PETALING JAYA: Dijaya Corp Bhd plans to build more lifestyle commercial and residential property projects in the Klang Valley and other growth areas to cater to a growing demand for such facilities.

According to managing director Datuk Tong Kien Onn, the company has at least three commercial projects in the pipeline, including Tropicana Avenue and Tropicana Office Towers in Tropicana Golf & Country Resort, and Tropicana Gardens in Tropicana Indah Resort. Tropicana Avenue, with two floors of retail podium and office space, will have net lettable space of 561,000 sq ft. The office space is for sale and the retail podium will be for lease. The RM205mil project will be launched by mid-2010.

Also coming up next year will be a RM250mil twin office towers project with 400,000 sq ft of net lettable space including space for holding events. One block will be for en bloc sale and the other will be for rental.

The third project, Tropicana Gardens on 6.8ha next to Kota Damansara, will have service apartments and lifestyle retail space. It is slated for launch in 2011.

Tong said Dijaya would also be looking to replicate the integrated lifestyle Tropicana City project in other growth markets.

“These self-contained projects with retail complex, offices and residences, promote the concept of work, live and shop for the new breed of young and trendy population,” he told StarBiz.

Tropicana City comprises Tropicana Mall with 450,000 sq ft of net lettable area, a 12-storey office block with 105,000 sq ft office space and a block of service suites.

Tropicana Mall, Dijaya’s first retail property, opened for business last December. The retail space is fetching rental rates of RM10 to RM20 per sq ft.

The office block will be completed in October while the 601 units of Tropics service suites will be ready by next June.

Tong said revenue contribution from its commercial projects was expected to rise to 55%-60% in the coming years from about 45% now.

“We intend to keep some of our commercial space for regular rental income going forward and to build up the company’s investment property portfolio.”

On the residential front, he said Dijaya would be targeting its new launches at foreign buyers, especially Singaporeans.

One of its upmarket high-rise projects is Tropicana Grande, to be built on the last parcel of land in Tropicana Golf & Country Resort. Located on 2.08ha, there will be four blocks with a total 300 units priced from RM600 per sq ft. Tropicana Grande will have a gross development value of RM540mil.

At Tropicana Indah Resort, 12 Grand Villa bungalows of 8,000 to 9,000 sq ft priced at RM4.5mil to RM5.8mil will be launched by year-end. There will also be 54 Pool Villa semi-detached homes of 5,812 to 7,945 sq ft priced from RM2.8mil each.

Also planned for launch next year will be Tropicana Bayou on 26.4ha in Balakong and a 8-ha residential development in Sungai Long.

According to Tong, innovation, superior quality and practicality would be the hallmark of all the company’s projects going forward.

“We will be leveraging on our success in building the 250-ha Tropicana Golf & Country Resort and 163.6-ha Tropicana Indah Resort and have more innovative and quality products for the market,” he added.

Describing the property market as going through a “cooling-down period” after “a confidence plunge” around the third quarter last year, Tong said the market was holding out well despite the severe meltdown in many parts of the world.

“We do see some positive signs in our sales and we are optimistic that the market will turn for the better towards the year-end and early next year. The market should start to recover by year-end when confidence starts to pick up again,” he added.

Over the past seven months, Dijaya achieved RM215mil in sales, or about 70% of its sales target of RM260mil for the financial year ending Dec 31 (FY09).

For FY08, it recorded a sales revenue of RM244mil.

The Star – 10th August 2009