Kuala Lumpur - Singapore Venture Unveils Plans for Bugis Project

RESIDENTIAL MARKET 

KL-S'pore venture unveils plans for Bugis project

Khazanah Nasional and Temasek Holdings yesterday unveiled details of their second development project together.

DUO, as the project has been named, will comprise two towers of residential, retail, hotel and Grade A office space in Bugis, and be directly connected to the Bugis MRT station.

Designed by architect Ole Scheeren, it will have a gross floor area (GFA) of 1.8 million square feet, and a development value exceeding $3 billion.

Nearly half its GFA - 45 per cent or 810,000 sq ft - will be dedicated to residential space; the 660 units will occupy a 50-storey tower.

Offices, retail outlets and a 300-room, five-star hotel will be in the other tower, which will stand 39 storeys tall.

The hotel will take up 15 per cent of the GFA, or 270,000 sq ft.

The remaining 40 per cent or 720,000 sq ft will be given over to offices and shops, with the offices taking the bulk of that space.

M+S, the 60:40 joint venture vehicle between Khazanah and Temasek that is behind the project, said it aims to complete the development in the second quarter of 2017.

Plans are being made to launch the sale of the units in the residential tower early next year.

M+S chairman Azman Yahya said he expects demand for the residential and office space in DUO to be strong; in particular, he expects the 99-year leasehold homes to attract international buyers.

"We do expect strong demand. We think around that area it is quite a unique development. There are not that many offerings around the Bugis area. And based on cold calls we have been getting . . . there seems to be a lot of interest, both in the commercial as well as the residential site," he said.

DUO is one of two projects undertaken by M+S - the other is in Marina South - in a 2010 land swap deal between Singapore and Malaysia, under which Malaysian railway land in Tanjong Pagar, Kranji, Bukit Timah and Woodlands was returned to Singapore in exchange for four land parcels in Marina South and two in Ophir-Rochor. The projects have a total development value of $11 billion.

M+S unveiled details of the Marina South project, called Marina One, in July this year, but will do so for its design only next year, said Mr Azman.

CapitaLand and UEM Land Holdings are project managers for DUO.

UEM is partnering Mapletree Investments to manage Marina One, also expected to be completed in 2017.

Mr Azman disclosed that M+S is in talks with several five-star hotel operators to manage the hotel component.

"I think we'll probably finalise the operator some time in the later part of next year," he said.

Source: Business Times –15 November 2012