KUALA LUMPUR: Sunway Bhd’s (Sunway) wholly-owned subsidiary, Sunway Kinrara Sdn Bhd, has signed a sale and purchase agreement to acquire a 3.34-acre parcel of freehold land from CTM Development Sdn Bhd in Taman Mutiara, Kuala Lumpur for RM42mil.

The parcel will be developed into exclusive homes with consideration of new norm lifestyles. 

The land is located 400m from EkoCheras Mall that offers direct connectivity to the Taman Mutiara MRT station. The land is surrounded by a host of amenities within a five-kilometre radius including Sunway Velocity, Taman Tasik Permaisuri Park, Pantai Hospital Cheras, UKM Medical Center and UCSI University with access to multiple highways such as the Cheras Kajang Expressway, the Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 2 and the Salak Expressway. 

Sunway acquired the land with an approved development order secured, which will accelerate the development’s speed to market. The development is expected to be ready for launch by the first half of 2022 with the expected completion in 2026, contributing positively to Sunway’s earnings from 2022.

“We plan to develop an exclusive residential development comprising just 255 units of townhouses and condominiums with slightly larger built-up areas to accommodate new normal lifestyles,” said Cheah.

Sunway Property’s managing director Sarena Cheah said: “The proposed freehold, close-to-transit development will cater to the pent-up demand for larger living spaces with more activities done at home as part of the new normal including working from home. In addition, we are planning for spacious and functional outdoor areas within the development with health and wellbeing a top priority in the minds of everyone.

“First-time homebuyers, young families, upgraders and seniors who have long called Cheras their home and want to move to a more secure community with lifestyle facilities will find the development attractive as it will be designed with elements of connectivity, healthy lifestyle, convenience, community and security in place. 

“We expect prices to start from approximately RM650 per square foot which would be competitive given the low density, freehold tenure and strategic location in the heart of Cheras.” 

The acquisition is Sunway Property’s first land bank acquisition for the year and reflects its confidence that the property market will recover in 2021 after a slower 2020 as a result of the pandemic.  

Cheah added: “Sunway Property will be actively looking for more strategic opportunities in 2021 given the soft property market. We want to be prepared for any turnaround of the property market in the coming years.”    

According to Bank Negara Malaysia, housing loan approval rates for the first nine months of 2020 remained fairly robust at 72.2% to the benefit of some 214,000 borrowers with Kuala Lumpur and Selangor accounting for half of those figures. 

First-time home buyers form 52% of these successful applicants during the same period, higher than its 6-year average of 41%, indicating the availability of end-financing for this target market despite the uncertainty from the pandemic. 

Taman Mutiara is located about 10 km from the Kuala Lumpur city centre and is a well-established residential area that has benefitted from infrastructure investments in the MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang line. 

Residents are able to commute to the upcoming financial centre at the Tun Razak Exchange and Bukit Bintang in just five to six stops respectively from the nearby Taman Mutiara MRT station. 

In addition, the development is further anticipated to provide additional spillover in patronage to Sunway Property’s nearby integrated development, Sunway Velocity, which is just 3 stops away from the Taman Mutiara MRT station. Sunway Velocity includes the 1,000,000 sq ft shopping mall – Sunway Velocity Mall, Sunway Medical Center Velocity and Sunway College @ Velocity. 

Currently, Sunway’s total landbank stands at 3,326 acres amounting to RM 51.6bil in GDV with a total development period of 15 years.