They also said that according to initial plans by Kwasa, the RRIM project would consist of an integrated township development with a good mix of residential, commercial and industrial properties with facilities and amenities.
“The development is expected to feature breathtaking landscape parks, green lungs, open spaces, walkways and water bodies,” one party familiar with the plans said. “The township will also incorporate full information technology and data infrastructure (MSC City Status) and complete urban transportation integration.”
The RRIM land will also house the depot of the planned mass rapid transit (MRT) project.
StarBiz reported recently that Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd, the project owner of the MRT, will be allocated a parcel of land in the RRIM development project for commercial development as part of the “rail-plus-property” model being used to offset the cost of building the MRT.
Negotiations are believed to be ongoing between Prasarana and EPF for this purpose.
The RRIM land, measuring more than 3,000 acres, has been dubbed the “new hub” of the Klang Valley and will be developed over the next 15 years.
Mohamad Lotfy currently heads the property investment department at the EPF, a position he has held since 2005. He was formerly a director of Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB). Mohamad Lotfy resigned from the board of MRCB in October last year, likely due to his impending role in Kwasa Land.
Mohamad Lotfy, 52, began his career with Public Bank Bhd in 1982 before moving to then Kwong Yik Finance Bhd in 1986. Subsequently, he joined MK Associates Sdn Bhd (part of the MK Land Holdings group) in 1989 as a sales manager and was promoted to deputy general manager in 1991.
In 1993, he joined Land & General Bhd as a general manager, moving on to Golden Hope Development in 2003 and later Golden Hope Properties.
It has been reported that Kwasa will appoint or partner with various parties to co-develop the massive project, with parcels of land to be tendered out to different developers using an open and transparent basis.
“Developers are lobbying and pitching development plans to EPF even as we speak,” a source said.
As it stands, there is still little visibility on the selection criteria.
In fact, some industry players are wondering how open and transparent EPF is going to be on this development and whether the terms of the joint ventures are going to be fair or lopsided towards the pension fund.
Last March, the Government announced that EPF would form a joint venture to develop 3,000 acres of land in Sungai Buloh owned by RRIM into a new hub for the Klang Valley. The new hub, which is also part of 10th Malaysia Plan will lead to over RM5bil of new investments, it was then reported.
Earlier, market talk put MRCB as one of the lead developers for the project by virtue of its link to EPF, which controls MRCB.
At press time, EPF had yet to respond to queries from StarBiz.
By The Star (by Yvonne Tan)
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