UEM Land ready for maiden foray into Sabah

Posted on 13 June 2013 by thesundaily.com
Eva Yeong

From left: UEM Land CFO Azhar Othman, chairman Tan Sri Dr Ahmad Tajuddin Ali and Wan Abdullah speaking at a press conference after the group's AGM yesterday. ADIB RAWI/theSun

PETALING JAYA (June 13, 2013): UEM Land Holdings Bhd, which is likely to surpass its target of RM3 billion in new property sales this year, is eyeing to start an urban development project in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

This foray into Sabah, if it materialises, underscores the group's strategy to expand its portfolio into new markets as it seeks to sustain its impressive growth rate.

"The Kota Kinabalu deal is on the table, but until and unless our partners are ready to sign on the dotted line, we cannot share details. Hopefully by year-end, we will have something," managing director and CEO Datuk Wan Abdullah Wan Ibrahim (pix) told reporters after the group's AGM yesterday.

A deal will mark the group's maiden entry into Sabah's bustling property market.

Wan Abdullah said the potential size of the undisclosed Kota Kinabalu project is between 10 acres and 30 acres.

Currently, the bulk of UEM Land projects is in Iskandar Malaysia, Johor. The group, however, has been busy scouting outside its home base and has identified Penang as a target.

"We're on an acquisition trail. We're still looking into new geographies, but we'll go through a stringent process to make sure we pick the right location for the right product," Wan Abdullah said.

The group is also looking at new opportunities overseas such as in India, Indonesia and Australia.

For the first three months of 2013 (Q1 2013), UEM Land, which is changing its name to UEM Sunrise Bhd pending approvals from the authorities, sold RM1.39 billion worth of new properties. A project in Canada contributed RM431 million in sales.

An estimated 59% of this new sales was contributed from its Nusajaya projects.

The group's unbilled sales jumped to RM3.55 billion in Q1 2013 from RM2.28 billion in Q4 2012.

"In order for us to achieve our growth targets, we certainly need to explore other locations. As you can see from our five-year compounded annual growth rate (sales 77%, revenue 40%), it is quite phenomenal. We want to continue this wave of growth and in order to achieve and sustain that kind of growth, we need to look at new geographies,'' Wan Abdullah said.

This year, the group expects to launch new residential and commercial properties with a total gross development value (GDV) of RM4 billion, which is expected to contribute towards its targeted sales of RM3 billion.

"To enhance our composition of revenue and bottomline, we need to enhance our recurring income. This will probably be more driven organically. We're not going to spend too much capital expenditure on major acquisition of assets for recurring income. We'd rather look at it as organic growth. We've got a few malls under construction and those will all fit into our recurring income portfolio," he said.

The group's current recurring income stands at 8% of total income and its total landbank is 10,600 acres.

Mah Sing to build a RM1.4mil Kota Kinabalu Convention City

Published May 30, 2013 by PropertyGuru.com.my

Mah Sing Group will transform a 9.33-acre land in Kota Kinabalu, owned by Yayasan Sabah Group (YSG), into a world-class waterfront project with a gross development value (GDV) of RM1.4 billion.

Along this line, Mah Sing’s 51 percent owned unit, Convention City Development Sdn Bhd, has recently inked a development agreement with YSG for an entitlement of RM163 million for the integrated project which will be called as the Kota Kinabalu Convention City.

“The total investment for the 9.33-acre piece of land at RM184.9 million is equivalent to 13.2 percent of the estimated potential GDV and will be paid over a minimum of 42 months,” said Mah Sing.

“Prime land in the heart of Kota Kinabalu is hard to come by, and we envision creating an iconic waterfront development. Kota Kinabalu Convention City will be to Kota Kinabalu what KLCC is to Kuala Lumpur, becoming a landmark in Sabah that will put it on the world map,” noted Group Managing Director Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum.

Under the agreement, Mah Sing may also exercise an option for an adjacent 5.95-acre land. This could boost the project’s GDV by RM600 million, bringing its total GDV to RM2 billion.

