City&Country: Briefs

Malaysia-Singapore JV to develop project in Danga Bay
Singapore’s Imperial Marina Pte Ltd, a property investment company helmed by businesswoman Tan Yang Po, will team up with Danga Bay Sdn Bhd (37%) and Pembinaan Sahabatjaya Sdn Bhd (33%) to jointly develop a RM500 million new waterfront residential and commercial project in Danga Bay, Johor, via a joint-venture company, Para Impiana Sdn Bhd. To be known as Azea Properties, the proposed high-end project will comprise 700 units of serviced apartments, with selling prices at S$270 (RM650) to S$370 psf on a 4.17-acre site in Danga Bay, a flagship zone within Iskandar Malaysia. The joint venture signing ceremony was held on Dec 6.

UEM Land plans township in Bangi
UEM Land Holdings Bhd is planning to develop a RM2.84 billion freehold township project in Bangi by March next year. It announced on Dec 6 that the project would be on two tracts of freehold land with a total of 463.51 acres. The agricultural land in Mukim Semenyih, Selangor, is being acquired from Inch Kenneth Kajang Rubber Public Ltd Company for RM268.5 million or RM13.30 psf.

Located adjacent to the Alam Sari township and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, the site is an oil palm plantation with approval for conversion to mixed development status,  it says. The acquisition forms part of UEM Land’s strategic plan to diversify its development portfolio and revenue sources outside Nusajaya in order to achieve long-term growth. The group’s acquisition of land parcels in Cyberjaya in December 2008 (which is currently being developed under the name Symphony Hills), as well as the acquisition of Sunrise Bhd, are also part of this strategy, says the developer.

Housing laws to be amended to prevent abandoned projects
The Housing and Local Government Ministry will amend the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Act 1966 to tackle the problems of abandoned housing projects in the country. Minister Datuk Wira Chor Chee Heung, says the ministry is studying the possibility of creating a special provision to enable action to be taken against housing developers who fail to complete their projects.

As at Nov 30, there were 161 abandoned projects with a total of 50,614 housing units nationwide. So far, 51 of these projects can be completed, while 58 are in the process of rehabilitation.

Glomac’s pre-tax profit surges 87.5%
Glomac Bhd’s pre-tax profit for the six months ended Oct 31, surged 87.5% to RM61.5 million from RM32.825 million in the same period last year. Revenue rose 98.5% to RM267.2 million from the RM134.6 million previously. The stronger performance was attributed to contributions from Glomac Tower, Glomac Damansara, Glomac Cyberjaya, Bandar Saujana Utama and Seri Bangi at Bandar Baru Bangi. Unbilled sales as at end-October stood at RM572 million. Projects earmarked for launch over the next 12 months are valued in excess of RM1 billion.

This article appeared in City & Country, the property pullout of The Edge Malaysia, Issue 836, Dec 13-19, 2010