Harimau Capital

MAH Sing Group Bhd, a medium- to high-end property developer, says it is looking at more en-bloc sales opportunities for its Southbay City and Southgate commercial projects in Penang and Kuala Lumpur, respectively. "En-bloc sales provide good cashflow as well as good branding, so we do look forward to more en-bloc sales for our commercial projects," managing director Datuk Seri Leong Hoy Kum told Business Times in a recent interview. Southbay City in Penang, which has a gross development value of RM911 million, is slated for launch next year. The project is still under planning but is expected to be an integrated commercial hub comprising hotels, serviced residences, offices and restaurants.

"We can sell the offices en-bloc, even the serviced residences and hotel," Leong said. Meanwhile, for the RM380 million Southgate project, the en-bloc portion comprises the corporate block with about 230,000 square feet and the Apex block with about 90,000 sq feet of net lettable space. Southgate, located in Sungai Besi, is Mah Sing's third commercial project in Kuala Lumpur.Leong said the group is already in talks with interested parties from the Middle East, Singapore and other neighbouring countries for en-bloc sales in Southgate. He hopes to be able to conclude the sale of at least one block there before year-end. "We have a good track record in our en-bloc sales as the investors are both local and foreign institutional investors. This speaks well of our design concept and our products," he remarked. Besides en-bloc sales, Mah Sing has also been making good sales for its commercial projects on a strata basis, he said. For Southgate, the group has launched three blocks on a strata basis - Vox, Vivo and Vertex - which offer office suites at an average of RM500 per sq ft and retails units at an average of RM1,000 per sq ft. "We have closed close to RM108 million in sales since our initial launch in March till June. More than 80 per cent of Vivo and more than 50 per cent of Vertex have been taken up," he said. Demolition works at the Southgate development site are nearly finished and the group expects to start on the earthworks soon.

Leong expects the development to be completed by 2011, as scheduled. Mah Sing, which has a sales target of RM560 million for this year, had already achieved sales of RM263 million in the first six months from all its property launches. For next year, Leong said, the group is targeting sales to increase by up to 20 per cent from the anticipated RM560 million this year.