Car park operator SCP Group makes its mark with Cheras Traders Square

SCP Group recently launched Phase 1 of Cheras Traders Square in Cheras Selatan, Kuala Lumpur, and it is looking to launch the RM1 billion Phase 2 by next year.

Cheras Traders Square sits on a 30-acre leasehold tract next to Aeon Cheras Selatan and Mitraland Group’s C180 development. The RM600-million Phase 1, which was launched on Sept 12, takes up 20 acres and offers 196 units of 2-storey showroom shopoffices.

The remaining 10 acres will be for the development of Phase 2, which will be a mixed development comprising shops, a multi-level parking podium and serviced apartments.

“The focus of Phase 2 will be on the serviced apartments,” SCP Group executive director Calvin Low says. “It is still in the design stage, but we will submit the plans by the end of this year.”

There will be 1,346 units priced between RM400,000 and RM500,000 and at least 50 shopoffices below the serviced apartments, he adds.

“Phase 2 will be launched in phases but the first launch will be next year,” he says. “We will be focusing on people in this area for this phase. Cheras Traders Square has great accessibility via the South Klang Valley Expressway, Sistem Lingkaran-Lebuhraya Kajang Sdn Bhd and the Cheras-Kajang expressway.”

SCP Group is also to launch a landed project, Bukit Damaisari @ Menggatai in Kota Kinabalu, next year. With a total GDV of RM100 million, this project will offer 200 units of 2-storey terraced homes on a 22.47-acre piece of land.

Kota Kinabalu is one of the two main areas the group is focused on, with the other being the Klang Valley.  Of the group’s total undeveloped landbank of 39 acres, 29 acres are in Kota Kinabalu.

Nevertheless, Low notes that SCP Group’s focus is still the Klang Valley. It is sourcing for more landbank and is currently in talks with landowners to purchase land in Setapak and Petaling Jaya, but declines to reveal the exact locations.

“Current projects will take us a few years to complete. At this time, we are not going out of the Klang Valley and Kota Kinabalu,” he says.

In the Klang Valley, it is developing Lido Residency at Jalan Loke Yew, Kuala Lumpur, a 32-storey condominium tower with 294 units. It is scheduled for completion by December next year.

Seasons Garden in Wangsa Maju and KL Traders Square in Kuala Lumpur are also under construction. Seasons Garden comprises four blocks of serviced apartments offering 1,502 units and 40 retail units, while KL Traders Square has 97 units of 3-storey showroom shopoffices and 2,550 units of serviced apartments.

“The outlook for property development in the short term is not so good,” Low says. “However, property development is a cycle. We don’t foresee the current downturn continuing for too long.”

Some may be more familiar with SCP Group as a car park operator, but it is slowly but surely making its presence felt in the property development industry, banking on the experience of the directors.

Formerly known as Systematic Corporate Parking Sdn Bhd and established in the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, SCP Group is one of the country’s largest car park operators. It currently owns over 12,000 bays and manages a further 30,000 bays for other companies.

The group expanded into property development in 2011, and has to date completed four projects with a combined gross development value  (GDV) of RM594 million. The projects are Dataran Wangsa and Damaisari at Wangsa Maju; Plaza Azalea in Shah Alam; and Inanam Capital in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

Low joined the group in 2011 to take the lead in property development. He was previously the chief operating officer at the listed Asian Pac Holding Bhd and has been in the industry for 26 years.

He notes that the group’s directors are no strangers to property development as they have been involved in the industry for more than 20 years. These directors formed SCP Group in the late 1990s, to venture into what is considered a "recession-proof business" — car park management. Now, with the cash flow from managing car parks, they have gone back to prroperty development. 

The four co-founders are Chuah Swee Guan, the former CEO of Asian Pac Holding; Eric Wong, former director of the then Phileo Land Bhd; registered valuer Ahamad Latib; and lawyer Ng WyMin. Latib was a valuer and partner at Khong & Jaafar Valuers Sdn Bhd and Ng is currently managing partner at a law firm.

Cheras Traders Square

The first floor of the Cheras Traders Square shopoffices will have a full-height glass facade. They are priced from RM2.2 million and 65% have been sold. Each unit will be 22ft by 70ft with built-ups from 2,863 sq ft. The ground-floor ceiling height of these showroom shopoffices will be 12ft with a 10ft wide corridor.

SCP Group assistant general manager Chuah Jin Teik says Cheras Traders Square Phase 1 is targeted at small and medium size businesses, retailers and investors. The buyers comprise a mix of owners and investors.

“It [a mixed buyer portfolio] is good for the market because this means the rental market will be more diversified,” he says.

He expects the remaining units to be sold by year-end, based on the response during the official launch.

“With the current sales, together with the bridging [finance], we have enough cash flow to develop this project,” he says.

Phase 1 will have 1,000 parking bays, which will be managed by the Kajang Municipal Council upon completion by the second quarter of 2018.

Ample parking is one of the project’s selling points, Low says, compared with other developments with 3-storey shopoffices.

“Most shopoffices now have three levels. Compared with our 2-storey shopoffices, we have more parking to share and our internal roads are 66ft wide,” he says. “Land in the Klang Valley is expensive, so everyone wants to go for high-rise developments, but here are traditional landed shopoffices with the car park just in front of the shops.”

A property agent at Metro Homes notes that at RM2.2 million, the price tag is on the high side and it may prove tough for investors to get a good yield.

He adds that these are traditional shopoffices, unlike the C180 development that has an al fresco dining concept.

“There is demand for shopoffices but 196 units is too many,” the property agent says. “Also, high-rise developments are in oversupply in this area. There have already been many loan rejections for some projects nearby, which has resulted in many unsold units.”

Kota Kinabalu planning

Talking about the group’s presence in Kota Kinabalu, Low says the directors started in Asian Pac and they have experience in developing projects there.

One of Asian Pac Holding’s notable developments in Kota Kinabalu is KK Times Square, which consists of serviced apartments, a shopping centre, office suites and shopoffices.

“We [SCP Group] developed Inanam Capital in Kota Kinabalu and it was handed over in December last year,” says Low.

Inanam Capital consists of 184 units of 3-storey industrial showroom shopoffices on a 16.7-acre tract. Launched in January 2012, it has a GDV of RM270 million.

Another project in Kota Kinabalu by the group is Ashton Tower, which is currently under construction. Located 10 minutes from Kota Kinabalu city centre, this project has a 28-storey tower with four shops and 391 serviced apartments.

Launched in March last year,  with a total GDV of RM170 million, it has been fully sold.

Interested in properties in Cheras Selatan after reading this article? Click here.

This story first in appeared in City & Country, the property pullout of The Edge Malaysia weekly, on Nov 2, 2015. Subscribe to The Edge Malaysia here.