Gurney Wharf, a world class “park-on-the-sea”, is going to be even better than initially planned.

The state government is planning to transform the place into “the pride of Penangites” with seaside retail outlets, F&B aplenty, water gardens, and beach and coastal grove on the 24.28ha plot of reclaimed land.

“We have always been planning for Gurney Wharf to be world-class but now, we want it to be even more than that,” said State Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo.

In the weeks after the elections, Jagdeep said his department met the project’s architects and consultants several times to explore more packages.

Jagdeep refrained from disclosing what gems are being thought up, explaining that “the consultants gave us so many packages and concepts to choose from and we haven’t firmed up our selections”.

“We are aiming to see Penangites getting as much as possible out of this,” he said.

It was reported in 2016 that the proposed seafront public recreation area would be created on the plot of reclaimed land, using concepts inspired by internationally acclaimed parks.

The initial concept involved four distinct features – a seaside food and beverage area, water gardens, as well as a beach and coastal groves spanning some 1.5km of shoreline.

“This will be the best public recreation project after Penang City Park,” Jagdeep said in an interview.

In the aftermath of the racial riots of May 13, 1969, the 16ha Penang City Park (then called Youth Park) was conceptualised a year later and completed in 1972.

In the Penang Monthly, a periodical published by the state’s policy think-tank Penang Institute, Datuk Anwar Fazal wrote last year that Youth Park was conceived after the race riots because “young people should have more places to play as the streets were not so safe”.

Anwar, who was then the private secretary of ex-chief minister, the late Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu, recalled that when he put forth initial plans for the Youth Park, the riots were still fresh on everyone’s minds.

So, Youth Park was planned as a way to celebrate Malaysia’s multi-cultural heritage, he wrote.

“I wanted to make it not only inter-generational, but also with a diversity of activities and adventures while keeping the green setting,” he wrote.

Over the decades, Penang City Park never stopped growing. More facilities were installed, with the latest being graffiti walls for youths to express themselves through art.

Jagdeep said it was “ironic that another new public domain was being created to mark a big chapter in Penang’s history”.

“We want Penangites to know how well we are doing now at the governmental level. The last 10 years, we suffered problems dealing with the federal government.

“The state is heading for better times and we will let Gurney Wharf show it.

“There are few places that mean as much to Penangites as Gurney Drive. We all grew up loving the place as a beautiful beach over 40 years ago and then as a hawker food and shopping paradise.

“The present Gurney Drive itself is on reclaimed land and with the new reclamation, we will make it something to be proud of,” he said.

The developer, Tanjung Pinang Development Sdn Bhd, said in a statement that the reclamation of the Gurney Drive foreshore was 40% complete and foresees that it would be completed as scheduled by the end of this year.

Source: TheStar.com.my

Another proposed affordable housing development by PLB Land Sdn. Bhd. at Paya Terubong. Located along Tingkat Paya Terubong 5, just a stone’s throw away from Eco Terraces luxury condominium by Eco World. It is approximately 10km away from Penang International Airport and Penang Bridge.

This development will feature 2 blocks of 35-storey condominium with a total of 800 affordable residential unit, 400 units in each block.

This is still pending for approval. More details to be available upon project launch.

READ MORE ABOUT AFFORDABLE HOUSING:

• Eligibility and the requirement of buying affordable housing
• Full list of affordable housing in Penang

Project Name: (to be confirmed)
Location : Paya Terubong
Property Type : Affordable Housing
Built-up Size: (to be confirmed)
Total Units: 800
Indicative Price: RM300,000
Developer : PLB Land Sdn. Bhd.

Location Map:

The government should consider using a certain portion of taxes collected from the rakyat to set up a specific fund for housing purposes.

Penang Housing, Town, Country Planning and Local Government Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo proposed that the money from the fund could be used for efforts such as building more affordable homes.

“When we collect taxes, it goes into a common trust fund which the government will use for the public such as for education, transportation and medical facilities,” he said.

He added that if there was a specific fund for housing, the money could be used to address issues related to housing, which would in turn benefit the people.

He added that having such a fund would also help provide allocation for housing-related matters in each state.

“The move will also ensure that the states will not be sidelined when it comes to housing for the people, like what Penang has experienced over the past 10 years,” Jagdeep said.

Source: TheStar.com.my

Projects by Iconic Group

Datuk Tan Kean Tet, the chairman of Penang-based property developer Iconic Group Sdn Bhd, is acquiring a substantial stake in Sanbumi Holdings Bhd

Sanbumi, in a filing with Bursa Malaysia, said the company had entered into a conditional share subscription agreement with Tan for the placement of 22.6 million new shares at 17.3 sen each.

Tan, 56, will pay RM3.9mil for the shares, which will increase his stake in the company from 1.39% to 10.36%.

