UEM eyes land beyond Nusajaya

KUALA LUMPUR: UEM Land Bhd, the property arm of conglomerate UEM Group Bhd is seeking new land banks beyond its flagship Nusajaya development in Johor.

UEM Land’s managing director and CEO Datuk Wan Abdullah Wan Ibrahim said the company is eyeing land in the Klang Valley and Penang but stressed that the company is not looking to go abroad any time soon.

“We have a strategy in identifying new revenue streams so we are now actively looking for land outside Nusajaya, Johor. There are discussions currently and we have also received proposals from Penang,” he told reporters after the company’s AGM on Thursday June 10.

The company’s chairman Tan Sri Dr Ahmad Tajuddin Ali added that the move going forward is to ensure that UEM Land becomes less “Nusajaya-centric” in order to be a national player.

Wan Abdullah said UEM Land only has one project outside Nusajaya namely the ongoing high-end gated residential project called Symphony Hills on a 98-acre site in Cyberjaya.

He said the six phases comprising 1,867 units of mixed landed and high-rise residential, commercial and clubhouse, may take about 10 years to be completed and has a gross domestic development of RM1.03 billion. The first phase of 122 units is due to be launched by end June.

Scheduled for launch in September is Nusa Bayu, a 258-acre mixed residential development in Nusajaya comprising 4,942 homes with a GDV of RM800 million to cater to the lower and medium income group. UEM Land plans to release 480 units of houses in Nusa Bayu during the launch.

In Nusajaya, the company currently has 8,400 acres of undeveloped land bank. “That’s from the total land bank of 10,400 acres, meaning we have developed 2000 acres with the current projects,” Wan Abdullah said.

Some of the projects being developed in Nusajaya is the 688-acre waterfront precinct Puteri Harbour that UEM Land is developing via joint ventures after selling the land.

UEM Land has also developed the 320-acre Kota Iskandar within Nusajaya for state government offices with 21 state government departments already moved in.  Another project is the Afiat Healthpark spanning 68 acres.

Meanwhile, the SiLC or Southern Industrial and Logistics Clusters situated on 1,300 acres is an industrial zone that provides ready-for-operations factories, science and R&D parks, a business center, training centers ready for lease.

Nusajaya is also developing residential projects East Ledang, Horizon Hills, Nusa Idaman and the soon to-be-launched Nusa Bayu.

UEM Land is expected to see a better year in 2010 with the introduction of new projects and more aggressive launched of new phases in existing projects and has set a growth target of 35% in revenue in FY2010 from the previous financial year. UEM Land’s revenue in FY2009 stood at RM403.08 million while net profit was at RM114.6 million.



"Nusa Bayu is a residential project and will consist of 4,942 houses with a GDV of RM800 million.