Business

Saturday February 2, 2013

See Hoy Chan awaits nod for Effingham phase 2

By TEE LIN SAY
linsay@thestar.com.my


Teo says The Effingham was the original name of the land, which previously perched on a rubber estate. Teo says The Effingham was the original name of the land, which previously perched on a rubber estate.

PETALING JAYA: See Hoy Chan Holdings Group is now awaiting approvals for the second phase of The Effingham Place and Tower 5 of its 1 First Avenue office blocks in Bandar Utama township, Petaling Jaya, according to its director, Datuk Teo Chiang Kok.

For the office block, Teo said the construction of the new building had to be timed correctly with the completion of the My Rapid Transit station, as the Bandar Utama sub-station would be integrated with Tower 5 of the office block.

Offices aside, See Hoy Chan will be constructing a four-star hotel to complement its exisiting five-star hotel, The One World Hotel. See Hoy Chan operates on a build-then-sell model to develop all of its properties.

On the residential front, via a balloting process, See Hoy Chan launched the first phase of its zero lot bungalows, The Effingham Place on Jan 19, where nearly all 90 units were taken up. So far, 75 units have been sold, and 11 units have been reserved.

Interested buyers who registered their interest in Phase 1 had to put in a RM50,000 deposit in order to qualify for the balloting. The Effingham Place's most expensive unit is priced at RM9.7mil at 12,000 sq ft.

When asked why See Hoy Chan decided to name the development The Effingham, Teo laughed and said that it was the original name of the land, which previously perched on a rubber estate.

“Yes, we did get a lot of flak for the name. However, my father was especially nostalgic for this development. This was going to be our last landed residential development, so we decided to go with the original name,” explained Teo.

The entire Effingham Place sits on 32 acres and will house a total of 212 units when all three phases are completed. Phase 1 had a gross development value (GDV) of about RM550mil.

“Once we get approvals for Phase 2, we will start work soon and it should be completed in 2 years. We will be building more or less similar units to Phase 1, but with different designs,” he said.

On his view of the property measures in Malaysia, Teo is of the opinion that the Government needs to release the brakes on its curbs.

“There was initially a perception that there was a property bubble and this stemmed back in 2010 when America was still having its financial troubles. At that time, there was a surge in property demand and the emergence of 5/95 and 10/90 schemes. People just had to pay 5% or 10% to buy their properties. However, people were buying these properties in their drive to protect wealth and hedge against inflation, rather than for speculation.

“Furthermore, the number of houses that are needed in Malaysia is still less than the number of houses that are built. Every year, some 180,000 new homes are needed. The Government should facilitate the supply of homes, for example making it faster to obtain approvals, rather than stifling the demand,” said Teo.

Teo said that homes at Bandar Utama, the group's flagship development project, were always built with practicality and efficiency of space in mind.

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