Berjaya’s Great Mall of China to be ready by 2017

MASSIVE DEVELOPMENT: Developer’s RM7.5b integrated complex to be world’s biggest once completed

BERJAYA Land Bhd (BLand) is building the world’s biggest integrated mall complex estimated to be worth about RM7.5 billion on a 32ha site in China’s Hebei Province, its chief said.

Called Great Mall of China, the 18.5 million sq ft development, which is similar to the concept of Berjaya Times Square in Kuala Lumpur, is expected to be completed within the next five years, said BLand chief executive officer Datuk Francis Ng Sooi Lin.

Once completed, the project will feature more than two million sq ft of retail space, two hotels, two serviced apartments, office towers, convention centre, theatre and a parking complex.

There will also be an indoor monorail, three theme parks and acquarium.

Berjaya Great Mall of China Co Ltd (BGMOC), a 51 per cent subsidiary of BLand, is undertaking the development.

Berjaya Group founder Tan Sri Vincent Tan holds 49 per cent of BGMOC through Berjaya Times Square Cayman Ltd.Under the first phase development, BGMOC will build a retail and pedestrian
mall, each with one million sq ft of space, an extreme park, a family park and a water park, as well as parking facilities.

Ng said the gross development cost for phase one was estimated at RM1.5 billion.

BGMOC has a paid-up capital of US$165 million (RM506.6 million) and almost half the amount had been utilised for the Phase
One development, Ng said in an interview with Business Times.

Some 40 per cent of Phase One had been completed and the remaining portion was expected to be completed by October next
year, Ng said.

“We are quite confident we can carry out Phase One without loans. By August, we will open for sale around 540,000 sq ft of space at the retail mall and hope to rake in some RM750 million in gross development value,” Ng said.

He said BLand would retain the remaining 460,000 million sq ft of retail space and the one million sq ft pedestrian mall for recurring income.

Currently, the world’s biggest mall is The Dubai Mall in United Arab Emirates, with a built-up area of 12.1 million sq ft.

By Business Times

Hua Yang banks on affordability factor in latest project

Selling point: Soo showing the model of Taman Pulai Hijauan. He expects the project to get good response from house buyers.

JOHOR BARU: Property developer Hua Yang Bhd is confident that the affordability of the its products would attract prospective house buyers.

Johor branch manager Soo Kim Hiang said the company expected its Taman Pulai Hijauan project to receive good response from the public.

“On the average our residential properties in Johor Baru are priced between RM250,000 and RM400,000 and this is our strong selling point,” he told StarBiz.

Soo said although the township project was located within Iskandar Malaysia, the company’s price was much lower compared with other on-going projects in the economic growth corridor.

He said this at the launch of the 225 double-storey Alder Residences terrace houses under the phase one of Taman Pulai Hijauan township along KM27, Skudai-Pontian Highway.

The four-bedroom and three-bathroom house within a gated precinct has a built-up area of area of 170.34 sq m (1,834 sq ft) and is priced from RM250,000.

Soo said a similar property with the same floor area in other parts of Iskandar Malaysia, especially in the Nusajaya area, was priced from RM400,000 each.

The 56.65ha (140 acres) township comprised of 1,400 double-storey terrace, cluster and semi-detached houses and commercial properties.

“The project has a gross development value of RM380mil and will keep us busy for the next five to seven years,” he said.

The company was looking at first time house buyers and upgraders from nearby old housing estates in Pontian, Pekan Nenas, Senai and Gelang Patah for Taman Pulai Hijauan.

Hua Yang currently has an ongoing project, Taman Pulai Indah which is a mixed development of 4,942 residential and commercial units on a 193.03ha (476.98ha) site.

About 134.35ha (331.98ha) has been developed since 2000, and it would take three to five years to fully develop the remaining area with a gross development value of RM818mil.

By The Star (by ZAZALI MUSA)

Simultaneous launch for SP Setia's 18 Woodsville project in S'pore

SHAH ALAM: Property developer SP Setia Bhd will unveil its maiden project in Singapore called 18 Woodsville via a simultaneous launch in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Jakarta this weekend.

This is the first time that SP Setia is doing such a simultaneous launch for a development.

In a statement, SP Setia said the simultaneous launch would be done in real time where interested purchasers would know exactly which units had been booked or were still available, regardless of which of the three cities they were in.

“We are confident that 18 Woodsville would be an attractive proposition for Asean investors,” said SP Setia president and chief executive officer Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin.

The freehold 18 Woodsville consists of a 15-storey block with 101 units, and offers one, two and three-bedroom units with sizes ranging from 495 to 915 sq ft. Prices start from S$1,500 (RM3,677) to S$1,950 (RM4,779) per sq ft.

The 18 Woodsville project is located near the Potong Pasir mass rapid transit (MRT) station and several colleges and schools, and offers easy accessibility to Orchard Road as well as connectivity via the Central and Pan Island expressways.

