New record for KLCC property prices

PETALING JAYA: A new record for property prices in the heart of Kuala Lumpur is close to being set after two penthouses of the world-class Four Seasons Place were reserved at a whopping RM37mil each, sources said.

This works out to a princely price of RM3,026 per sq ft based on the 11,900 per sq ft size of each penthouse, outpacing the RM2,900 per sq fe record held by The Binjai On The Park based on a transaction last year involving 4,000 sq ft in Tower A of the development.

However, the Binjai project would still hold the record for the highest absolute price transacted for a residential property at RM38mil for one of its triplex penthouses sold in 2010.

The size of that Binjai penthouse was, incidentally, 14,300 sq ft, giving it a price of RM2,660 per sq ft.

The buyers of the two Four Seasons Place penthouses had reserved the units “a few years ago”, when the project was in its planning stage, the sources told StarBiz.

They added that when the project was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in early February, the same buyers had quickly reaffirmed their seriousness in purchasing the penthouses.

The Four Seasons Place is being developed by Venus Assets Sdn Bhd, with a gross development value of some RM2.8bil. It is a joint venture between tycoon Datuk Ong Beng Seng, the Sultan of Selangor, Tan Sri Syed Yusof Syed Nasir and Venus Assets director Datuk David Ban.

Venus Assets bought the prime 1.05ha site for RM90mil in 2003 from the estate of the late Khoo Teck Puat, the former major shareholder of Standard Chartered plc.

The sales office of the Four Seasons Place is in the process of securing the booking and down payment for these units.

The company had yet to respond to StarBiz's queries as at press time.

Situated side-by-side on the 63rd and 64th floors, the penthouses are shell units, the property lingo for units minus any developer-built fixtures.

The sources said that one of the eight duplexes in the Four Seasons Place had been sold at RM2,750 per sq ft at an absolute price of RM20.3mil. The remaining seven duplexes have all been reserved.

There are 65 storeys in the Four Seasons Place, with a “height premium” of RM25,000 to RM30,000 for every floor going up.

“Some 50% of the 242 residential units of the Four Seasons Place have been booked. They payments are coming in now, with 20% of down payments having been collected so far. It would be open to the public for sale from the third week of April,” revealed the sources.

The sources added that surprisingly, most of the buyers were well-heeled Malaysians. The smattering of foreign buyers included Japanese, Hong Kong nationals and Taiwanese.

The Four Seasons Place in Kuala Lumpur is the first Four Seasons Place in South-East Asia. It consists of 11 storeys of hotel space, beginning from the eighth floor to the 18th floor. It also has five floors of retail outlets, three floors of serviced apartments, three floors of private carpark and four basement storeys. A 65-storey luxury hotel, residential and retail project in the vicinity of the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur City Centre, it will house the 231-room Four Seasons Hotel, 242 units of private residences and 300,000 sq ft of upscale retail space.

By The Star