ROME: Italy celebrated its first Car-Free Day of the year in several cities on Sunday, Jan 30, in an attempt to curb gas emissions, as well as spread awareness among citizens on climate change and a healthy lifestyle through a series of environment-friendly initiatives.

KUALA LUMPUR: In a bid to widen the porftolio of its hospitality business in China, TA Global Bhd (TAG) has proposed to acquire the hotel and business of five-star Swissotel Kunshan in China for US$60.75 million (RM185.5 million) cash.

KUALA LUMPUR: There has not been a new development at the Mines Resort area — the home territory of Country Heights Holdings Bhd (CHHB) — for many years, although its surrounding neighbourhoods have experienced rapid transformation.

MK Land Holdings Bhd, the master developer of the 750-acre Damansara Perdana in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, is exploring and embarking on new strategies to grow its property development business.
The company, says COO Lau Shu Chuan, has adopted fresh measures to increase its revenue and improve the quality of its products, although not all the old ones have been discarded.

Faber Development Holdings Sdn Bhd, the master developer of Taman Desa and Taman Danau Desa in Kuala Lumpur, is looking to develop its first project in the Kuala Lumpur city centre by year-end. The developer is awaiting the necessary approvals, and will launch the estimated RM225 million condominium project by 4Q2011.

For more than a decade, Lokasi Canggih Sdn Bhd group managing director C T Lim has been investing in property with one aim, to accumulate enough capital to start his own property developments.

About 74,905 properties in the country were up for auction last year, 7% higher than the 70,057 cases in 2009, according to Auction Data Sdn Bhd.
The majority of the auction cases last year were low-medium-cost residential properties located in out-of-town areas.

Why invest in real estate? For sure, there are good — even great — times. However, there are cyclical downturns as well and, as at least one authority — the Australian Securities and Investment Commission — advises on property investment, if you can’t sleep at night worrying about it, then perhaps you should invest in an asset with less risk.

Ying Mansions, Villa D’Este up for saleYing Mansions (below), an eight-unit freehold development off Bukit Timah Road, is up for sale with a guide price of S$70 million, excluding a development charge estimated at S$18.1 million, says CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), which is handling the sale. The seller is the sole owner of the development, which sits on a 23,975 sq ft site.

KUALA LUMPUR: Sunway Tunas Sdn Bhd became Sunway City Bhd's (SunCity) wholly-owned subsidiary after the latter purchased the remaining 30% stake that it did not own.