S P Setia gold winner in Fiabci Prix d'Excellence Awards for 5th time in 7 years

TAICHUNG (Taiwan): For the fifth time in seven years, S P Setia Bhd
is a gold winner in the Fiabci Prix d'Excellence Awards. This time, it
is for a development that began over a decade ago with a huge land
purchase that some people felt would give the company a bad case of
indigestion.
In a presentation ceremony here on Monday night, the
developer's Setia Alam township in Shah Alam received the 2013 award in
the master plan category, which focuses on a development concept plan
that has been approved by the local authority.
Fiabci is the
French acronym for the International Real Estate Federation. According
to the federation, the Fiabci Prix d'Excellence "recognises the project
that best embodies excellence in all real estate disciplines involved in
its creation".'
S P setia president and CEO Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin,
who accepted the award for Setia Alam, recalled that there was much
scepticism when the company announced in April 2002 that it proposed to
acquire 1,600 ha of oil palm plantation land through subsidiary Bandar Setia Alam Sdn Bhd for almost RM600mil. The deal was completed in February 2003.
The perception then was that Liew had bitten off more than he and the company could chew.
"People thought that this guy had gone crazy," he said.
However,
S P Setia came up with the right strategies for planning,
infrastructure, financing, marketing and customer service to transform
the land into two success stories -- Setia Alam and the upmarket Setia
Eco Park. The Setia Alam township is being built over 15 years on more
than 1,000ha of this land.
According to Liew, when the company
bought the land, it was projected that the gross development value (GDV)
would be no more than RM5bil. Based on estimates today, when both Setia
Alam and Setia Eco Park are fully completed, the combined GDV will
reach RM20bil.
This is S P Setia's third Master Plan Award at the
international level. It won in 2007 and 2009 for Setia Eco Park and
Setia Eco Gardens in Johor. The company's EcoLakes project in Vietnam
was a runner-up in 2010.
S P Setia's other Fiabci Prix
d'Excellence Awards came in the past two years. In 2011, Precinct 3 in
Setia Eco Park was chosen in the Residential (Low-Rise) Development
category, while last year, the Eco Greens park complex in Setia Eco
Gardens was the top entry in the Specialised Project (Purpose-Built)
category.
"I'm very thankful for all the staff, who have never let me down through all these years," Liew said.
Other Malaysian gold winners at the 2013 Fiabci Prix d'Excellence Awards were Tujuan Gemilang Sdn Bhd in the office category (for the PJ Trade Centre) and YTL Land & Development Bhd in the residential (low-rise) category (for the Sandy Island waterfront villas in Singapore).
Among
the silver winners were two Malaysian developers -- the Quill group in
the office category (for the Quill 6 building in Lebuh Ampang, Kuala
Lumpur) and Selangor Dredging Bhd in the residential (low-rise) category (the 20Trees project in Taman Melawati, Kuala Lumpur).