Gamuda Land to hold Australian launch of 661 Chapel St in 3Q2016

PETALING JAYA (June 6): Gamuda Land, the property arm of construction group Gamuda Bhd, aims to launch its first Australian project — 661 Chapel St in Melbourne — Down Under in the third quarter of this year, said the developer’s chief operating officer Ngan Chee Meng.

He said the 30-storey luxury residential apartment development has a gross development value (GDV) of A$154 million (about RM463 million) and has achieved 30% take-up rate after its launch in Kuala Lumpur last year.

“Prior to the launch, an exclusive sale event will be held on June 18 to 19, 2016, in Kuala Lumpur for interested buyers to preview the project,” he told reporters during a press conference.

The 661 Chapel St is a freehold residential development on a 1,435 sq m (0.35-acre) site at South Yarra in Melbourne that comprises 142 units, with choices of one- to four-bedroom units and a penthouse.

* Gamuda Land gearing up for 661 Chapel St sales event

Gamuda Land marketing and sales manager Dede Pong said prices start from A$571,000 or A$14,959 psm on average, with built-ups ranging from 40 sq m (430.5 sq ft) to 271 sqm (2,917 sq ft).

“South Yarra is one of Melbourne’s most affluent inner city suburbs and Chapel Street is well-known as its fashion and style capital, with trendy restaurants, art galleries and street cafes,” she explained.

Notably, she said there will be a tram stop right at 661 Chapel St’s doorstep and South Yarra station is just eight minutes’ walk away from the development.

Pong said buyers who are interested in purchasing a property in Melbourne should do so soon as the Victorian government has announced an impending increase in stamp duty surcharge for foreign buyers from 3% to 7%, effective July 1.

On the target buyers, she noted that there were not many luxury apartment developments that come with facilities in Melbourne.

“Generally, for projects like this, 70% of the buyers will come from Australia and 30% are buyers from outside Australia — we are looking at this ratio as well,” Pong explained.

Meanwhile, Ngan said Gamuda Land plans to increase the revenue contribution of foreign property development through its maiden project in Australia and its recently-launched development in Singapore. 

“We hope that through these projects, we can generate more non-ringgit revenue for the company in the long term. Currently, overseas property developments have contributed 40% of the revenue to the company, mainly from Vietnam and Singapore,” he said.

On local developments, he noted that the company has a number of projects in hand with a total GDV of RM55 billion, which will be rolled out in the next 15 to 20 years.

“One of them is the RM7 billion township development in Rawang, which will be unveiled by the end of this year,” he said.

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