CITY Motors Group (CMG) is making a big move into the real estate space with two skyscraper projects worth a total RM2 billion in gross development value (GDV) located in Bangsar and Bukit Bintang.
Sri Seltra Sdn Bhd — the developer’s arm of CMG will undertake the development and its CEO Terence Chia is confident the two projects will see CMG expand into the luxury property segment and the hospitality industry.
CMG owns both the land on which the project sites are located.
The company distributed Alfa Romeo cars and then diversified into oil palm plantation and aquaculture.
Chia, in a press release, noted the GDV of the Alfa Bangsar and the Bukit Bintang Gateway projects will be RM450 million and RM1.5 billion respectively and form part of the group’s long-term plan to make inroads into the hospitality industry.
“We plan to grow our real estate’s recurring income as a sustainable revenue stream that will run parallel with the future growth potential of our property development business. We have plans to develop over 350 acres of landbank in Kuala Lumpur, Pahang, Ipoh and Penang,” he stated.
The Alfa Bangsar project represents the group’s signature entry into the luxury market and promises to set a benchmark in higher property valuation of affluent Bangsar while the Bukit Bintang Gateway project will be a single high complex with a hotel, serviced apartments and commercial podium.
Alfa Bangsar’s serviced apartments will offer 178 units for sale.
The branded and reputed hotel chain, InterContinental Hotels Group plc, will operate an upscale hotel, the Holiday Inn Kuala Lumpur Bangsar, in Alfa Bangsar.
Chia said the Alfa Bangsar was named after the group’s two-decade involvement as the sole distributor of Alfa Romeo cars that ended in 2020.
“We are currently halfway through construction and looking at a mid-2023 completion. We are confident of completing it on time even with the constraints caused by the current movement control order,” he said.
Work to construct the Bukit Bintang Gateway project is scheduled to start in the first quarter next year after receiving development approval from the Kuala Lumpur City Council.
“This is a mixed development located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Similar to Alfa Bangsar, the Bukit Bintang Gateway is also on freehold land and is by far a bigger project, both in scale and GDV. It will comprise a five-star hotel and residential, commercial and retail blocks.
“It is a massive project on its own consisting of 500 hotel rooms that will propel the corporate brand name of CMG as a top player, going by the sheer size of the total number of rooms and lettable floor space in Kuala Lumpur,” he said.
Chia did not foresee any issue with the timing of the Alfa Bangsar project’s sales launch in the fourth quarter because the take-up for luxury apartments is recession-proof.
In the pipeline are plans for a serviced apartment block in Georgetown, Penang. Chia added CMG will convert a parcel of land it owns in Cheras into a landscaped park around a lake with hiking trails for public use.
CMG has completed landed properties, township, condominiums and commercial office projects worth over RM600 million in GDV to date.
Source: The Malaysian Reserve