PETALING JAYA: Kumpulan Jetson Bhd has announced that the heads of agreement between its unit Jetson Development Sdn Bhd and Fortress Effect Sdn Bhd for the joint development of a luxury residential development project in Penang, to be known as “The Macalister,” had been mutually terminated.

“Upon the mutual termination, neither party shall have any claims against the other whatsoever,” Kumpulan Jetson said in a note to Bursa Malaysia yesterday.

“The mutual termination is not expected to have any material effect on the earnings, net asset and gearing of Jetson and the group for the financial year ending Dec 31,” it added.

According to reports, the project was slated to be developed on three pieces of freehold land in George Town, Penang.

China-based Everbright International Engineering Sdn Bhd was initially appointed the designated contractor to undertake the construction and completion of the project on a joint-venture basis.

Kumpulan Jetson’s entitlement under the proposed joint development was to be 30% of the gross development value, with Fortress Effect taking the remaining 70% stake.

Source: The Star

GEORGE TOWN: The property market in Penang is likely to see sustainable growth of between five and 10 per cent next year, says Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia (Rehda) Penang.

Chairman Datuk Jerry Chan Fook Sing, said the market here will be driven by continuous business activities and the flow of foreign investments into the state.

He said property market in Penang will remain bullish amid rising demand for houses due to the increase in jobs as an impact from foreign investments as well as growing population.

“The population projection for Penang is two million by 2020, therefore more houses are needed. Some 12,000 houses are expected to be built yearly until 2020,” Chan told a media briefing here yesterday.

Chan said property transactions in Penang for next year are likely to slow down amid cautious buying ahead of the 13th general elections.

“However, prices are unlikely to adjust downwards due to rising land and construction material costs,” he said.

He said the house prices are unlikely to decline amid high land prices and high construction material costs, adding that land prices are likely to rise in the future.

Chan said demand for property will remain bullish as interest rates are likely to stay low despite Bank Negara Malaysia’s tightening of housing loan rules. Bernama

Source: Business Times

PENANGITES, especially those from Air Itam and Bandar Baru Air Itam, now have a new hangout place — All Seasons Place lifestyle strip mall.

This new hip place, with renowned food and beverage (F & B) retail outlets and other shops, is located in Lebuhraya Thean Teik.

The mall with a net leasable area of 240,000sq ft by Belleview Group has been receiving overwhelming response since opening on Dec 1.

Belleview Group retail and commercial division senior manager Lee Beng Beng said the outdoor car park with about 300 bays was full every evening.

“We have since opened the indoor car park with an addition of about 200 bays.

“Some 30 tenants have started operating,” he said during the mall’s soft launch at the PappaRich food outlet at the mall last week.

The anchor tenant is the biggest Giant Superstore in Penang, taking up 45,000sq ft.

International and local food outlets include PappaRich, James Foo & Family Western Food, Sushi King, Subway, Tang Bo Fu Dessert, I-Cup, Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks, Fruuze Frozen Yogurt, Taiwan Famous Food, Easyway Food and Beverages, Fa Guo Shan Dessert, Roti Bakar, Each-A-Cup,Ice Happy Food and Aik Soon Tang Herbal Jelly.

Other outlets include Digi, Guardian, Celcom Blue Cube, Georgetown Pharmacy, eSaver Optical, Optimal Optics, Belleview Gallery, Teong Locksmith and Berkath Money Changer.

Women looking for some beauty treatment can head over to Step In Beauty, Nailicious Nails & Spa Saloon, Dejoyce Beauty and Hair Story International.

There are also four junior anchor tenants — Absolute Fitness, Wow Karaoke Box, Brewball and Mr DIY — scheduled to open before Chinese New Year.

“We have a good mix of families and youngsters visiting the mall and with the concentration on F&B, we manage to pull in a huge crowd,” Lee said.

He added that the company was aimed at bringing a new lifestyle to the area.

“We hope to bring something new to the community here so they will not need to leave Bandar Baru Air Itam and Air Itam for food and entertainment,” he said.

Lee said they were also particular about maintaining a balanced mix of tenants to offer visitors a better experience.

“We own all three floors with 120 units. As we own the property, we are able to manage it in-house to make the mall more relevant for the people,” he said.

Another unique feature of the mall is the glowing and LED colour-changing courtyard in the centre of the strip mall.

The five-storey cascading waterfall and fountain feature pool are also attractions drawing in the crowd at the mall.

Also present at the launch was Belleview Group managing director Datuk Sonny Ho who said the strip mall was designed by renowned Australian architecture firm Cottee Parker Architects.

All Seasons Place is the 500,000sq ft commercial component of a mixed development project.

All Seasons Park has four condominium towers with over 800 residential units and is scheduled for completion next year.

