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Thursday, January 24, 2008

Hijauan Saujana expects post-CNY sales boost

PETALING JAYA: Following the official launch of the RM150 million Hijauan Saujana serviced apartment development within the freehold Saujana Resort earlier this month, Esquire Corner Sdn Bhd is targeting a 50% sales performance after the Chinese New Year celebrations next month.

Its manager Jennifer Toh told theSun it expects activity in the property market to pick up after the festive celebrations.


An artist's impression of Hijauan Saujana

“The 200-unit project was soft-launched last October and the first block of 88 units was opened for sale. We have achieved about 30% sales despite the year-end holiday period,” she said, adding that its buyers, both local and Singaporeans, were attracted to Hijauan Saujana’s affordability, with average prices between RM370 and RM430 psf.

While Toh admitted that it is also facing competition from similar offerings within Saujana Resort and Ara Damansara, the developer has lined- up several marketing options to entice customers.

“While our prospective customers can opt to purchase a bare unit for their own use, we are also offering to do up the units with furniture and fittings at an additional cost of RM35,000. This is to entice those who are looking for investment units,” she said.

The developer is also going to offer the option of a guaranteed rental yield of 6% annually for two years that is only applicable for those who take up the furnishing option.

“This is an attractive deal as it will guarantee rental income for investors for two years. Based on our studies, amenities such as the Japanese international school and golf course provide this area with a good rental catchment,” said Toh, adding that the developer plans to keep the remaining 112 units in the second block for recurring rental income.

Sited on a 5.5-acre tract, the serviced apartments are housed in two blocks of 10 and 12 levels. With four types to choose from, the units come with built-ups ranging between 1,700 and 4,200 sq ft.

Those on the podium level, with builtups of 1,700 sq ft, enjoy direct access to the garden, and prices start from RM700,000.

Meanwhile, the average price of typical units with 1,700 sq ft built-ups are from RM600,000.
These come with three ensuite bathrooms, a maid’s room as well as a powder room.

The developer says that each unit will also enjoy exclusivity, with a private access lift from the lobby to their doorstep. The project boasts a low-density of 36 units per acre.

There are also 1- and 2-storey penthouses priced from RM1 million and from RM1.7 million respectively. The smaller unit, with built-ups of 2,600 sq ft, comes with a 600 sq ft rooftop terrace while the larger 4,200 sq ft unit has a 450 sq ft rooftop terrace. All units come with storage space of between 80 and over 100 sq ft situated on the ground or parking levels. The maintenance fee is set at 30 sen psf and is inclusive of the sinking fund.

Amenities include swimming and wading pools, a jogging track, clubhouse, gym, tennis court and barbeque pits. Hijauan Saujana is also broadband ready and enjoys easy access from the NKVE, LDP and Federal highways.

Hijauan Saujana is Esquire Corner’s second residential project located within Saujana Resort. It first offered Maplewoods at Saujana, a gated 2-storey semidee development, on an 11-acre tract.

According to the developer, a standard semidee with a land area of 4,000 sq ft and built-up of 3,600 sq ft was sold for RM1.7 million on the secondary market recently.

Similar units were launched three years ago at RM1.28 million.

By theSun (by Loo Pik Kwan)

Kenanga plans RM300m fashion wholesale mall

PRIVATELY-held Kenanga Wholesale City Sdn Bhd is spending RM300 million to build a 1.8 million sq ft fashion wholesale mall at Jalan Kenanga near Pudu Jail.

When completed three years from now, the 22-storey development will help ease congestion at the busy Kenanga area, where garment wholesalers have been operating from multi-level shoplots since the 1990s.

Kenanga Wholesale City chief executive officer Yee Ia Howe said the 790 units are between 300 and 600 sq ft, selling at RM1,980 to RM3,300 per sq ft.


YEE: Demand is so great that the mall was already 70 percent sold before the soft launch

Demand is so great that the mall is already 70 per cent sold before yesterday's soft launch, and some buyers were foreign garment makers.

"This shows the great potential in the domestic garment wholesale industry," he said when launching the showroom in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

He said the management will work with Malaysia Garments Wholesale Merchants Association to help wholesalers and garment manufacturers in opening regional markets like Indonesia, Brunei, southern Thailand, Taiwan and Singapore.

Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen said there are more than 200 fashion manufacturers in Malaysia, mostly small and medium-sized operators.

"By themselves they don't have the infrastructure to help them compete in the global market. We need a centre where purchasers can come and pick up eveything from clothes to accessories and go," said Ng, who officiated the event.

She said although the wholesale mall is a new concept in Malaysia, it is a proven success in Chinese cities like Shenzhen, Shenyang and Shanghai.

"It may not be easy to start this for Malaysia's small population. But Kenanga should also target foreign tourists, which currently spend only a quarter of their expenditure here on shopping," she said.

By New Straits Times (by Chong Pooi Koon)



One-stop garment centre

Apparel wholesale market costing RM300mil poised to take shape

KUALA LUMPUR: Kenanga Wholesale City Sdn Bhd is establishing a one-stop garment wholesale centre at a development cost of RM300mil.

The 22-storey Kenanga Wholesale City to be completed in three years, was located in the heart of the established Kenanga area well known for its wholesale fashion business, said group chief executive Yee Ia Howe.


Kenanga Wholesale City Sdn Bhd managing director Bernard Bong (second from left) and Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen with project’s model

Due to the inadequate trading area, entrepreneurs were unable to expand their business and space was lacking for newcomers, he said, adding that this had stagnated growth in the area.

“The development strategy for the Kenanga Wholesale City is to further expand the garment wholesale business,” Yee said at the soft launch of the three-acre project off Jalan Kenanga.yesterday.

The proposed development with a total gross built-up area of 1.8 million sq ft and net lettable retail area of 500,000 sq ft would offer 790 new business lots, double the current number of shop lots, thus providing more business opportunities, Yee said.

“The proposed units of 300 to 600 sq ft, at current market prices of RM1,980 to RM3,300 per sq ft, will provide good capital appreciation for buyers,” he said, adding that the project was 70% sold.

Kenanga Wholesale City would also provide facilities to supporting businesses such as express mailing and logistics, ATM banking service and moneychangers.

Yee said his management would also work with the Malaysia Garments Wholesale Exports and Import Merchants Association to explore business opportunities in Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and the Philippines.

“Garment wholesalers in Kenanga cater mainly to the local market. Exports make up only 30% of total trade. We hope to increase foreign trade by promoting Kenanga overseas,” he said.

Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen, who graced the soft-launch earlier, expressed confidence that the one-stop centre would help boost the tourism industry.

By The Star



More mega projects slated for IDR

25 developers submit plans for top-notch developments

JOHOR BARU: The outlook for the Iskandar Development Region (IDR) is set to change with work on several mega projects scheduled to commence over the next three to five years.

Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman said some 25 developers had submitted project plans, many of which were top-notch lifestyle developments, including high-end bungalows, luxury apartments and upmarket retail and commercial complexes.

“IDR is already a hive of activity with some well-known housing developers launching projects here,” Ghani said in a statement.


Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman

The latest property launches indicate that luxury houses are priced between RM1mil and RM15mil while a new price benchmark has been set with condominiums fetching more than RM1,000 per sq ft.

Ghani said 10,000 new houses were due to enter the market by 2012, and even with the present unsold stock of 8,000 houses, there would be a glaring deficit to meet demand in the IDR.

It is projected that the IDR would generate some 800,000 jobs over the next 15 years and housing has been identified as a priority to draw the best drains in Malaysia and abroad to fill these positions.

“It is therefore crucial that developers start up their planned housing schemes on schedule so that there will be no supply or demand shortfall when the IDR in full swing,” he said.

Ghani, who is a co-chairman of the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA), is optimistic the continuous inflow of foreign investment into the IDR would jumpstart slow-moving projects.

He said the Johor construction sector would also see significant growth, fuelled by government stimulus measures for the IDR.

By The Star (by Zazali Musa)



Mapletree fund buys RM61.5m of properties in Johor

SINGAPORE'S Mapletree Industrial Fund Ltd (MIF) is buying four industrial properties in Johor for RM61.5 million in a sale and leaseback arrangement.

It has signed two separate agreements with Tangkai Jaya Sdn Bhd and Setegap Jaya Sdn Bhd to buy their assets at the Tampoi Industrial Estate in Johor.

The properties consist of four two-storey purpose-built detached factory buildings with 406,250 sq ft of floor area.