“The company will also be able to tap and leverage on Tan’s experience in property development as well as hotel development and management,” Sanbumi said.

Tan ventured into property development via the incorporation of Iconic in 2011 and subsequently expanded the business of Iconic into the hospitality sector in 2016.

The Iconic group has completed property development projects worth about RM600mil in gross sales value.

It owns the four-star Iconic Hotel in Juru, Seberang Prai.

Sanbumi Holdings Bhd has proposed two mixed development projects in Penang mainland, offering a mix of serviced residences and shop offices.

Proposed and current development projects by Iconic Group

Proposed developments by Sanbumi Holdings Bhd.

Source: TheStar.com.my

Property developers acknowledge that unbilled sales are on the decline but say the situation is not so bad and they are still able to record decent earnings.

The decline in unbilled sales, they said, is in line with the overall slowdown in the property market over the past few years.

Residential properties, for instance, have seen sales come down by 29% to 194,684 units in 2017, when compared with the five years ago figure of 272,669 units in 2012, based on data from the National Property Information Centre.

Nevertheless, developers when contacted, seem undeterred by the downtrend and are positive about future sales.

Mah Sing Group Bhd, for one, is maintaining its 2018 sales target of RM1.8 billion, according to its chief executive officer Datuk Ho Hon Sang.

“Unbilled sales is a function of sales, so in a challenging market, unbilled sales will naturally reduce and will pick up again when sales volume increases,” said Ho. “However, declining unbilled sales is also a reflection that the developer is probably constructing on time, as they are able to bill the construction progress to their buyers, and this amount will be removed from the unbilled sales.”

“Mah Sing’s unsold and ongoing sales is less than two times our sales target, and less than one time if divided over revenue, which is very healthy compared to our peers,” he added.

Eastern & Oriental Bhd senior general manager for sales and marketing Wayne Wong said the Penang-based developer achieved its historical high unbilled sales of RM1.2 billion in September 2016 on the back of the successful sale of its Tamarind Executive Apartments project.

“With the expected completion of this project at the end of this year, we expect a decline in our unbilled sales figure.

“However, this has not had an adverse impact on our earnings as we focused on our RM800 million inventory. We had, over the last two financial years, achieved new sales of RM387million and RM381million for FY18 [financial year ended March 31, 2018] and FY17 respectively on the back of largely selling inventories in Seri Tanjung Pinang.

“As such, we remain confident that despite lower unbilled sales, we will be able to maintain our revenue growth trajectory,” he said.

Wong added that E&O deliberately slowed down launches over the last two years to concentrate on selling its inventories given the property market conditions over the same period.

“However, we are certainly not resting on our laurels as we are laying the groundwork for the launch of two E&O signature developments, The Conlay in Kuala Lumpur as well as Seri Tanjung Pinang phase 2A’s maiden launch of serviced apartments and neighbourhood retail space with a total gross development value of RM1.5 billion over the next two years,” he said.

Over at Eco World Development Group Bhd, the group managed to maintain its unbilled sales figures for 2018, compared with 2017. Its president and group chief executive officer Datuk Chang Kim Wah said unbilled sales is a very relevant key performance indicator for property developers as it determines future earnings.

“We have worked hard to maintain the numbers, and in this regard, we are pleased to share that our progress billings [unbilled sales] number has increased from RM5.9 billion as at 2Q FY18 (second quarter ended April 30, 2018) to RM6.2 billion as at 3QFY18,” he said.

Axis REIT Managers Bhd head of investments Siva Shanker, who has more than 30 years’ experience in real estate, remarked that the Malaysian property market did see a slight recovery in 2017.

“In 2016, developers launched 52,713 units [in the primary residential market] and achieved 31.4% sales, and in 2017 they launched 77,750 units and achieved 32.6% sales. This clearly shows that 2017 was a slightly better year for developers as they launched more units and achieved a higher percentage of sales compared to 2016,” he said.

Noting that developers are more focused on clearing inventories rather than aggressively launching new projects, Siva said this does not indicate that times are bad for the property sector.

“It is true that most developers are saddled with unsold stock and therefore waiting to clear their stock before launching new developments, but that is not a bad sign. It’s just prudent financial management on the part of the developers and a prudent marketing strategy as they work to clear their unsold inventories first and only launch new offerings once the market improves

“Some of them may be clearing their inventories at a discount, as they are able to get some savings from measures the government has taken to ease house prices, such as the sales tax exemption on some building materials,” he said.

Siva also said that the Malaysian property sector is driven more by sentiment rather than fundamentals.

“There is a feel-good sentiment with the new government and the Malaysia Baru concept, and this hope I feel will drive the market forward a little bit more, and by the time the year is over I believe we will register a small positive growth in terms of property sales,” he added.

Source: EdgeProp.my