GOLDEN Horses Development Bhd, a private company owned by Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew, is constructing Palace Residential Suite at the Mines Resort City in Seri Kembangan, Selangor, for RM600 million.

The Palace Residential will offer 430 exquisite suites, adjacent to Palace of the Golden Horses, a five-star hotel with 480 rooms.

Lee told Business Times in an interview recently that Palace Residential will have a seven-star rating and its facilities and services will be on par with international standards.

He said Golden Horses will retain some of the suites for recurring income. It plans to rent each suite for more than RM800 a night.
“We will sell more than half of the suites to locals and foreigners. We have not open them for sale yet. We are looking at an average price range of RM1.5 million for each suite. We expect some buyers to lease back their units to us,” said Lee.

Palace Residential will also cater to MICE (meetings, incentives, convention and exhibition) as it will have a 3,000 seating capacity ballroom, which will be one of largest in Malaysia.

The biggest currently is Mines Exhibition and Convention Centre, which has space for 6,000 people.

“We have started construction on the building. It will take two-and-a-half years to complete. We are on target and confident to sell,” Lee said.

“People believe in our projects. They know the price of our properties will appreciate as they are mostly located near a golf course,” he said.

The Mines Resort City, the country’s first resort development, is a project initiated by Country Heights Holdings Bhd (CHHB), in which, Lee holds 48.1 per cent stake.

The Mines Resort City comprises the Mines Resort & Golf Club, Palace of the Golden Horses, Mines Shopping Fair (now owned by CapitaLand), Mines Wellness Hotel, the only beach hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Mines Waterfront Business Park, Mines Exhibition & Convention Centre and Mines Wonderland.

By BUSINESS TIMES

MINES 2 Sdn Bhd, the owner of Mines 2, is aiming to rake in rentals of RM15 million a year from its new shopping mall that will start operations on October 15.

Its chairman Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew said with the “street mall” concept, Mines 2 offers unique shopping atmosphere with colourful light-emitting diode (LED) lights.

“We are the first shopping mall in the country to use 100 per cent LED in our operations,” he said.

The RM150 million 11-storey commercial building has 400 shops and kiosks.

The company aims to secure 90 per cent tenancy rate by June next year.

Lee was speaking to reporters after the signing ceremony between Mines 2 Sdn Bhd and Frontken Corp Bhd, a service provider of surface metamor-phosis engineering to set up the Frontken LED lighting technology in the mall, recently.

Also present was Frontken’s executive chairman and managing director Willie Wong.

“We aim to attract 10 to 12 per cent more visitors from the Mines Shopping Fair to shop here (Mines 2),” Lee said, noting that the Mines Shopping Fair has one million visitors a month.

Frontken’s new LED lighting technology adapts to the green environmental initiatives, reduces energy cost and offers brighter and higher efficiency.

Lee said LED lights save energy, promote sustainability, reduce environmental impact and improve the quality of the light.

“We have made an investment of RM5 million to use LED technology here and hope to recoup the investment in less than five years,” he said.

Lee said with Frontken’s LED technology, Mines2 is expected to reduce utility expenses by up to 40 per cent from the lighting and air-conditioning loads.

He added that in the future, Mines 2 will continue to cooperate with Frontken to build a car park equipped with LED lights with 2,000 capacity.

- Mines Shopping Mall News

GELANG PATAH: UEM Land Holdings Bhd is targeting more international investors to participate in the development of Nusajaya this year.

Its managing director Datuk Wan Abdullah Wan Ibrahim said the company was eyeing investors from China, India, Europe, Singapore, South Korea and the United States.

“Nusajaya is progressing well and moving on the right track and we are confident of keeping the momentum going as planned,’’ Abdullah told StarBiz.

He was speaking at the launch of “Green Programme”, a collaboration between UEM Land and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia at SK Taman Nusa Perintis 1, near here on Saturday.

The Green Programme is outlined under the Nusajaya Green Plan launched in December last year to ensure a sustainable development of the country’s first economic growth corridor.

»Nusajaya will have enough content to attract investors and residents« DATUK WAN ABDULLAH WAN IBRAHIM

Abdullah said the company was unfazed by the Dubai World saga and now the Greece debt crisis as the two were unlikely to affect the global economy.

“Even during the global economic slowdown in the last two years, Nusajaya attracted interest from both local and foreign investors,’’ he added.

Abdullah said the company believed there were always opportunitie,s even during times of economic uncertainty, as there were investors and individuals with funds.