“We may exercise the option for an entitlement price of RM117 million, within two years from the issuance of the separate issue document of title. This will provide further upside for our Kota Kinabalu Convention City project, and the overall entitlement price for both phases will be 15 percent of the potential GDV of RM2 billion to be generated should we exercise the option,” explained Leong.

The project is located along the Coastal Highway and is adjacent to the forthcoming Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC). It will comprise a luxury hotel, office towers, shop offices, lifestyle retail, F&B outlets, a business hotel, as well as serviced residences.

Phase I is expected to take four to five year, and registration of interest will start as early as Q3 2013, Leong added.

Source: http://www.propertyguru.com.my/property-news/2013/5/9473/mah-sing-to-build-a-rm1-4mil-convention-city

The Suritz to be launched

Published on 4th May, 2012 by New Sabah Times

KOTA KINABALU: SCland Group will be launching its new project called ‘The Suritz’, an upscale service apartment in the heart of Kolombong near here, this weekend.

With a total gross development cost of RM60 million, the project, which has already started, is expected to be completed by 2015, said SCland Group director Ang Loo Leong during a press conference at the developer’s office yesterday.

The Suritz is a gated and guarded service apartment with 128 units, built over 2.16 acres of land and offers two choices of built up areas, namely Type A — 1,428 sq ft and Type B — 1,346 sq ft.

“The prices are from RM359 per sq ft, ranging from RM482,000 to RM591,000 inclusive of two covered car parks (from third floor onwards) and two air-conditioning units,” said Ang.

Located just 20 minutes from the central business district of Kota Kinabalu, The Suritz is a 16-storey urban residence which is developed in two blocks and offers all corner units for the buyers, he said.

The property, boasting a modern living design, is accessible via Jalan Lintas and Jalan Tuaran, both major roads which run perpendicular to the site at a north-south axis with the 1Borneo development located at the north, he said.

Furthermore, he said the property is centrally located close to key transport hubs whereby the local bus station is situated further north at Inanam and the Kota Kinabalu International Airport is about 20 minutes away.

Other amenities within the vicinity include City Mall, Giant Hypermarket and the Sabah Golf & Country Club.

Major medical facilities such as Hospital Pakar Likas and Hospital Mesra, along with educational institutions such as Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman Kota Kinabalu and Universiti Malaysia Sabah are also located just 10 minutes away, said Ang.

The Suritz, which is designed to foster family living, is equipped with facilities such as two-tier security card access at guardhouses and lift lobby; intercom and CCTV guest screening at the guardhouse; 24-hour security services; three bedrooms and store —suitable for family living; picturesque views of Likas Bay and scenic mountain views, among others.

The latest property is SCland’s third project after the Surian Residences launched in October 2010 where prices of the property have since appreciated from RM300 per sq ft to RM450 per sq ft, largely attributed to the aesthetic value of its practical design.

Recently, the developer launched its second project, Yijia, a luxury bungalow development.

The Suritz will be officially launched on May 5-6 at Function Room 4, Level 1, Magellan Sutera Harbour Resort from 10am to 6pm.

Attractive ownership packages exclusively for the buyers will be offered during the sales launch such as early bird rebate, free legal fees for sales and purchase agreement, and developer interest bearing scheme. Interested buyers can contact the developer sales gallery at 088-486808.

Source:  http://www.newsabahtimes.com.my/nstweb/fullstory/58413

Bolton signs JV for RM480m GDV Sabah development

Written by Ho Ching Ling of theedgemalaysia.com on 21 November 2012

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 21): Bolton Bhd has entered into a joint venture agreement with Mobuild Sdn Bhd for a residential development project in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah worth an estimated gross development (GDV) value of RM480 million.

The project — which represents Bolton’s maiden project in East Malaysia — will consist of 500 units of luxury condominiums and 50 units of landed villas on a 10.33 acre land at Signal Hill and is slated to be launched in the first half of 2013.
 
"As you know, we have primarily been a Klang Valley developer but we view Kota Kinabalu as a very good market,” said group executive chairman Tan Sri Azman Yahya at the double signing ceremony today.