Source: The Star

* Article by Scientific Feng Shui *

The burning questions in 2012 were whether the world will end as the Mayan calendar and the “2012” movie predicted and whether the global economy will finally recover.

As you are wondering, it’s obvious the pseudo-scientist mis-interpreted the meaning of the Mayan calendar’s ending (just start a new cycle!). The economy also goes through cycles and it is just a matter of time before it swings up again.

The year 2012 was probably more chaotic and quarrelsome than previous years. The climate was also as unpredictable as ever. On one side of the planet, there were droughts and fierce fires while on the other; there wereextreme snow and hurricanes. Bad weather affects agricultural production and pushes the economy into a more unstable level.

That did not help the situation in Europe where the problem with PIIGS has not been resolved. The crisis caused many countries to change their governments.

The US economy is struggling to recover and its people agonized between choosing four more years with Obama or give Romney a seat in the White House (Obama won).

Problems in the Middle East escalated in Syria, tensions with Iran and Israel, chaos in Libya and Egypt post-Arab Spring. The Muslim world was angered by the film, “Innocence of Muslim” posted on YouTube on Sept 11.

With all the doom and gloom, will 2013 bring us better news? That our intention with this seminar. Many people associated the Dragon with prosperity (see how mistake they are) and shun the Snake.

The serpent is often associated with evil and darkness. However, in many cultures, snakes are symbol of fertility, healing and immortality. Will the Year of Snake bring blessings? REGISTER THE SEMINAR NOW TO FIND OUT.

This seminar was originally organized by the Malaysian Institute of Geomancy Science (MINGS) which turn 15 in 2013. It was founded with a mission to promote Feng Shui and geomancy as a scientific knowledge attained by learning from Nature, Mimicking Nature and Living Nature harmoniously. We hope to change the general perception of Feng Shui, separating it from religious practices and myths.

Authentic Feng Shui tests draw from the I-Ching and apply principles such as astronomy, geology, mathematics and sociology. They make no mention of praying to any particular god or deity, or placing mystical objects as “cures”. To differentiate “pure, authentic and scientific Feng Shui” from the culturally, religiously and superstitiously adulterated version, we call this practice “ENVIRONOLOGY”.

For the first time, the Environology team will organize our year end outlook seminar outside Klang Valley. For northern region residences, we choose Penang as our destination.

Register now the 12th Jan 2013, Sat seminar at http://www.scientificfengshui.com/feng-shui-seminar. Hurry seat is limited.

With RM88 only, you will give giving a FREE 2013 Outlook Reference Book and this book is limited edition where you can’t find it in any book store.

For businessman, employee, house wife or student, you may use this book as your “bible” for the year of 2013 for any events.

May you have a fantastic 2013 and have a smile on your face every day.

Scientific Feng Shui team

http://www.scientificfengshui.com

PETALING JAYA: Many Malaysians are now occupying high-end condominiums and apartments in prime locations in the Klang Valley, including the KLCC and Mont Kiara areas, which were previously exclusive to mostly expatriates.

The Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA), which said it has been seeing a demographic shift in the past 10 years, said gone were the days when areas such as the KLCC and Mont Kiara were home to mostly expatriates.

“Previously, condominiums in the Klang Valley were mostly purchased by investors and rented out to expatriates.

“But in the last 10 years, we have been seeing a shift in this,” said MIEA deputy president Siva Shankar during the MIEA’s 2013 Property Outlook last week.

He said in the past, many Malaysian families preferred to live on landed property.

But that has changed and many Malaysians are now end-users of condominiums in prime locations including the KLCC and Mont Kiara areas.

MIEA president Nixon Paul also said it was a misconception that expatriates were mostly concentrated within the city centre, especially in locations such as KLCC and Mont Kiara.

“Many expatriates today are choosing to live near the international schools.

“Previously, many of these schools were concentrated in the city but now there are a few in the outskirts.

“So we are actually seeing a lot of expatriates moving away from the city centre,” he said.

On the apartment and condominium, residential terraced/detached market in Penang, Raine & Horne Malaysia director Michael Geh said new launches in prime locations are being snapped up at the developer sale price.

He added that strong banking support for developer direct sales made this segment the “strongest moving segment.”

“The secondary condominium and apartment market are facing challenges due to loans offer at lower margins of 70%,” he said in a note at the same event last week.

He said that the commercial and shophouse segment in Penang also experienced strong take-up and steep capital appreciation this year, adding that there was also strong take-up for industrial land and facilities in Penang.

Geh added that asking and transacted prices of development land reached record high levels this year.

“However, newly imposed regulations and guidelines on development have hampered the planning and development process.

“But we believe that this will stabilise in 2013,” he said.

Source: The Star