Overwhelming response: Chor (3rd from right) at the launch of the Battersea project in Kuala Lumpur. Looking on (from left): Battersea Project Holding Co Ltd (BPSDC) CEO Robert Tincknell, BPSDC chairman of the executive committee Datuk Abdul Wahab Maskan, Liew, Sime interim chairman and EPF board chairman Tan Sri Samsuddin Osman, and SP Setia chairman Tun Zaki Tun Azmi. The proje ct will be launched in Singapore and Hong Kong within the next two weeks. – STAR/pic by SAM THAM.
LONDON: Despite the recession in the UK and scepticisms from some quarters, bookings from London and Kuala Lumpur for phase one of the Battersea Power Station project, Malaysia's largest property development outside the country, proved to be “overwhelming”.
“By April or May, we expect everything to be sold,” SP Setia Bhdpresident and chief executive officer Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin told reporters in the London last week.
The Battersea Power Station project was also launched in Kuala Lumpur by Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Chor Chee Heung last Saturday. The project will be launched in Singapore and Hong Kong within the next two weeks.
“And we're not just talking about bookings. Come April or May, we expect sale contracts for all of the units to be signed,” said Liew.
The Malaysian consortium developing the iconic Battersea Power Station site comprised SP Setia, Sime Darby Bhd and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF). The 39.5-acre site was purchased for £400mil in September last year and is estimated to have a gross development value (GDV) of £8bil on completion 15 years later.
Both SP Setia and Sime Darby have equal stakes of 40% each in the project, with the EPF holding the remaining 20%.
At the launch of the properties in Kuala Lumpur, Chor said: “For Malaysia, it is an opportunity to showcase our capability in the international arena and also to learn the best practices from another nation... This (achievement) is a national pride.”
Liew, who was also at the same event, expressed delight with the interest generated, adding that a hurdle over transportation had been resolved with the British government agreeing to a loan of up to £1bil to allow London Underground to fund an extension of the Northern Line to Nine Elms on the South Bank. The announcement was made byChancellor George Osborne early December.
“This is a (UK) government guarantee. Come what may, the Northern Line will be ready,” Liew said.
The Northern Line extension is crucial to the Battersea Power Station project, which is part of a greater regeneration programme in Nine Elms. There are 27 projects currently in the development pipeline including Battersea Power Station and the new US Embassy.
It is learnt that half of the 800 units in phase one, known as Circus West at Battersea Power Station, which are reserved for the Malaysian market, “have been taken up”.
The official numbers are expected to be released later.
Two hundred units were allocated for buyers in the UK, and the remaining 200 units equally split between the Singapore and Hong Kong market. Buyers pay 20% and the remaining 80% on completion.
Prices start from £338,000 for a studio, from £423,000 for a one-bedroom unit, £613,000 for a two-bedroom unit and £894,000 for a three-bedroom apartment.
Penthouse units starts from £6mil. Phase one, with a GDV of £900mil (RM4.5bil), will also offices, shops, leisure and hospitality units. Construction is expected to commence in the second half of 2013.
Liew said a £2mil insurance policy from the National House Building Council effectively protects purchasers' deposits during the construction period and ensures a certain quality to the development.
“There is a 12-year guarantee on the construction,” he said.
On next week's launch in Singapore and Hong Kong, he said, “Singapore knows us because we have projects there and Sime Darby has presence in Hong Kong.”
Despite the high number of Asian buyers, Battersea Power Station Development Co Ltd (BPSDC) chief executive officer Robert Tincknellsaid the project will have an international audience.
Liew noted that profit from the project could only be recognised after completion estimated in 2016 due to the accounting policy in London. - The Star
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