According to Azman, the partnership will be a 50:50 collaboration in which Mobuild will provide the land while Bolton will be responsible for the working capital and development of the units.

Azman added the group will be announcing more joint venture collaborations in the near future specifically one development in Penang and another in Kota Bahru, the latter which will be announced by end of this year.

“Bolton is currently being sought after as a desirable joint-venture partner due to our flexibility and adaptability when dealing with our partners and the type of attractive development concepts we bring,” he said.

The group also signed a RM370 million financing facility with Affin Investment Bank today consisting of RM230 million Islamic medium term notes programme and a RM140 million revolving credit line, which Azman said will be largely utilised to finance land acquisitions and project financing.

“The facility also gives us the funds to undertake further land and development acquisitions to move us closer to our RM1 billion annual sales target we set to achieve in a couple of years,” Azman added.

The property developer currently has a land bank size of 1,300 acres with the largest plot being the 625-acre land in Sungai Long.

“We expect to launch the first phase of this township comprising 160 acres within the next two years with a target GDV in excess of RM1 billion whereas the remaining phases will be developed over the next 10 years and could further generate GDV in excess of RM2 billion,” he said. 

Source:  http://www.theedgemalaysia.com/business-news/225381-bolton-signs-jv-for-rm480m-gdv-sabah-development-.html

KK’s Blu Summer Suites offers SOVO 

Published 21st October, 2012 by New Sabah Times

KOTA KINABALU: The Blu Summer Suites project located in the Golden Triangle of Kota Kinabalu is offering small office versatile office (SOVO) suitable for young entrepreneurs who aspire to set up business in Sabah.

“It comprises two towers with 420 SOVO units of various sizes from 401sqft to 581sqft and 400 units of hotel suites.

“The gross development value of these two towers is about RM450 million,” said Kenny Lim, the director of Blu Waterfront Development Sdn Bhd at the opening of Blu Summer Suites property gallery at KK Times Square here yesterday.

The event was graced by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Dr Yee Moh Chai. Also present was Malaysia Chinese Chamber of Commerce president Datuk Lau Kok Seng.

This modern development comes with the best-in-house facilities in town such as swimming pool, gym room facilities, Sauna, spa, jacuzzi and a rooftop barbecue area as well as an exclusive and boutique design retail mall at the ground and first floor of the building.

“Our concept is to create a convenient and stylish life style for owners so that they can work, play and enjoy their lifestyle within the vicinity,” Kenny said.

For the hotel suites, he said: “We are in the midst of arranging a well-known hotel operator from Singapore to run the operation. This will be an added value to the SOVO units,” he said.

Currently, the company has a project at Lahad Datu town – First Palm City Centre – which is a mixed development on a 58-acre plot of land.

“It consists of consists of shop offices, hotel, shoplex, a hypermarket and a bus terminal,” he said adding that Phase 1 and 2 had been fully sold out while Phase 3 was now open for sale.

Kenny also said they were going to launch a gated and guarded residential project which consisted of bungalows, terrace houses and condominium with club house facilities at Bukit Padang in the second quarter of 2013.

“In order to penetrate and expand local market, we have engaged Big House Management Sdn Bhd to be the exclusive marketing consultant to market the project for us,” he revealed.

Meanwhile Dr Yee the launching of the project showed that the company has confidence in Sabah.

“We welcome you to Sabah to develop this project right at the heart of the city,” he said.

The hotel suites, he said would help to meet the increasing demand of tourists.

Source:  http://www.newsabahtimes.com.my/nstweb/fullstory/63101

Permaju to launch its first township in Sabah 

  Written by Rosalynn Poh on 01 July 2012 at The Edge Malaysia
 
Permaju Industries Bhd, a Sabah-based company listed on Bursa Malaysia with a market capitalisation of about RM190 million, is set to diversify into property development with its first launch in 3Q2012. 

The company, which was incorporated in 1996, has its core business in the automotive industry. However, it is making its foray into property development with a mixed-use township known as Princess Heights, a 109-acre leasehold tract in Sepangar just 15 minutes from Kota Kinabalu’s town centre. 

