Golden Horses to launch Palace Residence this year

By Sharen Kaur
Published in NST on March 9 2010

GOLDEN Horses Development Bhd (GHD), a private firm owned by Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew, aims to launch its RM600 million Palace Residence Suite this year and market its property to Asian investors.


Palace Residence is located at the Mines Resort City in Seri Kembangan, Selangor. It is being launched a year behind schedule due to the recession in 2009.

There are more foreigners now, setting their eyes on new properties here, said Golden Horse Palace Bhd (GHPB) executive director Dianna Lee.

"We have received a few enquiries on the property. There are people keen to buy. We are targeting foreign buyers and have appointed an international real estate agent," Lee said in an interview with Business Times recently.

GHD and GHPB are sister companies, which means that they are both owned by the same major shareholder.

GHD is targeting a June launch for the suites in Singapore, followed by Hong Kong, China and Malaysia towards the end of the year.

Palace Residence will offer 226 one-bedroom suites with a built-up area of 500 sq ft, and 156 two-bedroom suites, ranging from 1,100 sq ft to 1,400 sq ft, as well as four penthouses. The suites are selling for RM900,000 to RM1.4 million each.

The 19-storey Palace Residence, which is a combination of a hotel and condominium, will complement the 480-room Palace of the Golden Horses. Palace Residence will be built next to the five-star hotel and they will be connected by a bridge.

GHD will include free golf membership, worth some RM800,000, in the property sale. Buyer will automatically be a resident gold member at the 18-hole golf course at the Mines, Lee said.

Construction will start in the second half of 2010, and is due for completion within three years.

Lee said buyers can lease their units to GHPB to manage, with guaranteed returns of 7 per cent for the first two years. The indicative selling price for each suite a night is from RM800.

GHPB is the hospitality, leisure and health arm of Country Heights Holding Bhd (CHHB).

It manages three resorts - Palace of the Golden Horses and Mines Wellness Hotel, located within the Mines, and Borneo Highlands Resort, Sarawak.

The Mines, the country's first resort development, is a project by CHHB, in which, the senior Lee holds 48.1 per cent stake.

-ENDS-