Ting Pek Khiing to build RM30bil Langkawi New City project
After keeping a low profile for the last 16 years, developer Tan Sri Ting Pek Khiing will be embarking on a multi-billion ringgit development project in Langkawi. The Langkawi New City project, expected to cost around RM30bil, will be located on about 81ha of reclaimed land off the west side of the island. The project, which would be undertaken by his group of companies, would be launched tomorrow, and involves the construction of about 30,000 high-end condominium units, commercial centres, berthing facilities for ocean liners and yachts and other facilities. The development is expected to be completed ‘in 10 years or even earlier’. Ting was reputed to have built a hotel on the island in a record 100 days for the LIMA exposition in 1991. “This project is bound to be the biggest ever development of such kind in the northern part of Peninsular Malaysia,” he said. (NST Online)
UEM Sunrise to reconsider plans for Gerbang Nusajaya TOD
UEM Sunrise Bhd, which had in January awarded London-based Atkins as the master planner for Gerbang Nusajaya’s transit-oriented development (TOD) plot, will reconsider its plan following the government’s decision to scrap the KL-Singapore HSR project. Sprawling 4,551 acres, Gerbang Nusajaya is the second phase development of the RM42 billion Iskandar Puteri project in Johor, and was one of the proposed stations for the HSR. “As far as the company is concerned, there is a very big development in Gerbang Nusajaya. The HSR is only one element of it and we have other parcels of land [to develop],” said its managing director and CEO Anwar Syahrin Abdul Ajib. (The Edge Markets)
LBS Bina, NWP terminate deal for joint development in China
LBS Bina Group Bhd and NWP Holdings Bhd have decided to mutually terminate an agreement for a joint development project to transform the Zhuhai International Circuit in China, in which LBS has a 60% stake. Both parties had signed the HOA to jointly develop 264 acres on land in the Gaoxin district, Zhuhai in Guangdong, China. The agreement had also included the proposed subscription of 73.7% shares in NWP by LBS Bina for a cash consideration of RM93.5 million. This would have triggered a mandatory general takeover offer by LBS Bina of all remaining shares in NWP. (The Edge Markets)
CIMB Research cautious on construction sector after rail projects scapped
Malaysia’s construction sector has lost its sheen for investors following the cancellations of over RM100 billion in rail projects over the last three days. CIMB Equities Research said it remained cautious about the sector, which just saw the KL-Singaproe HSR and MRT3 projects scrapped. “We believe any upcoming big-ticket rail projects are now at risk of deferment, renegotiation or outright cancellation,” it said. The research house said MRT 3 would have provided earnings visibility for contractors and building material providers between 2019 and 2026. While the hardest hit would be Gamuda, MMC, and George Kent, any contractor with rail exposure would be impacted by the negative sentiment. Chances of securing rail jobs have now been wiped out for the next two years, the research house added. (The Malaysian Insight)
HSR demise could hit Jurong property prices
The scrapping of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail (HSR) project is already causing some concerns in Singapore, more so in the Jurong area which was supposed to host the terminus. Both the Raffles Country Club and Jurong Country Club were taken over by the authorities for the mega project. Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority masterplan was supposed to make the Jurong Lake District the city state’s second central business district, which would have pushed up property prices in Jurong. “This will be a huge setback as lowering transport and connectivity costs would boost trade and increase the flow of talent both ways,” Maybank senior economist Chua Hak Bin told Today. “Those who bought property in the Jurong area with the purpose of investment would be disappointed as their investments might only bear them good gains many years later,” international property advisor Ku Swee Yong. (The Edge Markets)