Princess Heights, which will be split 80:20 between residential and commercial units, will be developed in two main phases. The development sits on a slightly elevated tract with views of the surrounding mountains in Kota Kinabalu. It has an estimated gross development value (GDV) of at least RM700 million, which the developer believes may increase within the six years it will take to complete the township.  

Permaju Industries’ core business was timber-related until it diversified into automobile distribution and the provision of automobile-related services. The group has set an ambitious target for its new property division — it wants the property business to contribute 50% to its profit after the third year, executive director Datuk Eddie Chai Woon Chet tells City & Country. He adds that there will be more announcements in the near future on Permaju Industries’ property ventures.

Permaju’s entry into the property sector is via its acquisition of 70% of Hardie Development Sdn Bhd (HDSB) for RM33.68 million in 2010. HDSB had in 2003 entered a joint venture to develop Princess Heights with Supernesa Sdn Bhd, which in turn has a development agreement with Sabah government agency Sabah Housing and Town Development Authority to develop Princess Heights on the land owned by the state.

Chai says, according to the agreement, HDSB needs to contribute two blocks of apartments to SHTDA. 

“Why property? We chose property development because we think it is the most profitable industry for us to venture into. We chose Kota Kinabalu because Sabah was where we started our timber business, so we thought it was only appropriate that we developed our first project there,” he adds. 

The 33- year-old Chai is no stranger to property development as he has more than 10 years of experience developing the Alamesra township in Kota Kinabalu and projects in Kuala Lumpur under his own private company. According to an article in City & Country last July, Alamesra is located just opposite 1Borneo Shopping Mall and Universiti Malaysia Sabah. The 265-acre leasehold township project with a GDV of RM1.3 billion is more than 50% complete.

Chai believes there are still many opportunities in Sabah. “The property market has been very active there, especially residential. Newly launched terraced homes in Kota Kinabalu, with built-ups of 2,100 sq ft are easily being sold for RM600,000. There are still not enough houses in Sabah and the younger generation from Sabah who may currently be working in Peninsular Malaysia are looking to buy their own property back home. 

“Another interesting thing is that no matter if they are young or old, Sabahans like to invest in property. In Kuala Lumpur, one may look to buy cars or something but in Sabah, the business people seem to be interested in property. This has made the Kota Kinabalu property market vibrant over the past years. And foreigners mainly target the condominium market,” he says.

The first launch in Princess Heights will comprise walk-up apartments and 60 shopoffices. The 3-storey shopoffices with built-ups of 3,400 to 3,600 sq ft have indicative prices of around RM700,000, or between RM270 and RM300 psf. The walk-up apartments have an indicative price of RM200 psf with an average built-up of 1,000 sq ft. Apartments with lifts, which will be launched at a later date, have an indicative price of RM250 psf.

“There are many apartments in Kota Kinabalu and sales have been good. For example, some newly launched apartments in the town centre are selling for RM500 to RM600 psf and these are smaller units of around 700 sq ft. 

“There is a lot of demand for properties below RM1 million and we are confident that we can sell well. For example, our walk-up apartments will cost below RM300,000. There have been a lot of enquiries coming in since we put up our hoarding in the area and started our earthworks and infrastructure works. We are in the midst of piling for the apartment block. We have not even started marketing our project,” Chai says. 

Permaju Industries is also looking to develop a 10-acre commercial tract there and recently announced that the anchor tenant for its commercial component will be Mydin Mohamed Holdings Bhd, a local retail organisation with more than 72 outlets nationwide. While further details were unavailable at press time, the commercial tract agreement will be with Permanent Engineering Sdn Bhd, which will act as a project management company and lease the commercial component to Mydin Holdings for 20 years. A Bursa announcement states that the total development cost of the commercial project is about RM150 million.
Chai believes the land value of Princess Heights will increase up to five times its current value of RM33 million with the attractive offerings in the commercial tract, which is situated in the middle of the township. He says Princess Heights is targeted mainly at the local market. Chai adds that future projects from Permaju Industries would continue to cater for the medium and higher-end markets.

