Country View banking on location for Nusa Sentral

Andrew Tan ... ‘We are looking at Malaysians working in Singapore using the second link as our main customers as the project is located just minutes away from Singapore via Tuas.’

NUSAJAYA: Country View Bhd is banking on strategic location as the main selling point of its latest property project Nusa Sentral.

Marketing manager Andrew Tan said potential buyers would be attracted to its location within the development of Nusajaya in Iskandar Malaysia.

“Nusajaya is the key element in Iskandar. Many developers started projects within the development zone years ahead before Iskandar was launched,” he told StarBiz at the launch of the project on Sunday.

Phase one of Nusa Sentral comprises of 312 units of five-room double-storey link houses with built-up areas ranging between 2,100 and 2,300 sq ft. The units would be priced between RM338,000 and RM380,000.

Tan said the gross development value of phase one was RM117mil and the project, which sits on a 121.40ha site along Jalan Gelang Patah-Lima Kedai, would keep the company busy for eight years.

Iskandar, the country’s first economic growth corridor covering 2,217 sq km in the southernmost part of Johor, was launched on Nov 4, 2006.

Nusajaya, which spans 9,600ha, is one of the five flagship development zones in Iskandar. The other four are the Johor Baru City Centre, Eastern Gate Development, Western Gate Development and Senai-Kulai.

Tan said Nusajaya was progressing well with two major projects – Kota Iskandar and Puteri Harbour Waterfront Development – already completed.

Other projects slated for completion here include the Newcastle University Medical Campus, Marlborough College, Netherlands Maritime Institute of Technology and Legoland Theme Park.

Tan said accessibility to the area would improve when the RM1.3bil New Coastal Highway linking Nusajaya and Johor Baru city centre was completed by the end of 2011.

“We are looking at Malaysians working in Singapore using the second link as our main customers as the project is located just minutes away from Singapore via Tuas,” he said.

He said apart from Malaysians working in Singapore, the company would target home buyers looking to upgrade from nearby areas such as Gelang Patah, Ulu Choh, Pontian, Pekan Nenas and Skudai.

He said the company would also bank on its pricing strategy as the on-going development projects within a 10km radius from Nusa Sentral were targeted at different market segments.

By The Star

Wesley Church mulling over developer proposals

GEORGE TOWN: The Wesley Methodist Church, which owns the 4-acre site where the Pykett Methodist Boys’ School sits along Burma Road, is considering several proposals from local and Kuala Lumpur-based property developers that are keen to buy the land at RM300 per sq ft.

StarBiz learnt that a major player in the high-end residential property market has proposed to build a new Pykett Methodist School at the site, including a car park for the school, together with condominiums and retail lots.

Another well-known developer on the island has proposed to build a new Pykett Methodist School at a different site owned by the developer.

“The developer will also build some properties for the Methodist Church so that it can generate long-term revenue. In return, the developer gets to develop certain portions of the land to offset the construction cost of the school and other properties for the land owner. The cost of the school and car park will be used to offset the selling price of the land,” the sources said.

Another developer, which has made a bid to purchase the land, said the price of RM300 per sq ft was on the high side.

“Land in the area is priced around RM200 to RM250 per sq ft. At present, the site is gazetted as institutional land and needs to be converted for other usage. The commercial enhancement value charge, for example, is about 50% of the incremental value of the land, based on the difference between the selling price when it was first valued and what it is worth today. The other factor that needs to be considered is that the developer can apply to build up to 30 units per acre on this site,” the developer said.

When contacted, an Eastern & Oriental Bhd spokesman said that the group had not bid for the land.

Due to the shortage of land on the island, the area around Pykett Methodist Boys’ School has become a popular site for new residential projects.

For example, Mah Sing Group Bhd will be launching Icon Residence early next year, which is located at the crossroads of Burmah Road and Anson Road – a stone’s throw from Pykett Methodist Boys’ School. The condominium project has an estimated gross sales value of over RM200mil.

By The Star (by David Tan)

TA Global in JV to develop Sydney residential project

KUALA LUMPUR: TA Global Bhd is teaming up with Charter Hall Group to develop the $600 million Little Bay residential development project in Sydney, Australia.

TA Global said on Tuesday, Oct 19 the alliance would complement its corporate strategy to expand its property development management activities into Australia thereby enhancing TA Global Group’s activities in Australia.

