Just when you thought Iskandar should be in a hibernation mode with the never ending negative reports from Malaysia and Singapore, well there’s a piece of good news. UEM Sunrise Bhd, the principal developer of Iskandar Malaysia said that it will be busy in 2015 because of Motorsports City in Gerbang Nusajaya and other catalytic developments in Nusajaya. Okay, what is catalytic? Well, these are the projects which would start first so that people would have confidence and the whole area comes up. Gerbang Nusajaya is a 1,800ha land with an estiated GDV of RM40 Billion. Actually, versus the land, RM40 Billion is not considered that huge. Of course as usual, when the years passed and the development continues, the GDV would be adjusted accordingly. Let’s not worry about that for now. This 1,800ha would have lifestyle and retail parks, campus offices, industrial parks and residential precincts. All these would be developed over a period of 25 years. For a while you may suddenly feel that the oversupply situation should ease, since this is to be built over 25 years.
Motorsports City is a 4.5km race track worth RM3.5 Billion and it will be used for Grand-TOuring, go-kart and motorcycle races as well as other types of racing. It will also be a model automotive hub, comprising 4S (sales, service, spare parts and systems) centres, including car showrooms, bonded warehouses and retail and al fresco spaces with food and beverage outlets. I personally do not prefer al-fresco that much due to the weather. Let’s see what’s their design is like then.
Besides that, with SIngapore’s Ascendas group, UEM-Sunrise would be developing a 207.6ha integrated eco-friendly technology park with an estimated GDV worth RM3.7 Billion. This FULLY landscaped parti would be catering to industries ranging from electronics, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, food processing, precision engineering, fast-moving consumer goods, logistics and warehousing. The only tiny setback, this park has yet to conduct its groundbreaking ceremony. 🙂
UEM-Sunrise’s landbank are also more focussed in Johor. (70% of them) Thus, the focus is definitely in Johor for a very long time to come. Now comes some good news. UEM-Sunrise said that it will revisit some of its developments to cater more for current market demands and trends. In short, i think the trend would be to be more affordable and perhaps building higher instead of landed ones. The key currently is just to sell and ensure good take-up rates. I think UEM-Sunrise would understand that prices are key, or else it’s best not to launch. End 2015 or early 2016 would see a launch for a mid-market residential project within Gerbang Nusajaya. (I think I have interest in this, will report if I have more news).
Actually if you really read the whole article carefully, it is still going to be a slow 2015 for UEM-Sunrise in Johor. For more residential units to be launched, all these ‘confidence building’ projects should be well on its way first. Just the usual ground-breaking ceremony is not enough under current circumstances. Nevertheless, do watch out for them because should the market suddenly turns around, UEM-Sunrise will rise due to its huge landbank in Iskandar. Besides as they are the principal developer of Iskandar Malaysia, their action says a lot about the market condition there. This is a company which we should follow closely too.
written on 17 Dec 2014
Next suggested article: Johor Bahru too expensive. Too many foreign developers. Too high rental.
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