The simultaneous launch will be held at SP Setia's sales gallery in Singapore located next to the Potong Pasir MRT station, the JW Marriott Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, and the Grand Hyatt in Jakarta.

Those attending the simultaneous launch are entitled to special discounts, which are made available only for this weekend's launch.

By The star

Gamuda property projects in Vietnam doing well despite high interest rates

An artist‘s impression of the Celadon City project which is running at full steam.

PETALING JAYA: Although high interest rates in Vietnam will continue to dampen property sales, Gamuda Bhd is bucking the trend with its Gamuda City development in the south of Hanoi, HwangDBS Vickers Research said.

It said Gamuda City and Celadon City in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), both held under Gamuda's property arm Gamuda Land Sdn Bhd, were running on “full steam” despite the increased borrowing costs brought on by the country's notoriously high inflation.

“Gamuda City's first three launches have been sold out, raking in sales of RM220mil while it has also raised its sales target for the financial years 2012 to 2013 to RM500mil and RM750mil, respectively.

“Sales at Celadon City are more subdued but we expect the recent land sale to AEON and completion of show units to buoy strong residential sales going forward,” the brokerage said in a report after a recent site visit.

It pointed out that Gamuda remained the strongest Malaysian proxy to Vietnam with a total gross development value of RM14bil.

“In our view, we think the market is assigning minimal value to its Vietnam exposure but we expect this to reverse once country-specific issues are addressed,” it said.

On SP Setia Bhd, which also made the move to Vietnam some years ago, HwangDBS Vickers Research said it has put its Eco Lakes project in HCMC on the backburner as it turns its attention to Eco Xuan, which is closer to the city's central business district.

Nonetheless, SP Setia is looking to build its repertoire in Vietnam and will continue to increase its landbank where prices are reasonable.

So far, Eco Lakes has recorded about RM61mil worth of sales and RM31mil for future progress billings in phases one and two, while Eco Xuan has secured RM16mil in sales as at end-March.

For years, Vietnam's central bank has kept interest rates in the 90-million population country at elevated levels to combat inflation.

As at end-February, its inflation dipped significantly to 16.4% from a peak of 23% last August.

HwangDBS Vickers Research said it was optimistic the Vietnamese government would effectively tackle this issue, with its in-house economists projecting a normalisation of its consumer price index to 10.2% in 2012 and 6% in 2013.

“This will bode well for property sales in Vietnam going forward as low interest rates will boost home buyers' affordability.

“However, property sales will remain slow for now as cash buyers have been exhausted and interest rates remain unattractive to prospective home buyers.

“Property launches have slowed this year so far compared to the same period last year, mainly due to the oversupply of properties in the market.

“The number of people attending new property launches has also reduced now,” it added.

Currently, foreigners account for only 1% of total property transactions there, with the rest dominated by local buyers.

By The Star

Prasarana earmarks second property development project

By the railway: Prasarana’s second property project will be located on two-acre near the monorail station in Brickfield.

PETALING JAYA: Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd’s second property development project will be located on a two-acre site near the monorail station at Jalan Tun Sambanthan in Brickfields.

Group managing director Datuk Shahril Mokhtar said although there was an abandoned building on the land in question, Prasarana planned to carry out a mixed development project.

“Although the area is not that big, it is worth developing as it is sitting on prime land. The tender will be out next month,” he told reporters after a site visit of the light rail transit (LRT) extension project by Land Public Transport Commission chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar yesterday.

Going forward, Prasarana has identified a few locations for possible property projects along its Ampang and Kelana Jaya lines.

“We are also identifying a few locations along the extension of both the LRTs for property development and we will make due announcement when everything is finalised.”

Prasarana’s first property development along its rail line was on the site of the Dang Wangi LRT station which has a gross development value of about RM220mil.

A joint-venture between Crest Builder Holdings Bhd’s unit Crest Builder International Sdn Bhd and Detik Utuh Sdn Bhd has won the bid to develop the 2.72-acre area into a mixed commercial development comprising a retail mall, premium serviced residential suites, a hotel and offices above the underground LRT station.

On the LRT extension projects, Shahril said the contract to build the Putra Heights depot would be awarded this week.

“The remaining three contracts comprised of the system for Ampang Line, the card access system for Kelana Jaya Line into Ampang Line and the development of station 10 and 11 for the Ampang Line will be awarded in a month or two.

“The total contract value for the remaining four contracts is about RM1bil,” he said.

Prasarana has awarded contracts worth RM4.5bil for the extension project to-date.

On its rolling stock for the two LRT lines, Shahril said for the purchase of 14 sets of new four-car train, refurbishment and the coupling of the current two-car set into a four car set would cost no less than RM500mil.

“For Ampang Line, we have awarded a contract to a Chinese company to build 20 sets of six-car train. We are in final negotiations stage,” he said.

Prasarana is a wholly-owned Government company established by the Finance Ministry, to facilitate, undertake and expedite public infrastructure projects.

By The Star (by Sharidan M. Ali)