UDA in talks to develop two townships

JOHOR BARU: UDA Holdings Bhd is talking to two state governments to jointly develop two new townships.

Chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said the multi-billion-ringgit projects would be developed on state-owned lands spanning between 202.34ha and 404.68ha. However, he declined to give more details.

“But I can assure you that we are in the final stage of concluding our discussions and will make the appropriate announcement when the time comes,'' he said.

Nur Jazlan, who is also Pulai MP, said this at a briefing at the Pulai Parliament Hari Raya Open House.

He said UDA would continue to look for new lands in Johor, especially within Iskandar Malaysia, as it only had 121.40ha left in Bandar Uda Utama that could last for a few years.

Nur Jazlan said UDA had two options when developing new property projects either buying land in the open market or develop it on a joint-venture basis with the landowners.

“Whichever option is comfortable for us, we'll go for it. Buying land needs money and it depends on our cashflow too,'' he added.

Nur Jazlan said getting land in strategic places was becoming more difficult while land prices, especially in the Klang Valley, were very expensive.

“Land in the prime area of the Klang Valley can cost up to RM40mil per acre and we don't have that much money,'' he added.

Nur Jazlan said UDA would develop affordably-priced houses under the 1Prima project for first-time house buyers on its 16.18ha land near Sepang, Selangor.

Separately, he said the company would like to participate in the RM1.8bil redevelopment of Johor Baru city centre.

Nur Jazlan said although UDA did not own land in Johor Baru city centre, it hoped to undertake the project with landowners.

“We have the expertise in property development and welcome those (landowners) interested to work with us,'' he said.

By The Star