GuocoLand Malaysia will be selling about 60 units in DC Residency By Clermont, part of a luxury integrated development in KL's Damansara Heights, to Singaporeans
Apart from DC Residency, Damansara City will also boast two Grade A office towers, a F&B-centric lifestyle mall and a five-star hotel
GUOCOLAND Malaysia is launching about 60 units in DC Residency By Clermont, the residential component of Damansara City, a luxury integrated development, for sale to Singapore buyers this weekend.
This comes ahead of the actual launch in Kuala Lumpur next month, and presents "a last chance" to purchase these residences at lower prices of about RM1,400 (S$518) per square foot (psf) on average - versus the listing prices of RM1,600 psf.
Dc Residency By Clermont consists of two 28-storey residential towers with 185 units each. Units range from 899 sqft one-bedders to 2,075 sqft three-plus-one-bedders.
For now, only one tower is for sale, and already, half of its 185 units have been snapped up even before the launch, via a private placement. Some of the buyers were business associates of the Hong Leong Group, which GuocoLand Malaysia is part of.
One third of the buyers were Singaporeans; the remaining comprised Malaysians, Indonesians, Japanese and Koreans.
The integrated development also comes with two Grade A office towers, a F&B-centric lifestyle mall and a five-star hotel run by The Clermont Hotel Group from London.
These will be fully operational by mid-2016, but their units are not for sale.
Managing director Tan Lee Koon said that this is to enable GuocoLand to control the tenant mix, and also enjoy any future capital appreciation.
The office towers are already 80 per cent committed, but Mr Tan declined to name tenants, except to say that the anchor tenant is a "big conglomerate putting its head office there".
The retail mall is 30-40 per cent committed, and some of the F&B tenants will be new-to-market operators.
DC Residency Kuala Lumpur will be the first phase to be completed, and buyers will get their keys at the end of 2015.
Asked why it is only releasing units in the second tower for sale after the construction is completed, Mr Tan said: "We strongly believe that the values will significantly increase after the whole thing is completed, when people can actually see it, feel it. It makes a lot of difference."
Kenny Wong, general manager of marketing & sales, added: "The reason we have been staggering the sales in our launch strategy is to give investors ... a first-mover advantage. This pricing (of RM1,400 psf) will not be held for too long. We will be releasing the later units at a much higher pricing."
Damansara Heights, where the development is located, is an affluent suburb in western Kuala Lumpur, five kilometres from the city centre, sometimes dubbed the "Beverly Hills of KL".
Properties there have seen valuations increase 8-12 per cent over the past two years, and according to Mr Tan, DC Residency should be able to garner net rental yields of 5-6 per cent.
The entire integrated development has a gross development value of RM2.5 billion. GuocoLand Malaysia is also investing RM48 million to develop nearby infrastructure - specifically one flyover and one tunnel - to minimise congestion for the benefit of residents, office- goers, and shoppers.
A mass rapid transit (MRT) station is being built next to DC Residency Showroom Singapore, which the developer is in talks with authorities to connect the development to. The MRT station will be linked to the Singapore-KL high speed rail when the latter is completed.
In the bigger picture, the land supply in the Damansara Heights area is also scarce, with DC Residency For Sales Singapore being among the last few large freehold land parcels available. Mr Tan believes that this, coupled with the weak ringgit and the classification of DC Residency Kuala Lumpur Malaysia as an important entry point under Malaysia's Economic Transformation Programme, make good reasons to buy.
Most of GuocoLand Malaysia's land bank is in Klang Valley. It is building The Rise boutique bungalows in Emerald Rawang (northern Klang Valley) and double-storey link homes in Pantai Sepang Putra (southern Klang Valley). It also has "some pockets of land" in Petaling Jaya and Cheras for commercial and residential developments.
