Tower, Wisma Consplant in Damansara and 26 Boulevard in Putrajaya; Tesco Setia Alam and an industrial complex in Shah Alam.

Kamalul declined to reveal the terms of the beneficial ownership agreement but said the arrangement maximises the unit trust's income distribution to ensure that unitholders will enjoy a competitive and consistent return from their investment.

Early estimates are that initial returns could be in the region of 6 per cent for the first year of the fund.

By Business Times