MALAYSIA Land Properties Sdn Bhd (Mayland) aims to launch its maiden project in Penang, a high-end seafront mixed development worth more than RM2 billion by 2013.

The company is looking at buying 12ha in Penang island, some of which will include reclaimed land, said its director Andrew Chiu.

"We want to lay something like a corner stone development in Penang. We hope to get the land within the next 12 to 18 months," Chiu said in an interview with Business Times in Kuala Lumpur recently.

Chiu said the Penang project will be something like the company's on-going integrated Plaza Damas development in Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur, which started in 1998.

Mayland – founded by Chiu's father, Tan Sri David Chiu, a Hong Kong-based hotelier and property developer is focused currently on developments in the Klang Valley and Johor.

It is looking to launch several new projects and sub-phases within its existing developments.

By end-December, it will launch Elements, a 50:50 joint venture project located off Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, with Land & General (L&G) Bhd, a company which is about 20 per cent controlled by the senior Chiu.

The RM800 million project will comprise 1,040 units of high-end serviced apartments, each pegged at more than RM800 per sq ft.

In Johor, Mayland plans to launch the final phase of its RM300 million Palazio serviced apartment project in Mount Austin.

The entire project has six 14 to 21 storey residential towers, with a total of 1,828 units. The first four towers, launched in 2009 and early this year, are almost 90 per cent sold, Chiu said.

In the first half of 2011, Mayland will launch projects worth in excess of RM2 billion, starting with a residential development in Pelentong, Johor Baru.

Chiu said the project will have 3,000 serviced apartments in five blocks, worth almost RM1 billion.

In Country Heights Damansara, Mayland will launch 300 units of serviced apartments and 250 townhouses, on 4ha, for RM800 million.

"I feel we are at a beginning of a bullish market and I am confident that most of our projects will sell well under this circumstances.

"We have many repeat buyers, who have experienced our projects appreciating in value by more than 100 per cent. We don't just want to sell a property, but a dream … a lifestyle," Chiu said.

Mayland still has 120ha of undeveloped land in the Klang Valley and 20ha in Johor. It is looking for more land to buy in Kuala Lumpur and Penang, he said.

SOURCE: Business Times