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

Direction of housing sector uncertain

Published on 29th May, 2013 by New Sabah Times

KOTA KINABALU: The direction of housing development in Sabah is uncertain following the unresolved Euro debt crisis, the continuing high unemployment in USA and the recently concluded 13th general elections in Malaysia.

In view of the foregoing, investors are still cautious about making commitments, said Michael Lui Yen Sang, president of the Kota Kinabalu Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KKCCCI).

“However, real estate development is a major engine of growth leading other spheres of economic development,” he said in his opening remarks at the Seminar on Housing Development in Kota Kinabalu.

He said that over the past 10 years, Sabah’s vigorous growth had been spurred by continued property development.

Meanwhile, Datuk Chong Choon Kim, managing director of CH Williams & Talhar too was not overly optimistic about the property market due to several factors.

He said the market showed a continuous upward trend during the past five years but reckoned that the prospects for the next five years would be rather gloomy.

The BN government has allocated substantial sums of money for developing the infrastructure of the rural areas, Chong noted.

“Hence for the next five years, the government would likely reduce spending on schools, medical services such as hospitals, road construction and other essential services to cut budget deficit,” he said.

He was also not optimistic about more urban road development in Kota Kinabalu especially after the BN failed to retain Kota Kinabalu parliamentary seat and the state seats under the constituency.

“Hence, we would not see massive urban road development and opening up of more suitable land for development,” Chong said.

Nevertheless, in order to lower the land value for urban housing development, he said the government should continue to provide more urban roads.

Chong also expected housing demand to be sluggish because the young people are unable to pay for the rising prices of houses.

“Traditionally, Sabah is agro-based, and once the young people abandoned the rural life style, they tend to flock to the KK urban areas for job,” he said.

“Now in KK, over 50 per cent employees earn less than RM2,000 per month, 20 per cent earn between RM2,000 and RM3,500 per month, a further 20 per cent earn between RM3,500 and RM7,000 per month. Only 10 per cent earn more than RM7,000 per month,” Chong said.

The government has categorised houses at RM250,000 as affordable.

“For young people earning RM2,000 per month, they could only afford houses at RM150,000 with a payback period of 30 years,” Chong said.

He said only those earning RM3,500 per month could afford to buy the affordable houses.

“At the moment, the saturation point has already been reached for the high cost houses and the developers should instead build the RM250,000 affordable houses,” he said.

Chong was one of the speakers at the seminar.

Source:  http://www.newsabahtimes.com.my/nstweb/fullstory/68856

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