News broke that YTL has paid a record price of about RM2,000psf for a land located along Jalan Stonor with land size less than an acre. This would be interesting to see what YTL will do with this land, probably a really high-end residential development is in the pipes. But with cost of acquisition that high, would there be room for appreciation? Let’s wait and see.

08-04-2008: YTL pays record price for KL land
by Joyce Goh (The Edge)

KUALA LUMPUR: The YTL group is believed to have set a new record for land transactions in the city centre with an acquisition of a piece of land of slightly less than an acre (0.4 hectare) for RM85 million. Sources said the land is located along Jalan Stonor and the transaction price works out to about RM2,000 per sq ft. The vendor in the transaction is the Eng Lian group, better known as the owners of Bangsar Village.

“They recently signed the agreement and the land size is slightly less than an acre. The deal is done at a new record price of RM2,000 per sq ft (psf),” said the source. It is not known which company from the YTL group bought the land, and what the group has in store for the land, but analysts reckoned the price paid was on the high side.

“Given the current situation, it is surprising. If the land will be used for residential then the price is a bit on the high side, but if it’s for commercial use, then it’s a different story… it might actually be quite fair pricing,” said a property analyst with a local research house. The status of the land is not known but that area was mainly for residential properties although some owners have converted the status to commercial.

The property analyst said that among the transactions that were made public in recent times, the highest was RM1,732 psf paid by GuocoLand (Malaysia) Bhd in January for a piece of land along Changkat Kia Peng. According to a company’s announcement, there were two residential buildings on the land. “There is also another piece of land transacted on Jalan Kia Peng itself, which was said to be at a higher price, but it was done between privately owned companies. So the price has not been disclosed,” said the property analyst.

Industry observers said that there was room for property prices to rise further given the uncertainty in the equity markets. “The potential for property prices is there. Although some believe that the rising property market may take a possible breather spooked by uncertainties, land in the area is scarce, hence the high price,” said the industry observer.

Related Links
YTL deal proves market still vibrant

Did you guys catch the full page advert on the Chicago Spire last Saturday? I remember seeing the exact same advert (with different contact details of course) in an in-flight magazine enroute from Zurich back to London; and thought what a peculiar building it was…it looks pretty much like a screw! So it caught me by surprise when I saw the full-page ad being splashed in our local The Star. I started to wonder if Malaysians do have the power to buy into this kinda development, which starts at about USD750,000 (RM2.391million) for the smallest studio unit all the way to USD40million for the penthouse with totals up to 1200 condo units. They have also added a guaranteed 7.5% returns for the first two years.

Anyway, seeing this being launched in KL, this could signal two things: either they have done enough research to know that there are a lot of Malaysians here who are loaded with cash who would invest, or they just had no choice to launch it overseas since the credit crunch crisis over at the Stateside. The Chicago Spire is marketed locally by Rahim-Co Savills.

31 Mar 2008: Offshore: Chicago Spire takes on the world (The Edge)

Singapore investors were among the first few hundred given the chance to cherry pick apartments in the soon-to-be-tallest skyscraper in the Northern Hemisphere, the 2,000ft-high Chicago Spire in the US. Recently, more than 800 people turned up for the private launch on a Friday evening, followed by a weekend property exhibition of The Chicago Spire.

(more…)

These are a select of 4 developments which are scheduled for hand over in the first quarter of this year. So it’ll be interesting to see how each of these developments compares against each other, especially in the subsale market. But first, here’s a quick overview of the four developments, namely Kiaramas Ayuria (Asiaquest), Mont’Kiara Banyan (Sunrise), Hijauan Kiara (BKP), Kiaraville (Binaderas).

Mont Kiara Banyan	Hijauan Kiara	Kiaraville	Kiaramas Ayuria
Sunrise Bhd	Bukit Kiara Properties Sdn Bhd	Binaderas Sdn Bhd	Kiaramas Development Sdn Bhd
Freehold	Freehold	Freehold	Freehold
147 units / 1 block / 2.8 acres	188 units / 7 blocks / 5.4acres	404 units / 5 blocks / 6.75 acres	480 units / 3 blocks / 9.2 acres
5 units per floor	2 unit per floor	2 – 6 units per floor	4 units per floor
53 units / acre	35 units / acre	60 units / acre	52 units / acre
1838sf – 2648sf	2090sf – 3700sf	1593sf – 3935sf	1605sf – 2013sf
RM738,000 -RM2,300,000	RM782,000 – RM2,637,000	RM696,000 – RM3,062,000	RM542,100 – RM2,058,000
RM400psf	RM375psf	RM437psf	RM338
Q1 2008	Q1 2008	Q1 2008	Q1 2008

