SunCity to launch RM1b Ipoh project

SUNWAY City Bhd (SunCity) will launch a mixed use commercial project worth over RM1 billion at Sunway City Ipoh (SunCity Ipoh) in Perak, as one of the catalysts to recoup its investments in the township which started in 1995.

Managing director for property development Ho Hon Sang said the project, earmarked as a shopping village, will comprise a mall, retail, SOHO (small office/home office) and apartments.



"This project will revolutionise the shopping experience in Perak. We are banking on it," Ho told Business Times in an interview at Bandar Sunway, Selangor, recently.

Ho said new projects will include the development of 1,000 units of hillside bungalows, semi-detached homes and apartments, 16 units of lakeside bungalows worth over RM2.5 million each and a convention centre.

The properties are worth over RM300 million and will give good margins to SunCity when launched over the next few years, he said.

SunCity Ipoh, sprawled over 560 hectares, started with infrastructure development but was halted for five years because of the Asian financial crisis.

Work resumed in year 2000 and the first residential project comprising 452 units of semi-detached garden villas was launched in 2002.

As demand for high-end properties improved, SunCity launched bungalows, lakeside villas, cluster houses, and apartments.

The properties were slow to sell but sales picked up as the township grew. The prices had appreciated between 22 per cent and 66 per cent, Ho said.

"Now that the township is mature, we are launching new products, targeting the medium- to high-end segment to give us higher returns," he said.

Ho said SunCity will soon launch the second phase of MontBleu, which is the first gated and guarded community at the township.

MontBleu comprises 220 units of three-storey townhouses with selling prices from RM450,000 onwards. The units range from 1,680 sq ft to 3,336 sq ft with a 25ft backyard garden.

Ho is optimistic that the second phase will sell out, judging from the sales from phase one, which had 98 units and where 70 per cent of the units were sold within two months from its launch in December.

"Many foreigners are buying our properties as their retirement or holiday home under the Malaysia MySecond Home plan. We expect it to continue," Ho said.

By Business Times