Each of the four properties is sub-leased to individual tenants, namely Enplas Precision (M) Sdn Bhd, MCE Technologies Sdn Bhd and Celestica Electronics (M) Sdn Bhd, with the latter occupying two buildings.

"This acquisition has enabled the MIF to increase its portfolio of good quality industrial assets in Malaysia, thus highlighting our commitment towards growing the MIF into a pan-Asian industrial fund," said Phua Kok Kim, chief executive officer of Mapletree Industrial Fund Management Pte Ltd, which manages the fund, in a statement yesterday.

MIF is focused on investing primarily in manufacturing facilities, business parks, industrial parks, research and development facilities, information technology and software parks and industrial offices in various Asian countries.

In a Reuters report, Singapore's Mapletree Logistics Trust said yesterday that it will defer its proposed proposed rights issue of up to S$500 million (S$1 = RM2.29) due to market volatility.

"The manager has decided to defer the trust's proposed fund raising due to the recent high volatility in global capital markets. We will revisit our fund raising exercise when market conditions are more conducive," the trust said in a statement.

By New Straits Times

Iskandar sparks flurry of high-end property projects in south Johor

The launch of the Iskandar Development Region in November 2006 has spurred a new market segment for high-end properties in south Johor.

The virtually non-existent market in the south is set to change dramatically with the scheduled start-up of several mega projects within Iskandar over the next three to five years.

Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman said 25 major developers had submitted plans for housing, commercial and mixed-development projects in the coming months.

Many of these offer upmarket lifestyle developments featuring exclusive bungalows, luxury apartments and commercial complexes.

Ghani, who is co-chairman of the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) with the Prime Minister, said the housing boom in Iskandar was crucial to meet the anticipated spike in demand with the implementation of Iskandar-designated projects.

He said even with the present unsold housing stock of about 8,000 units and the 10,000-odd new houses due to enter the market by 2012, there would be a glaring deficit to meet demands in Iskandar.

"It is crucial that developers start their planned housing schemes on schedule so that there would be no shortfall in the supply-demand situation when Iskandar is at its full swing," he said in a statement issued by the Menteri Besar office yesterday.

Ghani said that the property boom has also had a knock-on effect on land prices which continue to rise in Iskandar, with a transaction done recently at RM50 psf compared with RM43 psf four months earlier and several times the price two years ago.

The purchase by a consortium consisting of Dubai's Limitless Holdings (60 per cent) and UEM Land (40 per cent) was to develop high end waterfront properties on 45ha of land in Puteri Harbour, that was acquired for RM242 million or RM50 psf.

The trend in already evident in latest property launches here by Central Malaysian Properties Sdn Bhd (The Lido Boulevard), Danga Bay Sdn Bhd (Danga Island Villas) and Gamuda Land Bhd (Horizon Hills).

Other developers like UEM Land, (Puteri Harbour and Ledang Heights) and Mulpha Land Berhad (Leisure Farm) have also started selling luxury houses priced well above the RM1 million mark.

The Danga Island Villas, for instance, are going at between RM4 million and RM15 million each.

The RM330 million development is being touted as Iskandar's first high-end waterfront lifestyle living concept.

By New Straits Times (by Siti Nurbaiyah Nadzmi)



Glomac projects value to hit RM1bil

KUALA LUMPUR: Glomac Bhd said the proposed acquisition of freehold land in Sepang, Selangor will increase the value of its development projects to RM1bil in the financial year ending April.

It will also bring the group's total number of projects to 14.

Glomac, via a wholly owned subsidiary, had last Friday signed a sale and purchase agreement with Cyberview Sdn Bhd and Setia Haruman Sdn Bhd to acquire 3.2894ha freehold land for RM21.244mil.

The acquisition would be financed through a combination of internally generated funds and bank borrowings, the company said in a statement.

By Bernama


Putrajaya Perdana unit wins RM50m contract

Kuala Lumpur: Putrajaya Perdana Bhd's wholly owned subsidiary Putra Perdana Construction Sdn Bhd has won a RM49.9mil contract to build an information and communications technology centre in Sepang, Selangor from a statutory body.
Putrajaya Perdana told Bursa Malaysia the project had a contract period of 11 months and was due for completion by year-end.

By The Star