E&O anticipates good sales for Quayside condominiums

GEORGE TOWN: E&O Bhd anticipates sales of between 40% and 50% of its Quayside seafront luxury condominiums in the next one to two months after its official launch last Sunday.

E&O managing director Datuk Terry Tham said at least 110 units or 30% of the 298 units of the first block have already been booked by prospective buyers since the soft launch of the project.

The 1,200-unit project with a gross development value of RM1.8 billion is located within the Seri Tanjung Pinang development and touted to be on par with the world’s elite waterfront communities like Australia's Sovereign Islands and Sentosa Cove in Singapore.

Quayside will be located on 21 acres of prime seafront land and is said to be the first development in the region to create a sprawling RM20 million 4.5-acre waterfront park exclusively for residents.

The development consists of seven blocks of condominiums, five of which are high-rises of 26 storeys and 298 units per block, while two are low-rise with seven-storey blocks of 51 units each.

On Phase 2 of the project, Tham said a masterplan, including environmental process for the reclamation works, was ongoing.

"We have a timeline until 2017 when the concession for reclaiming 740 acres ends and we will work towards that goal," Tham said during a media briefing with Quayside consultants Cynthia Jacobs, the vice-president and managing director of WATG Seattle, the Quayside concept master planner; Jerry Coburn of GCH Seattle who are the landscape architects; and security expert Richard Dimmick the managing director of GDSS Malaysia.

Also present was E&O's executive director Eric Chan Kok Leong.

Chan said the Seri Tanjung Pinang project would be the new Millionaires Row in Penang, withthe prices of PROPERTIES [] launched in the earlier phases now being valued above RM1 million.

"It will be the upscale enclave of Penang, the likes of Damansara in the Klang Valley, as it is lifestyle living in the city with its own marina and other amenities," Chan added.

Meanwhile, Tham said E&O has scaled down the height of the annexe of the E&O Hotel from the original approved plan of 28 storeys to 15 storeys and that it would be completed by 2012.

Tham said the RM150 million project was initially scaled down to 17 storeys after it was said to contravene Unesco heritage guidelines for George Town, and now it has been reduced further.

The annexe will have 139 suites, bringing the total number of suites to 240, with more restaurants, retail outlets, a podium and larger swimming pool with extensive meetings and banqueting facilities.

Meanwhile, Tham said the RM50 million upgrading works of E&O's Lone Pine Hotel in Batu Ferringhi would be completed by end-2010.

The hotel was closed down in April last year to facilitate the upgrading exercise, which will see the number of rooms increased from 50 to 90.

By The EDGE Malaysia

HwangDBS stays positive on Malaysia property sector

The research house's top picks include SP Setia, Eastern & Oriental, DNP Holdings and Sunrise.

HwangDBS Vickers Research Sdn Bhd remains positive on the local property sector with top stock picks including SP Setia Bhd, Eastern & Oriental Bhd, DNP Holdings Bhd and Sunrise Bhd.

The research house said there were several myths surrounding the property market, such as a rise in interest rate is a negative sign and that property sales strongly correlate to interest rates.

"The overnight policy rate rises would likely be gradual (2010 forecast: 75 basis points) and unlikely to recoup the cumulative 150 bps cut from November 2008," it said in a report yesterday.

Mortgage rates may not rise in tandem given the intense competition among banks and every 25bps rise would increase monthly instalment by 3 per cent.
Secondly, property sales are driven more by economic outlook, income growth, windfall gains from share market or commodities and policy changes.

Therefore, sales should be robust as long as banks are willing to lend. Developers could also offer more attractive products or incentives to stimulate demand.

Finally, the myth that there is a property bubble in Malaysia is inaccurate as property prices here have been appreciating at a much slower rate compared to income growth.

"There is limited hot money as locals make up more than 90 per cent of total sales. High-end property prices in KLCC and Mont' Kiara are still 20-30 per cent below peak, unlike Singapore and Hong Kong which have set new benchmarks," the report said.

It also said that household gearing levels remain at a comfortable 42 per cent while mortgage non-performing loans have inched lower to 4.2 per cent compared to 5.6 per cent in 2008.

By Business Times

E&O Hotel’s extension to be ready in 2012

GEORGE TOWN: Eastern & Oriental Bhd is targeting 2012 for the completion of the Eastern & Oriental Hotel extension project known as the Annexe.

Group managing director Datuk Terry Tham told a press conference that about RM150mil was spent on the construction of the Annexe, which would add another 139 suites for Eastern & Oriental Hotel, increasing its total number of suites to 240.

