City & Country: Briefs

SunCity to develop Sunway Parking tract
Sunway City Bhd (SunCity) has acquired the entire stake in Sunway Parking Management Sdn Bhd for RM12.6 million from its 52%-owned subsidiary Sunway Pyramid Sdn Bhd. In a statement to Bursa Malaysia on April 27, SunCity said the acquisition will enable it to capitalise on an “attractive” property development opportunity on a piece of vacant land adjacent to the Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall. The plan is to build a 28-storey commercial building with office and retail elements on the tract.

Ken Holdings planning foray into hotel business
Ken Holdings Bhd is planning to enter the hotel industry to generate recurring income for the group. Chairman and managing director Kenny Tan told reporters at the company’s shareholders’ meeting on April 26 that Ken plans to undertake a boutique hotel project on 2.53 acres of freehold beachfront land in Penang’s Batu Ferringgi enclave. Details of the planned hotel are not immediately available. Ken Holdings also intends to acquire hotels in Thailand and Bali.

Sunrise mulls REIT listing
Sunrise Bhd may inject some of its property assets into a real estate investment trust (REIT) as these begin to deliver stable income, its executive chairman Tong Kooi Ong says. “We have invested considerably in a pool of investment assets over the last few years, which are now starting to bear fruit,” he told Reuters, adding that Sunrise may consider a REIT “at a later stage”. Sunrise plans to launch an office tower project in Kuala Lumpur and a residential project in Vancouver, Canada, later this year.

F&N sells prime land to Mah Sing
Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd has sold its 1.44-acre Ampang Hilir 233 project to developer Mah Sing Group Bhd for RM53.8 million or RM857.32 psf. In a statement to Bursa on April 22, F&N said its whollyowned subsidiary Elsinburg Holdings Sdn Bhd had signed a sale and purchase agreement with Mah Sing’s subsidiary Star Residences Sdn Bhd for the disposal of the freehold tract on Jalan Ampang, near Great Eastern Mall. The site will come with a development order and approved building plans for two blocks of serviced apartments, offices and retail outlets. Mah Sing will rename the project M Suites@Jalan Ampang, a planned RM257 million job comprising serviced suites.

Tradewinds terminates JV with Oxbridge
Tradewinds Corp Bhd has terminated an over seven-year-old joint venture agreement (JVA) with Oxbridge Height Sdn Bhd to develop some 704 acres of land in Tebrau, Johor. In a statement on April 26, Tradewinds, which owns the land, said the termination followed Oxbridge’s failure to fulfil its private debt securities and guaranteed-payment obligations. Under the JVA, Oxbridge, as the developer of the land, undertook a guaranteed payment of RM250 million to Tradewinds to become entitled to the tract.

This article appeared in City & Country, the property pullout of The Edge Malaysia, Issue 804, May 3-9, 2010