AFTER developing two industrial projects, Johor Baru-based DB Hartanah Sdn Bhd is hoping to make a bigger name for itself with a hotel and wellness centre project in the Nusajaya flagship zone B of Iskandar Malaysia.The project, known as DB Medical & Wellness Centre, is located beside Columbia Asia Hospital and comprises a hotel and medical office suites.

S P Setia Bhd president and CEO Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin and deputy president and COO Datuk Voon Tin Yow have come a long way since they first met as colleagues in a development company in 1990."I left the bank to join a development company. I was at the bank for five years, did not do well there, so I joined one of my clients. My client was a developer, hardware trader and manufacturer.

THE three men seated on the first floor of the spanking new Setia City Convention Centre in Shah Alam — with Setia City Mall in the background — speak fondly of how they had met years ago and how they went on to build S P Setia Bhd into the property giant it is today.It was a combination of trust and chemistry, a shared entrepreneurial vision and great work culture, they recall.Their interview

KENNY Tan is a successful entrepreneur, brimming with ideas and unafraid to take risks. Proof of his capability and tenacity is the fact that his handbag business thrived during the Asian financial crisis, when so many other businesses crashed.

SINGAPORE: Roomorama.com, an online platform for professionally managed short-term rentals of individual properties, has launched an Instant Booking service for selected properties on its website. The first of its kind service in the short-term rental market allows travellers to book an apartment or a home as easily as booking a hotel room.

KUALA LUMPUR: Sunway Bhd is aiming for a LEED Platinum certification for its RM10 million clubhouse at its Sunway Montana residential development in Desa Melawati, Kuala Lumpur.Sunway Montana has a gross development value of RM520 million and about 60% of its 56.4-acre (22.8ha) freehold space will be landscaped.The 19,000 sq ft clubhouse unveiled this week is among the first such building that

KUALA LUMPUR: Setia Awan Holdings Sdn Bhd has launched phase 2 of its Setia Residence project in Manjung, Sitiawan in Perak. Setia Residence, a 60-acre (24.2ha) freehold project, is the first gated and guarded development in Manjung. It will feature 436 3-storey bungalows, zero-lot bungalows as well as cluster and terraced houses when fully completed in 2015.

SINGAPORE: Asian hospitality chain Meritus Hotels & Resorts (MHR) has signed a memorandum of agreement with Funtasy Island Development Pte Ltd (FID) for the management of a deluxe resort development on Funtasy Island.The development comprises a 200-room condotel, a 230-suite hotel, and 413 villas.

TRANSACTION volume has certainly been affected by the recent (Singapore) government cooling measures introduced on Jan 12. Just based on caveats lodged with URA Realis alone, the number of transactions for the month of February (downloaded as at March 13) was 732 compared with 2,927 in January, implying a precipitous drop of 75%.

AT 1,018ft tall, US Bank Tower is considered the tallest skyscraper in Los Angeles. Designed by celebrated Chinese-American architect, I M Pei, the Grade A office building is a 72-storey tower with six levels of underground parking.