IGB Corp joins Iskandar Malaysia development wave

by **Cals** Tue 22 Oct 2013, 11:09

Business & Markets 2013

Written by Fatin Rasyiqah Mustaza of theedgemalaysia.com

Tuesday, 22 October 2013 10:39

Johor Baru: IGB Corp Bhd yesterday kick-started its first property project in Johor, the RM6 billion integrated Mid Valley Southkey Megamall project, which will be the state’s single biggest integrated retail and commercial development.

Located on 14.57ha of land in the new township of Southkey near Johor Baru and within the flagship Zone A of Iskandar Malaysia, the project comprises eight 30-storey tower blocks featuring three hotels — Cititel Johor Baru (675 rooms), Boulevard Hotel (450 rooms) and The Gardens Hotel (450 rooms).

There will also be four office blocks and one serviced apartment block with 180 units. The focal point of the development, Megamall, will have six levels.

The entire project will be developed over 12 years by Southkey Megamall Sdn Bhd, a 70:30 joint venture (JV) between IGB and Selia Pantai Sdn Bhd.

Selia Pantai is a public-private partnership between Selia Group and a Johor state investment company, Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor.

In a statement yesterday, IGB group managing director Datuk Seri Robert Tan said the JV company is confident that Megamall’s central and prime location would draw Singaporeans to shop and holiday in Malaysia.

“It took us 15 years to get Mid Valley City in Kuala Lumpur to what it is today. Hopefully it will take us only half the time to materialise this in Johor,” said Tan. IGB is the owner and operator of Mid Valley City in Kuala Lumpur.

Tan said construction work on the Johor project will start “immediately”, adding that the IGB group is on the lookout for opportunities as, ideally, it would like to own Mid Valley City-type developments in the southern, central and northern (Penang) regions of Malaysia.

The Mid Valley Southkey Megamall project offers a net lettable area (NLA) of 2.5 million sq ft, and will be undertaken in two phases. Phase 1, comprising an NLA of 1.5 million sq ft, will be completed by late 2016.

Selia Pantai founder and managing director Datuk Mohamed Zaini Amran said the main access road to Southkey, Jalan Bakar Batu, is being upgraded into a dual carriageway with six lanes and it is slated for completion in the second half of next year.

Selia Pantai owns 133ha of prime land within Zone A of Iskandar Malaysia.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on October 22, 2013.