In addition, the alliance is expected to increase the revenue stream and return of TA Global group, it said.

The venture will be undertaken has via its units Global Development Pty Ltd and TA Antarabangsa Development Ltd on a 50:50 development sponsorship arrangement with Charter Hall Group.

At 10.40am, TA Global rose 1.5 sen to 45 sen with 1.49 million shares done.

By The EDGE Malaysia

LTKM plans Kuala Langat project

LTKM Bhd’s wholly-owned subsidiary, LTK Properties Sdn Bhd, is buying four pieces of freehold land, totalling 8.5ha, in Kuala Langat, Selangor, from Hock Ban Seong & Co Sdn Bhd for RM9.48 million.

LTKM said the company plans a mixed residential property development on the lands, with a gross development value of RM65 million.

It said the development could be in three to four phases, with each taking an estimated two to three years to complete.

By Business Times

Major projects under Budget 2011 will drive demand for building materials

The slew of construction projects listed in Budget 2011 will drive up demand for buildings materials. —AP

PETALING JAYA: The construction sector emerged as the clear winner from Budget 2011 but a rally in the past months means stocks valuation are no longer cheap and the risk is higher.

The smart money call is on the building material suppliers, from steel makers to cement producers, analysts said.

“We expect more positive news flow in the coming months for the construction sector,” MIDF Research said in a note yesterday, predicting a slew of project roll-outs and tender awards in the coming months.

While the question of who will bag what remained unanswered, analysts said the sheer number of upcoming construction jobs out there would drive up demand for building materials.

Malaysia Iron and Steel Indsutry Federation (MISIF) president Chow Chong Long said there was enough capacity in the country to meet the anticipated increase in demand for construction steel bars and other products.

“We don’t foresee steel shortages if the construction projects listed in Budget 2011 are implemented next year,” he said in a SMS reply to a StarBiz query.

He noted that steel factories in the country were currently running at about half their installed capacity.

“MISIF does not expect steel demand to increase until the middle of next year as it usually takes up to six months for projects to take off from the date they are awarded,” Chow said.

On Friday, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak announced that a number of multi-billion ringgit projects would start construction next year.

This includes the RM40bil mass rapid transit system in Kuala Lumpur, six highways, the RM26bil KL International Financial District and a plan for an iconic 100-storey tower by Permodalan Nasional Bhd, on top of smaller builds such as rural roads, schools and hospitals.

Most of the big projects were already made known prior to last Friday because they were part of the 10th Malaysia Plan, or the Economic Transformation Programme.

Hence, it was not really a big surprise for the market when the projects were announced in the budget.

“These construction and infrastructure projects would require a lot of steel bars and cement,” BIMB Securities head of research Rosnani Rasul said yesterday.

“We are comfortable to retain our forecast 7% growth in cement demand in 2011,” she added. Among potential beneficiaries are Lafarge Malayan Cement Bhd and YTL Cement Bhd.

Shares in bigger construction groups Gamuda Bhd, IJM Corp Bhd, MMC Corp Bhd and WCT Bhd declined yesterday, largely in sympathy with the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KL Composite Index’s (FBM KLCI) 9.16 points drop yesterday to 1,480.70 points.

The few big gainers yesterday included Ann Joo Resources Bhd, a steel maker rated as a “buy” by AmResearch and BIMB Securities.

“We expect significant gains for the steel sector, which is a cheaper entry for leverage to the Malaysian infrastructure theme,” AmResearch analyst Mak Hoy Ken wrote yesterday.

Mak’s top pick for the steel sector is Ann Joo. The stock yesterday climbed 14 sen, or 4.7%. to RM3.12 – its highest level since January.

Specialisation may help smaller firms stand out from the pack and MIDF Research sees pre-cast concrete manufacturer MTD ACPI Engineering Bhd as a potential beneficiary.

In the budget, the Government forecast its development expenditure would drop 9% to RM49.2bil in 2011, and the slack in spending to be taken up by the private sector.

One of the key aspects of infrastructure development hinges on the success of the implementation of public-private partnership (PPP) projects.

But given the lack of clear details, “much (uncertainty) still lingers on issues like execution of these projects,’’ Inter-Pacific Research head Anthony Dass noted in his report yesterday.

By The Star