RAWANG, SEMENYIH
Skywheel developer looking for potential land acquisition
JOHN GILBERT
KUALA LUMPUR bt@mediaprima.com.my
INTEGRATED property developer M101 Sdn Bhd, the developer of M101 Bukit Bintang, M101 Dang Wangi and M101 Skywheel, is now eyeing Rawang and Semenyih for potential land acquisition.
Chief executive officer Datuk Seth Yap said the company was looking at developing townships in the two areas.
“M101 is a versatile developer, and we understand that the market is now also looking at townships. Hence, we are also open at building township projects in Rawang and Semenyih.
“We are looking at building high-residential integrated developments in the city and townships in suburban areas,” he told NST Business recently.
Yap said M101 would evaluate each opportunity on a projectby-project basis to ensure that acquisitions and projects were in line with its business strategies. “We are also open to joint-venture opportunities,” he said.
On the company’s M101 Skywheel p r oject, Yap said out of 1,000 units available at M101 Skywheel’s Phase 1, 80 per cent had been sold.
“Together with the en bloc sale of RM100 million with the seven top agencies in Indonesia, we have signed and returned over 60 per cent of the sales and purchase agreement valued over RM400 million.
“We also attribute our success to the fact that we did not include any premiums in our price and it starts affordably at RM999 psf (per square foot),” he added.
Yap said a study by Knight Frank showed premium branded developments could be priced 30 per cent higher.
Additionally, developments near mass rapid transit are priced 30 per cent higher.
“We did not include both. Hence, our buyers are already enjoying an immediate value appreciation from their purchases.”
The M101 Skywheel project, a 52-storey mixed development skyscraper, houses a Ferris wheel on the 52nd floor at its highest vantage point of 220 metres above the ground level.
It will also feature the Sky Mall, the world’s highest shopping experience, from 50th to 52nd floor with more than 200,000 sq ft of space. Petronas has invested 600 million yuan (RM384 million) to expand the plant’s footprint to 21,000 square metres to now include an automated, hi-tech lubricant blending line as well as additional storage tanks.
“The plant’s annual output is expected to increase from 45,000 to 150,000 tonnes, covering a range of automotive lubricants, anti-freeze liquids, industrial lubricants and greases.
“The expansion also saw an upgrade of the plant’s warehouse facilities to enhance capabilities for storage, transportation, local distribution and overseas export,” it said.
Petronas said improving the capabilities of the Shandong Plant not only allowed for increased production capacity to meet consumer demands, but was also testament to its commitment to the rapidly developing Chinese market.
Aside from lubricants production, Petronas was also growing its liquefied natural gas (LNG) business while looking to expand the LNG supply volume to its existing buyers in the country.