Country Garden in JV to launch Forest City

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 13): One of China’s top 10 real estate developers and also among Forbes Asia’s Top 30 companies, Country Garden has partnered with Johor’s Esplanade Danga 88 Sdn Bhd in a joint venture (JV) to launch its latest project, Forest City, with a gross development value of US$100 billion (RM441 billion).

Revolving around the concepts of green and smart, Forest City is one of the biggest investment projects by Country Garden in cooperation with top global teams, including Sasaki, Huawei, Arup, Accenture and G-Energy Global, to create a prime model of a future city.

The project, located in Johor, adopts a multi-layered design and features vertical greening facades and parks without vehicles. The city is built on a green construction standard for sustainable development, representing a model for a low-carbon, green eco-city, Country Garden said in a recent statement.

The Forest City Sales Gallery was opened to the public on March 6, while the Forest City Kuala Lumpur International Sales Gallery was recently opened on Oct 29.

On Nov 24, the media was invited exclusively for a two-day tour to Forest City.

“Forest City is Country Garden’s third project in Malaysia, after Danga Bay in Johor and Diamond City, Semenyih,” said sales director Jacky Zhang in the statement, adding that buyers of its properties include those from China, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, India, Europe and America.

“The number of investors has been increasing due to Country Garden’s global sales and marketing direction to make Forest City a city filled with residents from different countries,” he added.

In addition to Forest City Kuala Lumpur Sales Gallery, Zhang said Country Garden will be opening other sales galleries in Taiwan, Burma, Dubai and Indonesia.

“To create a better living environment, eight key industries such as healthcare, education and training, tourism and MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions), regional headquarters, emerging technology, near shore finance, e-commerce, and green and smart industry will be incorporated into Forest City,” Zhang added.

American school Shattuck St Mary is also expected to open a branch in Forest City by August 2018.

Zhang also mentioned that Taiwan’s MJ healthcare group, luxury flagship store Secoo from China will also be operating in Forest City.

“More than 30 international enterprises will [be] signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Forest City by the end of this year and our Phoenix Hotel will also have its opening ceremony,” Zhang added.

With Country Garden having over 500 property projects in China, the Chinese property owners are given the first priority to view the project after the Forest City launch, said Zhang, adding that the rumour of a ‘buy one get one free’ package is false.

Listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Country Garden Group is a leading comprehensive real estate developer in China that is mainly engaged in construction, installation, fit-out, property management, real estate investment and hotel development and management.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on Dec 13, 2016. Subscribe to The Edge Financial Daily here.