By ANGIE NG angie@thestar.com.my
PETALING JAYA: Sunway City Bhd (SunCity) has inked a collaboration agreement with Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City Investment and Development Co Ltd (SSTEC) for a RM5bil eco-themed project in Tianjin Binhai New Area in China.
The integrated development on 110 acres within the 30 sq km Tianjin Eco-City will be a 60:40 joint venture between SunCity and SSTEC.
SSTEC, a 50:50 joint venture between a Chinese consortium led by Tianjin TEDA Investment Holding Co Ltd and a Singapore consortium led by the Keppel Group, is the master developer of the eco-city.
Signing on behalf of SunCity yesterday was international property development division managing director Ngian Siew Siong while SSTEC was represented by chief executive officer Goh Chye Boon.
The signing was witnessed by SunCity chairman Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah and Keppel Corp Ltd chairman Dr Lee Boon Yang.
According to Ngian, the development would comprise 90% residential component or about 5,000 residences and some commercial properties, including a retail centre. It will have an estimated gross development value (GDV) of RM5bil.
The houses will mostly be medium-range condominiums of 900 to 1,200 sq ft priced at about RM500 per sq ft.
The project is expected to take off in the first quarter next year and will take five years. It will start contributing to SunCity’s earnings from 2012.
Ngian said Tianjin Eco-City was currently the largest eco-city being developed in the world and it was expected to have a population of 350,000.
“As the first eco-city in China, the aim is to promote an ecologically and socially sustainable environment, and be a model for sustainable development for other cities in the future,” he added.
Ngian said the company’s development would be based on the lifestyles of health and sustainability philosophy that would elevate the green status of the city.
He said SunCity, which was a pioneer in developing green buildings in Malaysia, was the only local developer to be selected for the project. The other regional developers include Keppel Land of Singapore, Farglory Group of Taiwan, Shimao of Hong Kong, Mitsui Fudosan of Japan and Vanke of China.
With a fast growing middle class population and high urbanisation, China will be one of the biggest foreign markets for SunCity.
Projects from there were expected to make up more than 50% of the company’s foreign earnings in the coming years, Ngian said.
SunCity’s maiden project in China, the 17-acre Sunway Guanghao project in Jiangyin, is targeted for launch by June. The project, comprising medium-end condominiums and specialty shops, has an estimated GDV of RM492mil.
It is a 39:26:35 joint venture between SunCity, SunwayMas Sdn Bhd and Shanghai Guanghao Real Estate Development Group Co Ltd.
