Gamuda Land in RM600mil commercial project in Kelana Jaya

PETALING JAYA: Gamuda Land Sdn Bhd, the property arm of Gamuda Bhd, has purchased 4.86-acre freehold land in Kelana Jaya for RM95mil.

It intends to develop the commercial plot into a mixed project of retail and office suites for RM600mil.

“The average selling price for the residential component is RM750 per sq ft while the retail shops are estimated at an average selling price of RM800 per sq ft.

“The planning and content of this development is anticipated to be revealed in early 2014,” said Gamuda Land managing director Chow Chee Wah.

The site is located behind the Giant hypermarket, and in front of Dataran Glomac. Other notable developments within a 500m to 1km radius are the newly-opened Paradigm Mall, Parklane Commercial Hub, Zenith Corporate Park, Kelana Square, Kelana Centre Point and Tiara Kelana.

The group's other projects included Bandar Botanic in southern Klang, Jade Hills in Kajang and Horizon Hills in Johor Baru.

“Two significant developments which we have added to our recent portfolio are Madge Mansions in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur and The Robertson Suites in Pudu, Kuala Lumpur,” said Chow.

For the nine months to April 30, Gamuda Land has recorded 30% increase in new property sales of RM1.3bil. Total unbilled sales remain at RM1.3bil.

Kelana Jaya is the new hotspot in Petaling Jaya and has recently seen the influx of developers along the Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong stretch.

Property developers who have made inroads included Mah Sing Group Bhd, Glomac Bhd, WCT Engineering Bhd and the SIMA Group.

With 1.7 million sq ft of retail space, the Paradigm Mall by WCT has so far achieved 90% occupancy rate and a blended rental rate of RM6.

Hwang DBS said that occupancy rate could rise to 95% when a key retailer occupies 20,000 sq ft.

The mall, which has a gross development value of RM500mil is part of a 12-acre RM1.4bil mixed development. The other components of the development would comprise office towers, serviced apartments and a 350-room hotel which would be developed over the next few years.

Paradigm Mall is managed and operated by Jelas Puri Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of WCT.

Mah Sing's RM3.2bil neighbourhood development of Icon City sits on a 20-acre site of the former Matsushita factory.

The Sima group's Parklane Commercial Hub@ Kelana Jaya on a nine-acre plot is nearing completion. With a gross development value of some RM300mil, Parklane consists of shopoffices, retail units and small office home office suites.

By The Star

Residents want green field back

In question: The PKNS field in Kelana Jaya which residents want to be retained as green lung.

Discrepancies in the Petaling Jaya Local Plan 2 has led to residents stepping up the campaign to save the PKNS field in Kelana Jaya.

The field earmarked for development of five 35-storey apartment blocks has been the subject of controversy among residents who want the field retained as a green lung.

After several attempts to stop the development, the action committee found a discprepancy in two versions of the local plan, one by the Petaling Jaya City Council (MPBJ) and the other by the Selangor Town and Rural Planning Department.

The MBPJ version states that the status of the field is commercial while the planning department has marked it as a green lung.

The error was highlighted by councillor Derek Fernandez at the full board meeting earlier this week sparking outrage among residents.

“The process of tampering a government document is fraudulent. It should be investigated and a police report should be lodged because it involves so many people,” said action committee secretary Esham Salam.

“It is the responsibility of PKNS to return the field otherwise the land status might be changed later on and the development could take off,” he added.

The committee is urging Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim to make a commitment to return the field.

Meanwhile, Kelana Jaya Barisan Nasional component parties are asking for a full explanation on the discrepancies discovered in the local plan.

“I don’t know if the residents can accept a technical error as an explanation,” Kelana Jaya BN coordinator Ong Chong Swen.

She said the council had not received any development plans but noticeboards had been put up and meetings arranged with the residents.

She, however, commended Roslan for admitting it was a serious error.

Roslan in a press conference after the full board meeting said the development would not be carried out.

“Any development made based on the wrong plan will not be accepted,” he said.

Ong also said the action committee had lodged a report with the MACC on the matter.

Residents, who attended a press conference organised by Ong at her office in Regalia Subang Jaya, were unhappy with the proceedings.

A resident, Mohd Aminuddin Che Mat Din said the mayor might say that the project would not take off now since the mistake had been found out but what guarantee was there that the development would not be approved later on.

“We want to put a stop to it now,” he said.

Ong said they would lodge a police report on the discrepancies.

By The Star

Glomac near deal to sell complex en bloc

KUALA LUMPUR: Glomac Bhd may ink an en bloc deal soon with an investor looking to buy its integrated commercial complex in Kelana Jaya, which has a gross development value (GDV) of close to RM300 million.

The complex, which comprises a high-rise office tower, an office suite and a mall, will be developed on a 1.45ha land, previously used by Kelana Seafood Centre.

According to group managing director and chief executive officer, Datuk FD Iskandar, Glomac is currently in talks with two potential buyers.

