Mah Sing plans Rawang township

PETALING JAYA: Mah Sing Group Bhd is acquiring a 225.7 acre piece of freehold land in Rawang for RM57 million with plans to develop a RM948 million township.

A share sale agreement totaling RM57 million was inked on Wednesday, Oct 5 to acquire the entire issued and paid up share capital of the registered owner of the land Semai Meranti Sdn Bhd for the said project, the developer said in a statement on Wednesday.

In line with the government's call for more affordable housing by private developers, Mah Sing plans to launch "beginner" homes with indicative prices from RM390,000 at the township dubbed M Residence@Rawang project in the first half of 2012.

The development is expected to be fully developed in three to four years. Registration of interest for the project is expected to commence in the fourth quarter of 2011, it said.

Preliminary plans include 2-storey link homes, townhouses, semi-detached homes, 3-storey shops and various facilities and amenities.

Mah Sing group managing director and chief executive Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum said, "This is our third land deal this year. We intend to price the properties within reach of first time home buyers.

"We see this as mass housing targeting first time and younger middle class home buyers over the next 12 to 24 months. We are targeting those who want to upgrade to a well planned mixed development and as with our other townships, we intend to offer more upscale properties once we draw in the critical mass. We only need to refine the product mix to meet current market demand," he said.

Located 5km away from the planned township are the matured townships of Anggun 1 &2@Kota Emerald and 8km from Emerald East and West. A new Jusco Shopping Centre is under construction nearby and is expected to be completed by the end of 2011.The Rawang KTM Station is approximately 12km from the site.

There are four forest reserves located within a 15km radius of the project, namely Bukit Badong Forest Reserve, Templer's Park, Kanching Forest Park and Commonwealth Forest Park.

This latest acquisition brings the Group's remaining gross development value and unbilled sales to RM15.4 billion as at June 30, 2011.

As at Sept 2011, Mah Sing has achieved sales of RM1.74billion, close to 90% of its 2011 sales target of more than RM2 billion. The Group is keen on both privately-held land as well as government lands that will be developed by the private sector.

Leong said, "Given our expertise in township development and the shift of market demand towards mass housing for the next two years, we are actively scouting for even more well sited mega landbanks to develop townships which will allow us better masterplanning for value adding."