KSL enters Klang Valley market

Published: Saturday August 17, 2013 MYT 12:00:00 AM
Updated: Saturday August 17, 2013 MYT 8:03:38 AM
KSL enters Klang Valley market

BY NG BEI SHAN
BEISHAN@THE STAR.COM.MY
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AS most developers are entering the Iskandar region to build properties more actively in recent years, KSL Holdings Bhd grows out of its turf in Johor to penetrate the Klang Valley market through its maiden Canary Garden@ Taman Bestari in Klang.

It is growing from strength to strength in the various parts of its domain, from the Johor Baru city centre to smaller towns like Labis and Kluang, with a continuous flow of projects in the pipeline.

“Canary Garden in Klang is the first project out of Johor and we will continue to explore the possibilities of venturing into other markets,” says executive chairman Ku Hwa Seng in a media briefing.

“People say we are Johor-based but have already ventured to Klang. The next time you will not be surprised to see us overseas,” he quips. That said, he does not have a specific timeline of when that may happen as it depends on the opportunities it comes across.

“Nonetheless, we know Johor and the Klang Valley well, so these two areas will continue to be our focus,” he says.

With a landbank of over 2,000 acres in Johor alone, it would be able to last the company for another 10 years, says Ku.

“We don’t have a breakdown because it is solely based on supply and demand. We will slowly reduce the number of landed properties because land prices have already gone up and we have to maintain our yield,” he says.

It is building more affordable houses as part of its corporate social responsibility in places like Segamat, where it has completed more than 50 projects with 30-100 units per project. In Muar, it built Giant hypermarket next to its houses.

In a short trip to Johor, the company brought a few reporters to visit some of its projects, the first site visited being Taman Bestari Indah.

The usually reserved businessman says: “The project is located just before Ulu Tiram, which is no longer “ulu” (rural) after all the developments there.”

According to him, the company has completed 8,000 units of houses, 30,000 apartment units on the 1,000-acre freehold land.

The project started in 2004 is 40%-50% completed and takes five to six more years for completion, a company official says.

One of its current launch Lily Terrace, measuring at 20’ x 70’ and a built-up of 2,386 sq ft, comes with a price tag of RM450,000 onwards for an intermediate unit and RM800,000 up for a corner unit.

Its ceiling height of 16 ft, standing taller than most houses these days, comes with sun windows that allow natural light into the house. There are four bedrooms and three bathrooms.

The bigger unit, Jasmine 2, measures at 22’ x 70’ with a built up of 2,405 sq ft and comes with six bedrooms and five bathrooms.

Another on-going project is Kempas Heights @ Kempas Indah, which is near the North South Expressway. It sits across SP Setia Bhd’s Tropika project and has Bandar Dato’ Onn by Johor Land on its east.

“Presently, we are building 300 units of cluster houses and we have planned to launch 1,300 units of apartments known as D’ Secret Garden there,” he says.

Size of the cluster house is 32’ x 70’ and features rooms that come with attached bathroom. On top of that, there is also a maid room on the ground floor.

A company official says it will plan for the second phase of cluster houses as most of the completed units were sold off.

“Phase one, launched at the beginning of 2012, consists of 122 units of cluster houses with a built up of 3,138 sq ft,” she says.

The house is selling for RM800,000 and onwards per unit.

She expects the selling price for the second phase, which will consist of 120 units, to command higher prices and to be launched next year.

As for the apartments that are going to be launched soon, she says there will be four different types, including studio units, two bedrooms and three bedrooms.

There are also 70 shophouses in the garden which have all been sold out.

Nusa Bestari, which is situated in Nusajaya, spans 500 acres where KSL had completed 8,000 house units.

Ongoing projects on the freehold land include 855 apartment units known as D’ Inspire Residence, which is selling at close to RM900 per sq ft and 300 units of cluster houses and semi-detached houses, Ku says.

There are four types of apartment sizes ranging from a studio unit (446 sq ft) to four bedrooms (2,483 sq ft). On top of that, there are two units of penthouse per block which are double-storey and attached to the roof top.

A sales personnel says there are 180 units of cluster units and its Type D with a built-up pf 36’ x 75’ is selling at RM1.18mil onwards. The area is gated and guarded with an expected completion period end-2014.

The landed units are gated and guarded.

The price Type D is selling at currently almost double that of Type C which was first launched in 2010 at RM560,000.

Even with a couple of townships on its plate, Ku says it will continue to source for strategic land.