"The investors, a combination of both foreign and locals, are looking at the project in totality," he said yesterday on the sidelines of Invest Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Glomac, a medium-size developer with market capitalisation of around RM550 million, expects to increase the value of existing projects in hand from RM1.4 billion to RM7.4 billion, as it introduces new developments.

Glomac is buying more land in Greater Kuala Lumpur, despite global economic uncertainties and volatilities in the market.

The company is expected to close a deal soon to buy 84ha in Puchong for RM77 million. It is also buying 84ha in Sungai Buloh for RM45 million, to expand its ongoing Bandar Saujana Utama township there.

"Barring any unforeseen circumstances, we hope to launch the project in Puchong by year-end, or early next year. The project will have a GDV of RM2 billion. We expect another RM2 billion from the extension of Bandar Saujana township," Iskandar said.

Iskandar is bullish on the property market, adding that demand for landed properties is still going strong.

"Property is the only commodity, where 97 per cent of the time, it grows in value. People will stop buying only if they don't have confidence in the economy.

"Although the world economic is struggling, property demand, especially for landed properties, is still holding very strong," he said.

On earnings, Iskandar said Glomac will post record net profit this year. For the first nine months of its financial year, net profit rose 32.2 per cent to RM63.5 million compared to the previous corresponding nine-month period.

This surpassed the company's full-year net profit of RM63 million, for fiscal 2011.

By Business Times

Glomac to sell off block B at Kelana Business Centre

Property developer Glomac Bhd wants to sell off block B of its building at the Kelana Business Centre in Selangor for RM30 million.

This year alone, Glomac has sold two buildings for RM72.6 million, namely the 13-storey Wisma Glomac 3 in Kelana Centre Point and a building at Wisma Glomac.

Glomac is also in the later stages of finalising by the end of the month, a sale of a 25-storey building at its Glomac Damansara project to a government agency for RM200 million.

"We are selling the buildings so we can use the money and develop bigger projects. The proceeds from the sale of the properties will form part of our war chest," executive vice-chairman Datuk Richard Fong Loong Tuck told Business Times.
Glomac slashed its gearing from 0.5 to 0.12 times since a year ago via the sale of assets, he said.

Glomac Tower, located near the Petronas Twin Towers was sold to a Bumiputera firm for RM577 million in December 2007 and proceeds from the sale are being recognised now as construction progresses, Fong said.

Elsewhere, Glomac Galleria in Sri Hartamas featuring 20 units of four-and-a-half-storey shop offices was sold en bloc last year for RM100 million.

On the fresh asset sale, Fong said that despite block B of the building being put up for sale in the market recently, the company has received numerous offers.

Fong said Glomac will do better this year, with net profit and revenue increasing by 10-20 per cent.

For the fiscal year ended April 2009, it posted a net profit of RM32.3 million on a revenue of RM351 million.

"We have had better sales this year, thanks to financial packages that we had launched earlier in the year. We are also getting income from Glomac Tower and Glomac Galleria, and from our Seri Bangi project," Fong said.

Seri Bangi comprises double-storey terraced houses and shoplots worth RM121 million, and half of the residential properties were launched in April and August this year.

"We launched 94 units and 76 units of double-storey terraced houses in April and August respectively and almost 70 per cent were sold within two weeks after the launch. We were caught by surprise.

"We are going to launch the final 88 units early next year, each priced from RM360,000. We are expecting a similar take up," Fong said.

By Business Times (by Sharen Kaur)

Kelana Jaya restaurant to make way for project

The site is earmarked for a mixed-development project.

The Kelana Jaya Seafood Centre, a prominent landmark in Petaling Jaya, has closed its doors.

The restaurant published a notice in the newspapers announcing its closure on April 30.

A similar notice is plastered on a big signboard at its premises, which can be seen from the LDP.

The restaurant had been in operation for about 18 years and was a popular joint for halal seafood.

Former Subang Jaya assemblyman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng said he used to dine often in the restaurant.

“It is halal so I would go there when I needed to have meals with my Muslim acquaintances,” he said.

The proposed plan is an extension of the existing Plaza Kelana Jaya development that would comprise shops, offices, apartments and a mall.

According to the Glomac corporate communications department, the land on which the Kelana Seafood Centre is located was sold by the PKNS to Glomac Segar Sdn Bhd on April 1, while Glomac Bhd acquired Glomac Segar on April 30.

Glomac has stated in the website that the land would be used for its future development.

The proposed plan is an extension of the existing Plaza Kelana Jaya development that would comprise shop-offices, office suits, serviced apartments and a shopping mall.

The project is scheduled to be launched next year.

The SS7 area near the Kelana Jaya Lake has seen a mushrooming of high-rise residential dwellings and commercial centres over the years.

Residents in the area said they had to put up with bad traffic jams, haphazard parking and flash floods due to the development.

The residents had voiced their displeasure over the apparent over-development in the area during a recent meeting with Seri Setia assemblyman Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.

By The Star (by Tan Karr Wei)