Recently, both Hijauan Kiara and Kiaraville have got pretty good press coverage due to its many unique features, many of which seem to add value to their development. Hijauan have been making the news for it’s outstanding landscaping, together with first-of-its-kinds in Mont’ Kiara, like the Spa Island, usage of Dedon outdoor furniture and claiming to be the first development in Mont Kiara with private lobby to its units. I would attribute these coverage to their excellent marketing department who seem to promote their brand further in the media, and this is a value-added service for their buyers to potentially increase the value of the development. Thumbs up for them!

As for Kiaraville, they installed a sculpture by Eng Tay, which was reported worth more than one million. Not sure how this adds value, but any publicity is better than nothing. Banyan and Ayuria have received the least coverage in the media. I’m interested to see how Ayuria will perform upon completion, and I think Ayuria being the lowest entry cost, offers the best value product.

Stay tuned as the reviews to these four developments will be posted in a separate post.

YNH Property Sdn Bhd have been reported to have signed up Foster & Partners as the architect for its RM1.8bil Menara YNH in Kuala Lumpur. Earlier this year, Kuwait Finance House have purchased 50% of the development for about RM920mil. This will be the architect’s third project in Malaysia, the other two being The Troika in KLCC, and the Petronas University in Perak.

I can’t wait to see the final rendering as Menara YNH would be the biggest project to date for the architect group in Malaysia. The picture showed here is an earlier artist’s impression of the tower – it looks safe and lacks imagination. I hope that they will have a totally new design that will awe us. I have always thought YNH’s offering being a bit generic, so with this piece of news, I think it will elevate their status to a real high end property player.

YNH appoints architects for building

By DAVID TAN (The Star)

PENANG: YNH Property Bhd has appointed Foster & Partners as architects for the group’s RM1.8bil Menara YNH in Kuala Lumpur’s Golden Triangle. “We made the appointment because our buyers for the project have indicated that they wanted an internationally-renowned architect for the building.

“The rationale is to add value to the project,” group corporate services head Daniel Chan told StarBiz. Britain-based Foster & Partners, appointed last week, has high-profile projects in Germany, South Korea, Hong Kong, France and Malaysia. The company designed the London headquarters of global insurance company Swiss-Re, Hongkong and Shanghai Bank’s head office in Hong Kong, Hong Kong International Airport – touted as the world’s largest airport – and London’s third airport, Stansted.

It is currently designing Daewoo Electronics’ headquarters in South Korea, and Vivaldi Tower in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Sir Norman Foster, the 1999 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, is chairman of Foster & Partners. Chan said the iconic Menara YNH would have a luxurious retail podium equipped with energy-saving features. The 45-storey building will have more than 55,000 sq ft of built-up area per floor, and a total of 1.2 million sq ft of lettable space.

Early this year, the group announced an offer from Kuwait Finance House to buy 50% of Menara YNH for RM920mil. Investors from Australia and Singapore are currently considering acquiring the remaining 50% of the project. On the group’s project in Mont Kiara, Chan said YNH Property would launch the RM680mil D’Kiara Place, at the end of the second quarter. The project, comprising serviced apartments, an office block and a retail centre, is located near Plaza Mont Kiara, a landmark business and commercial complex.

In a recent report, ECM Libra Investment Bank said YNH Property has one of the highest unbilled sales in the country. It said with half of Menara YNH for RM920mil, YNH’s unbilled sales of RM1.2bil was one of the largest in the country, more than four times its 2007 revenue of RM290mil. This means that the group has locked in 40% to 50% of its earnings before interest and tax for financial years 2008 and 2009.

Park Seven, in my humble opinion, has to be one of the best looking structures around KLCC. Before I left KL, I managed to do a walkabout KLCC and it’s properties around the vicinity. The one development that made me fall for is Park Seven. A closer inspection makes me love the development ten folds! Hope the final coat of paint would be just that – industrial gray and all that’s clean! However, I wonder if people would love to stay in a cold concrete environment. Would think some would like some “warmth”…More photos after the jump.