By Sharen Kaur
Published in NST on November 2, 2015
SHAH ALAM: FROM the bedding industry to property development, Tan Sri Lim Kim Hong, founder of I-Berhad, has an eye for adding value, attaining goals and driving revenue.
It all started after Lim sold his cash-generating businesses, which had included mattress production, and started I-Berhad to venture into digital lifestyle product manufacturing and, subsequently, property development.
Through I-Berhad, Lim bought 29ha from the Selangor government for RM60 million in 1993 and finally launched the i-City project in 2005.
At the time, the project, with a gross development value (GDV) of RM1.5 billion, was supposed to be an information and communications technology (ICT) hub with data centres, offices and residential towers.
In July 2011, I-Berhad won a 21-year concession from the state government to manage an additional 12ha under the project. This raised i-City's GDV to RM3 billion.
Today, the project's GDV is touching RM10 billion as the development master plan evolves and becomes the pulse of Selangor.
Lim has invested a total of RM1 billion of personal funds into i-City so far.
The company has completed and handed over three towers - a three-star hotel, i-Residence and an office tower.
It has also invested up to RM80 million to develop a leisure park over 10ha with four attractions, namely City of Digital Lights, SnoWalk, WaterWorld and FunWorld.
This means that I-Berhad has so far developed one million sq ft out of the total 13 million sq ft of approved gross floor area at i-City.
The i-Residence was launched for RM450 per square foot (psf) in 2012 and prices have now exceeded RM600 psf.
New residential launches at i-City, comprising fully furnished units, were going at a rate of 750 psf to 800 psf, Lim told Property Times.
The construction of seven residential blocks are ongoing, including 50-storey blocks with up to 3,000 small office/home office (SOHO) units and 300 retail units.
Six blocks have been launched and I-Berhad has sold 75 per cent of the units to Malaysians. The seventh would be launched latest by early next year, said Lim.
I-Berhad will commence construction on four new buildings by the end of the year, including a four-star hotel that will operate under the Hilton brand, an office tower and two residential blocks offering units with sizes starting from 1,000 sq ft.
Construction of the one million sq feet Plaza Central mall would also commence next month, Lim said.
He said over the next five to eight years, 10 more towers would be built, comprising a five-star hotel as well as residential and office buildings.
"Because of the proposed Light Rail Transit 3 project, we have the opportunity to make this a transit-oriented development.
"In practical terms, it would mean a higher plot ratio, better connectivity to public transportation services and positioning of i-City as a car-park hub for the new LRT station," Lim said.
In total, i-City will have 25,000 parking bays, with 6,000 currently under construction.
Published in NST on November 2, 2015
SHAH ALAM: FROM the bedding industry to property development, Tan Sri Lim Kim Hong, founder of I-Berhad, has an eye for adding value, attaining goals and driving revenue.
It all started after Lim sold his cash-generating businesses, which had included mattress production, and started I-Berhad to venture into digital lifestyle product manufacturing and, subsequently, property development.
Through I-Berhad, Lim bought 29ha from the Selangor government for RM60 million in 1993 and finally launched the i-City project in 2005.
At the time, the project, with a gross development value (GDV) of RM1.5 billion, was supposed to be an information and communications technology (ICT) hub with data centres, offices and residential towers.
In July 2011, I-Berhad won a 21-year concession from the state government to manage an additional 12ha under the project. This raised i-City's GDV to RM3 billion.
Today, the project's GDV is touching RM10 billion as the development master plan evolves and becomes the pulse of Selangor.
Lim has invested a total of RM1 billion of personal funds into i-City so far.
The company has completed and handed over three towers - a three-star hotel, i-Residence and an office tower.
It has also invested up to RM80 million to develop a leisure park over 10ha with four attractions, namely City of Digital Lights, SnoWalk, WaterWorld and FunWorld.
This means that I-Berhad has so far developed one million sq ft out of the total 13 million sq ft of approved gross floor area at i-City.
The i-Residence was launched for RM450 per square foot (psf) in 2012 and prices have now exceeded RM600 psf.
New residential launches at i-City, comprising fully furnished units, were going at a rate of 750 psf to 800 psf, Lim told Property Times.
The construction of seven residential blocks are ongoing, including 50-storey blocks with up to 3,000 small office/home office (SOHO) units and 300 retail units.
Six blocks have been launched and I-Berhad has sold 75 per cent of the units to Malaysians. The seventh would be launched latest by early next year, said Lim.
I-Berhad will commence construction on four new buildings by the end of the year, including a four-star hotel that will operate under the Hilton brand, an office tower and two residential blocks offering units with sizes starting from 1,000 sq ft.
Construction of the one million sq feet Plaza Central mall would also commence next month, Lim said.
He said over the next five to eight years, 10 more towers would be built, comprising a five-star hotel as well as residential and office buildings.
"Because of the proposed Light Rail Transit 3 project, we have the opportunity to make this a transit-oriented development.
"In practical terms, it would mean a higher plot ratio, better connectivity to public transportation services and positioning of i-City as a car-park hub for the new LRT station," Lim said.
In total, i-City will have 25,000 parking bays, with 6,000 currently under construction.
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