Aspen Group to soft launch second commercial phase of Aspen Vision City

PENANG (March 17): Aspen Vision City Sdn Bhd is set to soft launch the second phase of its commercial component, the Vittoria Financial Centre, at Aspen Vision City in Bandar Cassia, Batu Kawan in Penang this weekend (March 18).

The launch is in conjunction with the opening of Aspen Group’s new Concept Gallery for the central region located in Glenmarie, Shah Alam this weekend to allow potential purchasers in the Klang Valley to learn more about the group’s projects in the northern region.

Vittoria Financial Centre sits on a 5.81-acre freehold site with a gross development value of RM237.6 million. It comprises five blocks of eight-storey corporate offices and one nine-storey executive tower. There are a total of 231 office units with built-ups ranging from 610 sq ft to 1,415 sq ft. On level nine of the executive tower, there will be a gymnasium and swimming pool for the usage of all occupants. Unit prices start from about RM600,000.

“Our target markets for these office units are start-ups, financial institutions, telco companies, private organisations and multinational shared services,” Aspen Group CEO Datuk Murly Manokharan told TheEdgeProperty.com.

“The unique selling point of our office units is their versatile layouts, which are flexible to suit various business and office endeavours. There will also be high-speed fibre-optics Internet, e-concierge service, virtual secretarial services and an IBM comprehensive cloud platform. The office is also integrated to the Columbia Asia Medical Centre,” said Murly.

He added that the developer is partnering with Telekom Malaysia and IBM Malaysia to equip its projects with smart building technology.

“We have the vision of shaping the urban environment with smart technology to provide a positive difference to the people and businesses. We have committed to invest RM100 million in order to make this vision a reality. We are now reaching out with innovative approaches, by infusing intelligence through innovative services, smart solutions and technologies in all our developments in line with the global trend.

“We foresee this as a need and a future trend and we want to be the first to penetrate the market with this approach and integrate day-to-day services for end users,” said Murly.

To date, the developer has received 5,000 registrations of interest for Vittoria Financial Centre. The project is targeted for completion in 2021.

The first commercial component of the 245-acre Aspen Vision City is the Vervéa Commercial Precinct — a gated-and-guarded precinct comprising 441 units of three and four-storey shopoffices with built-ups starting from 3,300 sq ft. It is slated for completion this year.

“We have achieved 95% sales to date for Vervéa,” said Murly. Aspen Vision City is a collaboration between Aspen Group and Ikano Pte Ltd and is one of the biggest mixed developments in Penang offering a combination of condominiums, shopoffices, serviced suites, hotels, office tower, financial hub, medical centre, international school and a range of amenities. The northern region’s first IKEA furniture store will also be located there.

The group is also gearing up for other upcoming launches including its ViLuxe bungalows at Aspen Vision City in June and a high-end residential development in Tanjung Bungah on Penang Island in 4Q2017.

“We are currently constructing the ViLuxe show bungalows on the site and we will share more details closer to the launch date. For our project in Tanjung Bungah, it will be a mixed development comprising residential and retail [components] and a hotel,” Murly said.

The group achieved RM1.06 billion in sales for FY2016 and is expecting an increase of 20% in sales for FY2017. The group has two pieces of land in the Klang Valley and is also exploring opportunities with Ikano for their IKEA store expansion and mixed developments in Bangkok and the Philippines.

This story first appeared in TheEdgeProperty.com pullout on March 17, 2017. Download TheEdgeProperty.com pullout here for free.