Malaysian property and construction conglomerate Sunway Bhd plans to launch its Sunway Iskandar project next month, but will be vying for buyers with Chinese firm Country Garden Holdings Co Ltd, which will also unveil its mega development in Selangor this week.
Sunway recently acquired a 691-acre property in Medini, Johor, to develop Sunway Iskandar via a joint venture with Khazanah Nasional Bhd. The MYR12 billion (USD3.7 billion) integrated community, which is patterned after Selangor-based Sunway Resort City, will be the company’s first project in the area.
Described as a “nature-inspired city living” project, Sunway Iskandar will be a phased development and will feature leisure, hospitality, entertainment, healthcare, retail and commercial components, divided in six areas: Capital, Market Place, Riverside, Parkview, Seafront and Lakewiew. It aims to attract investors from Malaysia and Singapore, especially after the proposed MRT extension in Tuas is built.
The Malaysian company is racing to launch the project as it faces increasing competition from new developments by Chinese developers such as Country Garden, according to Malaysian newspaper The Edge Financial Daily. In an analyst briefing held last Sunday, the company revealed concerns that the huge supply of units “could suppress the property value over the medium term.”
Country Garden, through its Malaysian subsidiary Country Garden Properties (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, established a presence in the country via its maiden project Country Garden@Danga Bay, which launched 9,000 condominium units in 2013. Its latest Spanish architecture-inspired project, Country Garden Diamond City in Semenyih, will be a joint venture with local developer Mayland Group and will offer low-density and spacious houses, the New Straits Times reported.
“It is to move away from the modernist designs that most developers offer now,” said Kayson Yuen, regional president of Country Garden, adding the company is also looking to pursue other high-profile projects in Selangor, Sabah, Sarawak and South Johor, where the company’s reported 30-year Forest City development featuring luxury homes on 5,000 acres of reclaimed land will be built.
The Guangzhou-based company is among the top ten developers in China and has a portfolio of more than 100 projects around the Asia-Pacific.
Image credit: Iskandar Property Info
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