He said the company’s high-end residential projects, East Ledang and Horizon Hills, a joint venture between UEM Land and Gamuda Bhd, had attracted a large number of foreign buyers.

Abdullah said foreigners made up 65% and 56% of the buyers at East Ledang and Horizon Hills respectively and that the projects had recorded good take-up rates.

UEM Land is the master developer of the 9,308ha Nusajaya, the key driver of Iskandar Malaysia which was launched on Nov 4, 2006.

Nusajaya comprises eight catalyst developments – Kota Iskandar (Johor State New Administrative Centre), Southern Industrial and Logistic Clusters, Puteri Harbour Waterfront Development, EduCity, Medical City, International Destination Resort and Nusajaya Residences.

Nusajaya is one of five flagship development zones in Iskandar. The other four are the JB City Centre, Western Gate Development, Eastern Gate Development and Senai-Kulai.

Abdullah said works on infrastructure and several development projects in Nusajaya were on schedule and were expected to be completed in the next three to five years.

These include the RM1.4bil Coastal Highway linking Johor Baru city centre to Nusajaya, Asia’s first Legoland Theme Park, Indoor Theme Park @ Puteri Harbour, Marlborough College, Newcastle University Medical Faculty and Pinewood Studios.

“On completion of these projects, Nusajaya will have enough content to attract investors and residents,’’ he said.

Abdullah said it would be much easier to convince and attract investors to Nusajaya as they could witness the developments taking place.

He said another contributing factor was that Iskandar received continuous support and commitment from the Federal and Johor governments.

“The support from the Federal and Johor governments is important to ensure the success of Iskandar, which in turn will ensure that Nusajaya succeeds too,’’ Abdullah said.

He said other stakeholders, namely Iskandar Regional Development Authority and Khazanah Nasional Bhd-backed Iskandar Investment Bhd, also played crucial role in determining Nusajaya’s success.

Abdullah said its close proximity to Singapore was another added advantage for Nusajaya as it would not only able to attract Singaporean investors but also expatriates and multinational corporations there.

“As the master developer, UEM Land has an enormous task to ensure that Nusajaya succeeds and looking at its progress, we are well on our way to achieving it,’’ he said.

- Iskandar Malaysia Property News

The firm expects it to be main selling point for its latest mixed property project.

NUSAJAYA: UEM Land Holdings Bhd is banking on the on-track development of Nusajaya as the main selling point for its latest mixed property development project.

Senior marketing and sales manager Mohamad Razif Abdul Wahab said that Nusa Bayu, to be launched early next month, would be the company’s fourth ongoing project in Iskandar Malaysia.

The other three projects are East Ledang, Nusa Idaman and Puteri Harbour while Horizon Hills is a joint venture between UEM Land and Gamuda Bhd.

“Nusajaya is progressing well and moving on the right track as planned, attracting investments from both local and foreign investors,’’ Razif told StarBiz.

From left: UEM Land strategic marketing GM Zamry Ibrahim, strategic marketing and communications director Zulkifli Tahmali and Mohamad Razif Abdul Wahab looking at the model of the company’s Nusa Bayu mixed property development project.

UEM Land is the master developer of the 9,308ha Nusajaya, the key driver of Iskandar Malaysia, the country’s first economic growth corridor launched on Nov 4, 2006.

Nusajaya comprises eight catalyst developments — Kota Iskandar (Johor’s new administrative centre), Southern Industrial and Logistic Clusters, Puteri Harbour Waterfront Development, EduCity, Medical City, International Destination Resort and Nusajaya Residences.

Razif said that Nusa Bayu, sited on 105.21ha along the Pontian Link, would have 5,000 residential and commercial properties and a gross development value of RM700mil.

He said the initial launch was set for 130 double-storey link houses, with a built-up area of 1,400 sq ft each and costing under RM300,000.

He said the company would target young families, first-time homebuyers and Malaysians working in Tuas and Jurong in Singapore, as the project was easily accessible from the Second Link crossing.

“We conducted a market study and found that there was a huge gap for new houses priced between RM200,000 and RM300,000 in Nusajaya,’’ Razif said.

Razif said feedback also showed that many buyers, including foreigners, were attracted to properties in Nusajaya.

Work on infrastructure and several development projects in Nusajaya are on schedule and are expected to be completed in the next two to five years.

They include the RM1.4bil Coastal Highway linking Johor Baru city centre to Nusajaya, Asia’s first Legoland Theme Park, Indoor Theme Park @ Puteri Harbour, Marlborough College, Newcastle University Medical Faculty and Pinewood Studios.

- UEM Land Nusajaya Development News