MECHANISM FOR UNSOLD BUMI UNITS NEEDS REVIEW

FAJARBARU Builder Group Bhd has officially kicked off the construction of its A$200 million (RM830 million) Paragon development in Melbourne’s central business district in Australia. The ground-breaking ceremony for the 48-storey Paragon tower was held on October 1.

Paragon, which is slated for completion in the third quarter of 2020, features 227 luxury apartment units with 90 per cent having been sold.

The units were launched with prices starting from A$480,000.

Beulah managing director Chan Jiaheng has previously said one-third of the buyers are Malaysians, noting that the selling point for Paragon is having Australia’s first elevated indoor urban forest.

Designed by internationally acclaimed landscaper Paul Bangay, the forest will have mature trees, leafy canopies, climbing gardens and grassy spaces spread across three storeys.

Paragon was recently awarded “Best Residential High-Rise Development” for Australia at the prestigious 2018-2019 International Property Awards.

It was designed by award-winning architecture firm Fender Katsalidis, the architects behind two of Australia’s tallest towers, Melbourne’s Eureka Tower and Australia 108.

The project, located at 318 Queen Street on the former site of Melbourne’s Celtic Club, is a joint-venture project between Fajarbaru, Beulah International and KHK Group via special-purpose vehicle (SPV) company 320 Queen Street Pty Ltd.

Fajarbaru holds a 22.22 per cent stake in the SPV company, KHK owns 35 per cent and Beulah the rest.

Paragon is the second development in Australia for Fajarbaru.

The company completed its first project called “Gardenhill” in Melbourne last year.

The project, which has a gross development value (GDV) of A$77 million (RM232 million), was also developed in a joint venture with Beulah International.

Gardenhill contributed about RM198 million to the group’s revenue in the second half of its financial year ended June 30 2017.

Fajarbaru is moving to its third development project in Melbourne with Beulah. It has a 49 per cent stake in Beulah Northcote Land Pty Ltd, which is the project developer.

The project will have at least 15 double-storey townhouses with an estimated GDV of A$33 million.

From left: Multiplex regional managing director (MD) Graham Cottam, Consul General for Malaysia Westmoreland Palon,KHK Group MD Jo Jo Kong, Fajarbaru Builder Group Bhd executive director Datuk Seri Eric Kuan, Australia’s Industry and Employment Minister Ben Carroll, Beulah International MD Chan Jiaheng, its executive director Adelene Teh, and Fender Katsalidis Architects founder partner Karl Fender at the ground-breaking ceremony of Paragon in Melbourne, Australia, recently.