”The other components include a spa, a swimming pool, restaurants, and retail outlets,” he said.

Tham added that the original 28-storey height of the Annexe had been reduced to 15 storeys to comply with George Town’s heritage conservation guidelines. He was speaking after the presentation of the group’s RM1.8bil Quayside project by the US-based consultants.

Tham said the group’s Lone Pine Hotel, currently under renovation, would be ready in the final quarter of 2010.

”The completion of the renovation will increase the number of rooms to 90 from 50 previously.

”We are spending RM50mil for the renovation,” he said, adding that the last time Lone Pine Hotel underwent a facelift was in 1999.

On the group’s Quayside project, Tham said between 30% and 40% of Quayside’s gross sales value of RM1.8bil was spent for consultants on security, landscape, and architecture.

”We have received queries for about 110 condominium units of the first block Quayside project,” he said.

The first block of Quayside has 298 units and is located next to Straits Quay, which comprises a serviced suite component and a 250,000 sq ft marina and retail space that will be leased to food and beverage outlets.

”We will be going overseas in March to promote Quayside,” Tham said.

Tham said the master plan for the second phase of Seri Tanjung Pinang would be ready by 2017.

”We are taking into account the environmental factors in doing the master plan.

”We have till 2017 to reclaim 740 acres of land at Tanjung Tokong for the second phase,” he said.

By The Star

E&O hospitality activities set to rise this year

PROPERTY developer Eastern and Oriental Bhd (E&O) sees its hospitality activities in Penang receiving a boost this year with the reopening of its four-star Lone Pine Hotel along Batu Ferringgi.

The company, which is synonymous with the 125-year-old Eastern & Oriental Hotel (E&O Hotel) in George Town, is also expecting this hotel's extension, known as the Annexe, to be completed in 2012.

E&O managing director Datuk Terry Tham said the 50-room Lone Pine, which closed its doors for a RM50 million refurbishment in April last year, will reopen by the fourth quarter of the year.



"The refurbished property will boast of a spa, restaurants, a bigger pool and upgraded rooms," Tham told a media briefing in Penang yesterday.
Also present was E&O executive director Eric Chan.

Tham was in Penang to launch E&O Property Development's Quayside Seafront Resort Condominiums.

The upscale project is a component of the Seri Tanjung Pinang waterfront development, which is being tagged by the developer as the new millionaires' enclave on Penang island.

On the Annexe, Tham said the 15-storey extension, when completed in 18 to 20 months, will see the E&O Hotel offering an additional 139 guest suites along with retail, food and beverage components as well as a spa.

"The podium area will have more extensive meeting and banqueting facilities and we will also offer a bigger pool," he added.

Meanwhile, ahead of its official launch, the Quayside condominium project has already received some 100 bookings from both foreigners and locals for the more than 300 units in the first block, Chan said.

Conceptualised by international achitects WATG, Quayside's point-block design comprises five high-rise towers and two low-rise blocks.

By Business Times (by Marina Emmanuel)

Hunza plans multi-billion ringgit township in Penang

By BUSINESS TIMES


A MINI township is set to take shape on the southwestern end of Penang island in three years, if Hunza Properties Bhd's (HBP) (5018) plan takes off.

The developer, which recently bought about 6.48ha land in Bayan Baru for RM82 million, is eyeing a multi-billion ringgit integrated development, which will serve as a mini city, executive chairman Datuk Khor Teng Tong said yesterday.

"We expect to complete the proposed acquisition latest by the end of our 2012 fiscal year and hope to get the project off the ground in that year," he told a media briefing in Penang announcing HBP's 2010 second quarter earnings.

The group's financial year ends on June 30.
Khor said HPB is currently looking to relocate an estimated 800 squatter households occupying the land in Bayan Baru.

"I am confident we can find a solution to the relocation issue," Khor said, add-ing that Hunza is well-versed with the issue through experience in previous projects.

The company is now looking for professionals like architects to develop the proposed mini city.

"We need the expertise of both local and foreign consultants," he added, saying that an international performing arts centre, residential high-rises and serviced apartments may be some of the features in the new development.

On the financial front, Khor said the gearing ratio of HPB is currently at a minimum level.

"The rights issue exercise currently being carried out will further strengthen our financial position.

"Added to this is the anticipated strong cash inflow from the current level of over RM200 million of unbilled sales," he said.

For the second quarter ended December 31 2009, the company recorded RM59.4 million in revenue and RM13 million in profit after tax. Revenue more than doubled while net profit surged 92 per cent from the same period in 2008.