Hua Yang to expand landbank

JOHOR BARU: Property developer Hua Yang Bhd is actively looking for land in Iskandar Malaysia as part of its long-term plan to further strengthen its presence in south Johor.

Johor branch manager Soo Kim Hiang said the country's first economic growth corridor offered good prospect for property development.

Speaking at a briefing on the company's projects in Iskandar, he said the Johor Baru property market showed similar growth patterns to that of Kuala Lumpur 10 to 15 years ago and the market here was more owner-occupiers than speculators.

Soo said Iskandar, which received strong Federal Government backing and has concrete plans, would be a driving factor to push up demand for properties in south Johor.

He said Hua Yang's immediate plan was to acquire a piece of land in Johor Baru city centre as the area would undergo a multi-billion-ringgit transformation this year.

“We understand that some strategically located land in the city centre will be sub-divided and up for sale for high-density development,'' Soo said.

He said the company was also interested in buying land in Nusajaya as there were no restrictions on property ownership by foreigners there.

Hua Yang currently has one ongoing project, Taman Pulai Indah, which is a mixed development of 4,942 residential and commercial units on a 193.03ha site.

About 134.35ha have been developed so far and it would take three to four years to fully develop the remaining area with a gross development value (GDV) of RM818mil.

“We have two new projects coming up this year in south Johor and one next year,'' Soo said.

He said the company would launch Taman Pulai Hijauan next month, comprising 1,400 double-storey, terrace, cluster and semi-detached houses. The project has a GDV of RM380mil.

Soo said it would also launch Polo Park Residential, consisting of 28 units of 2-storey semi-detached houses and three bungalows with a GDV of RM40mil, in September.

Hua Yang's residential apartments at Jalan Abdul Samad near Thistle Hotel and Hospital Sultanah Aminah with a GDV of RM130mil in Johor Baru would be launched in the last quarter of 2013, he added.

By The Star