RM12b Sunway resort city in Johor

By Sharen Kaur

sharen@nstp.com.my

Published in NST on November 14, 2012

2014 LAUNCH : Project in Medini to be a replica of integrated development in Bandar Sunway, Selangor

SUNWAY Bhd's award-winning Sunway Integrated Resort City (SIRC) in Bandar Sunway, Selangor, will be replicated in Johor from 2014, with a RM12 billion gross development value (GDV).

The managing director of Sunway's property development division Ho Hon Sang is bullish on the project due to the large number of foreigners buying properties worth above RM1 million in the state.

Ho told Business Times in an interview that Sunway will offer a wide range of properties when it launches them in phases from 2014.

"The properties would start from RM500,000 to above RM1 million each, catering to the medium- to high-end segments. We will be addressing issues on affordability," Ho said.
Sunway acquired 277ha in Medini Iskandar last year for RM745.3 million, via a joint-venture vehicle with Khazanah Nasional Bhd.

The acquisition is in line with Sunway's strategy to extend its expertise in building and managing integrated cities, as exemplified by its projects in Bandar Sunway, Sunway City Ipoh, Sunway Velocity and Sunway Damansara.

The choice to build in Medini would offer Sunway a window of opportunities. Medini is home to other developments like Legoland Malaysia, Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios, Edu City, Kota Iskandar and the International Financial District.

To extend its interest in the state, Sunway bought a 35.2ha land near Taman Molek in Johor Baru to build apartments, condominiums, semi-detached houses, townhouses and bungalows, with expected GDV of around RM1 billion.

Ho said both the projects in Johor are in the planning stage.
He said the project in Medini, which will be transformed into an integrated development similar to SIRC, is expected to attract foreign interest.

SIRC, which started in 1986, is the only integrated resort city in Malaysia which fully encapsulates the "livability" concept with the presence of six key components - mall, hotel, office, theme park, education institute and medical centre.

"Our flagship project in Johor will be the development near Taman Molek, which we aim to launch by the middle of next year.

We are bullish on the project. There are a lot of international players within the vicinity of Taman Molek, especially foreign banks. We believe there is a market for new houses," Ho said.