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Having focused on medium-cost housing in Selangor over the last 35 years, the developer is ready to move to the next level, says co-founder Datuk Seow Cho Thoy. Its latest project - Bayou Lagoon Park Resort in Melaka - makes an impact as heir apparent Marco Seow sets out to transform the low-profile group.
Moving up to the next level
Harp Soon Corp Sdn Bhd may not be a familiar name in the property development faternity, but its founders, who keep a very low profile, have been around for 35 years now. Datuk Seow Cho Thoy collaborated with his younger brother C K Seow in forming Harp Soon Construction Sdn Bhd back in 1980.
The developer has since completed more than 30 projects worth RM800 million in Selangor, Seow informs City & Country. Its current total landbank in Selangor amounts to more than 200 acres, of which 20% is still undeveloped.
Having built mainly medium-cost housing so far, Harp Soon is now looking to gain prominence as a quality developer, with Seow slowly hands over the reins of the company to his eldest son Marco.
In its latest project — known as Bayou Lagoon Park Resort — which is also its first outside Selangor, Harp Soon is building medium-cost serviced apartments in Melaka. 
Harp Soon in Mandarin, says Seow, means “work together and smooth journey”, which the two brothers felt was an appropriate name for their joint effort. The company started work on its first project — a residential development in Teluk Panglima Garang, Kuala Langat, with a gross development value (GDV) of RM5 million — in 1980. Since then, it has developed several residential projects: Taman Emas in Kuala Langat, Taman Seri and Taman Sri Maju in Klang and Taman Intan and Taman Emas Jaya in Kapar.
Seow, 63, who is the chairman of Harp Soon Corp, is grooming Marco to take over the business. “Since I was young, I have been following my father to project sites and that is how the interest started,” comments Marco, who is the company’s executive director. He studied economics in Australia and graduated in 2005. Before he joined Harp Soon in 2007, he worked for a trading company.
Marco helps translate as his father tells City & Country his story in a mix of Hokkien and Bahasa Malaysia.
Seow’s family had come to Malaysia from Guangdong province in China when he was eight. “While studying here, I also repaired cars and planted tapioca. So you can say I started from scratch to where I am now.
“When I turned 25, I bought a piece of land in Klang for RM20,000 on which I built a factory as I already had a ready tenant for RM1,500 a month. In fact, the factory is still being rented out. That was when I first felt that property development was one of the most rewarding industries to be in,” he says.
Harp Soon focused on medium-cost mixed developments in the Klang Valley, adds Seow.
“I have gone through three recessions and I have learnt that during a recession, affordable housing fares well. So when the economy is not good, medium-cost housing in good locations is the way to go. It is important to know what the buyers want and satisfy their needs.”
Marco agrees that medium-cost housing in good locations sells. He says, “My vision is to transform the Harp Soon group into a prominent name in the industry. I would like to continuously brand the company by winning internationally recognised awards.
“Recently, Bayou Lagoon Park Resort won the Asia-Pacific Top Excellence Brand 2010 from Global Business Magazine [a local Chinese publication].”
On his plans for the group, Marco says getting skilled human resources and building quality products will be key. “In property development, besides strategic landbank, which I plan to actively look for, we will implement the right and most innovative concept that will yield the highest possible returns and give our purchasers valued-added products,” he says. Competition, he adds, is getting tougher each day and there is a need to be creative to take the group to the next level.
“Although property development is our major business, I believe diversification will redistribute the risk proportionately. Three other industries which I believe have major potential are education, food and beverage and tourism,” he remarks.
As per capita income improves, people will be willing to spend more to improve their standards of living, he says. “Parents want the best education for their children so they can do well in the corporate world. Urban dwellers will spend more on food and beverages while globalisation makes travelling easier, which will in turn drive up the number of tourists within our country,” Marco says.
Bayou Lagoon Park Resort
Located on a 20-acre leasehold tract just 10 minutes from the centre of historic Melaka city, this project comprises four blocks of apartments and has a GDV of RM250 million. Seow says the previously vacant plot was acquired from Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Melaka in 2007, around the time Marco joined the company.
“We see great potential and strong growth in the tourism sector in Melaka. There is always demand for hotels and resorts as Melaka is known as a tourism hub. With its World Heritage City status, the state will surely go further in the tourism industry. That is why we decided to develop a resort there,” says Marco.
“Melaka is usually packed with tourists on weekends and there is demand for accommodation. We have tourists not only from Malaysia, but also Singapore, Hong Kong and China. This year, 8.5 million tourists are expected to visit the city.
“Actually we were approached, or rather encouraged, by the state government to develop there, maybe because of our reputation and track record,” observes Seow.
He says property prices in Malaysia are lower and have more upside potential than those in countries like Indonesia, Thailand, China and Vietnam. “Properties in Melaka have capital appreciation potential, I am sure. Our project there will have the first integrated private water park within a development of such a size,” he explains.
Only residents and their guests who stay in the resort can have access to the almost three-acre water park: “We want our guests/residents to have a feeling of exclusivity. The facilities in the water park include a sandy beach, water cannon, waterfall and slides,” says Seow.
The developer has appointed Crystal Crown Hotel & Resort Sdn Bhd as its consultant to provide technical and feasibility advice for the construction, development, management and operation of Bayou Lagoon Park Resort.
Buyers can stay there or lease the units to the developer for rental returns. Marco says the majority of buyers so far have opted for the 7% guaranteed rental returns (GRR) package per year, or a cumulative 35% for five years offered by the developer. The scheme includes 14 nights’ stay at the resort, or 70 nights for the five-year duration for owners. Other facilities available aside from the water park are a spa centre, gymnasium, billiard room, laundry service, swimming pool, child-care centre, video room, meeting and conference room (business centre), lounge pub, international cuisine restaurant and children’s playground.
“We had a soft launch for Bayou Lagoon Park Resort at the end of last year. The 13-storey Block A consists of 263 units with sizes ranging from 491 to 1,007 sq ft and priced from RM179,800.
Penthouses are not for sale though as the group wants to retain them for recurring income. Units are all fully furnished and the take-up so far is 95%,” Marco adds. Buyers are mainly from the Klang Valley, Singapore and Melaka.
The developer soft-launched Block B in early June and Marco says about 30% have been sold so far. “We actually did not expect Block A to sell so fast, so we decided to launch Block B in early June instead of later,” he explains.
The 12-storey Block B comprises 321 condos sized between 491 and 1,007 sq ft and priced from RM185,800. The launch of the subsequent two blocks will depend on the response to the first two.
In November this year, the developer plans to launch its 4.75-acre freehold Taman Desa Indah project in Kampung Jawa, Klang. There are a total of 75 units, of which 23 are 1-storey terraced homes, 40 are 2-storey terraced homes and the remaining 10 units 2-storey semi-detached homes. Prices for the properties range from RM150,900 for the 1-storey terraced homes to RM450,000 for the semidees.
Seow believes it is a good time to buy property now. “If the location and package offered by the developer are good, then it is a good buy. Property prices are expected to increase as the property market in Malaysia is better this year than last year,” he observes.
This article appeared in City & Country, the property pullout of The Edge Malaysia, Issue 813, July 5-11, 2010
