SILC Phase 3 hits RM50 million sales

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 24): UEM Sunrise Bhd’s Southern Industrial & Logistics Clusters (SILC) Phase 3 — a fully integrated industrial park in Iskandar Puteri, Johor — has achieved about RM50 million of sales since its launch at the beginning of this year.

“Currently, there are some challenges on site for the planning approval of a two-tier security system for SILC Phase 3, [as well as] for bank loan approvals for the ready built factories. The issue for the security system is that we are not a strata-title development and we want to implement a two-tier security system which is still very rare in the Iskandar Puteri region. We hope to get the approvals by early next year,” said UEM Sunrise chief operating officer (commercial) Raymond Cheah today at a press conference today.

Nevertheless, Cheah expressed confidence that once the approvals are obtained, sales will improve. However, he emphasised that it was more important to find the right users for the factories in the development.

“We are focusing on bringing in end users [for the factories], rather than selling to investors. Moreover, with the recent announcement of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail’s design and the progress of the project, we believe Iskandar Puteri’s growth will remain strong,” he added.

The press conference was held in conjunction with the signing of a sale and purchase agreement with Luxx Newhouse Group — a solid surface, technological quartz and high-end furniture and interior solutions provider — for the latter’s acquisition of a 100,000 sq ft-parcel in SILC Phase 3, with an option of another 100,000 sq ft.

Luxx Newhouse is also investing approximately RM80 million over the next five years to create a series of new jobs in various aspects of furniture production, housing more than 200 trained and skilled workers.

Meanwhile, UEM Sunrise managing director and CEO, Anwar Syahrin Abdul Ajib noted that with Luxx Newhouse’s entry, he expected to see a significant expansion in job creation within SILC.

“Luxx Newhouse Group’s latest addition to the already highly mix of companies from around the world in SILC is a testament to the continuous confidence in not only our development but in Iskandar Puteri as the economic corridor of the country,” Anwar Syahrin added.

SILC Phase 3 sits on a net area of approximately 196 acres and has a total of 86 industrial service lots.

It offers levelled industrial land with ready infrastructure, built to suit packages and limited units of ready built factories.

The park faces the Second Link Highway and is a six-minute drive from the Malaysia-Singapore Second Link, Customs, Immigration and Quarantine and Port Clearance (CIQ) Complex and 15 minutes away from the Port of Tanjung Pelepas.

It also has access to freight railways that are linked to Senai, Pasir Gudang, Johor Bahru Central and the Port of Tanjung Pelepas.

SILC’s third and final phase has a total GDV of more than RM800 million with the expected completion date set at 1Q2018.

The phase is expected to have a total 85 manufacturers in operation, with its earlier phases already fully sold and completed.