This article appeared in City & Country, the property pullout of The Edge Malaysia, Issue 913, June 4-10, 2012

Source: http://www.theedgeproperty.com/news-a-views/10245-cityacountry-permaju-to-launch-its-first-township-in-sabah.html

Boosting KK's South Corridor

Published on: Saturday, March 31, 2012

Kota Kinabalu: The property market in Sabah, particularly Kota Kinabalu and its surrounding areas, has been vibrant over the last decade mainly due to the strong economic growth in the State and investors from Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak, according to Datuk John Chee JP.

"Investment from overseas is on the rise such as in MMII H (Malaysia My Second Home). The vibrant market is also attributed to the palm oil boom in Sabah and the growing awareness on property investment over the years," he said.

Chee, an engineer-cum-property developer, also highlighted the scarcity of affordable land for properties, especially in the city area.

"The launching of Taman Desa Seri Ketiau phase (I) in Putatan offers hope to buyers to capture the opportunity to own a sizeable unit and at the same time able to enjoy the benefits of quality living in the suburb of Kota Kinabalu.

"With better roads and flyovers, it only takes 10 to 15 minutes to reach Kota Kinabalu. Taman Desa Seri Ketiau (phase I) consists of 97 units of double-storey terrace houses with a total built-up area of 1,439 square feet," he said.

Chee has been focusing in the Putatan area, which is the Southern Corridor of Kota Kinabalu for almost a decade now, and well known for the Grand Plaza Putatan and Hypermarket project.

"With the elevation of Putatan to a full district, it would transform the town into a vibrant metropolitan with the up-and-coming facilities.

"The completion of the new Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) and the recently launched Mega project, Aeropod, would also give a big boost to the KK Southern Corridor development.

He said the newly upgraded railway line and the promised Pan-Borneo Highway again would add values to the properties down south.

"Another factor for growth is also attributed to the mushrooming of the oil and gas industries at Kimanis and Sipitang.

"The property market will continue to be vibrant as long as the economic growth in the State is maintained," he said.

Source: http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=81120

Ceriamas 118 making waves 

Published 3rd October, 2010 by New Sabah Times

KOTA KINABALU: LT Alliance Development Sdn Bhd is now confidently embarking on its final phase of Ceriamas 118 after having successfully launched and sold Ceriamas Phase 1, 2 and 3 in Putatan last year.

Boasting a luxury and modern theme, the final phase of Ceriamas 118 comprises 28 units of three-storey semi-detached units with 3,300 square feet and are said to be the first of its kind in the area which features many modern components and details.

According to LT Alliance Development Sdn Bhd managing director Dr Low Poke Leong, this luxury category of property development in Putatan is aimed at complementing the township’s development and meeting the needs of growing affluent population around the area, providing them with the much upgraded residential choice.

“As the township develops, establishes and matures, there will be eventually a need for upmarket development. Location, design and price of the property are our main selling points of the development. Our customers, both existing and potential, were so impressed when visiting on site. We really need not do much marketing,” he said.

He said that Putatan is fast turning into a well sought-after address with easy accessibility provided by the improved infrastructure network and growing commercial activities is making it another attraction for residential preference and business choice.

“The actual construction, the on-going process and the bustling business around the area speak for themselves. They become the real attraction,” he said.

Previous skeptics of the location and value of the development project were long convinced as sales and demand of property there proved overwhelming when Ceriamas 118’s terrace houses in Phase 1 and 2 were sold out almost instantly and are now in the process of obtaining their OC.

“The 3-storey semi detached units received equally good response. Visitors to the show units for the past months indicated keen interest and admiration on its luxurious design and the much needed practicality,” he said.

He added that the project is designed with the same dedication to quality and affordability which have been the company’s commitment.

Meanwhile, the company has also recently launched another residential project, Eramas 118, at Donggongon and response was also overwhelming.

“The company has always been cautious about the property market and careful in developing the suitable types of projects. The demand for affordable housing remains a great concern for both the government and the general population. The company is aware of such need,” he said.

Low said a similar project is in the pipeline and will be launched in the future.

Source:  http://www.newsabahtimes.com.my/nstweb/fullstory/42914