Malaysia - Johor, Iskandar, Forest City etc

Malaysia - Johor, Iskandar, Forest City etc

Postby winston » Mon Aug 01, 2016 6:44 am

Super city in sea draws catastrophe warning

A multi-billion-dollar new city near Singapore, planned by a Hong Kong- listed firm, is attracting interest from investors with promises of luxury living, but there are questions over its future owing to China's economic woes and warnings of environmental catastrophe.

Forest City, a US$42 billion (HK$326.6 billion) futuristic "eco-city" of high-rises and waterfront villas, will sit on four man-made islands on the Malaysian side of the Johor Strait just an hour from Singapore.

Offering 700,000 residential units as well as malls, international schools, hotels, convention venues and medical facilities on 1,370 hectares, the city will even have its own immigration center.

The venture is being developed by real-estate giant Country Garden (02007), headed by Yeung Kwok- keung, and a firm partly owned by Johor's powerful Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar with an eye on cashed-up Chinese buyers.

Officials say they have shifted 500 units in pre-selling already, although the development is not due to be completed until 2035. Sales executive Alex Lee said he had sold 10 properties in one sitting with a Chinese businessman, who paid cash.

Investors can pay anything from US$200,000 for a two-bedroom unit, up to US$1.6 million for a seaside villa.

By comparison, a mass market condominium in Singapore costs around US$740,000 - which in Forest City would buy a four-room seaside villa with a function hall, two parking lots and a large garden.

But some analysts question the project's long-term sales targets as China's economy struggles to break out of a growth slowdown that has seen expansion fall to 25-year lows, while authorities clamp down on a flight of cash from the country.

At the same time Standard & Poor's said it was cautious about Forest City after it downgraded Country Garden's long-term rating in March to BB from BB+, citing risks from its aggressive land acquisitions.

It called sales targets somewhat ambitious, given this is a new large-scale project and targets primarily mainland overseas buyers.

And even if the project is a success, campaigners say it could prove to be a disaster for the local ecology and fishermen who complain of dwindling catches.

While its website describes it as a "liveable eco-city," environmentalists say the dumping of sand to build the new city -- an estimated 162 million cubic meters -- could alter tides and destroy marine life.

Local activists say at most risk of destruction is Malaysia's largest intertidal seagrass meadow on Merambong shoal off Johor.

The reclamation has also ruffled feathers in Singapore, with the environment ministry saying it is carefully studying an impact assessment report provided by Malaysia and is seeking further clarifications.

Source: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
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Re: Malaysia - Johor, Iskandar, Forest City etc

Postby behappyalways » Tue Nov 22, 2016 1:04 pm

$100 Billion Chinese-Made City Near Singapore 'Scares the Hell Out of Everybody'
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/ ... -everybody
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Re: Malaysia - Johor, Iskandar, Forest City etc

Postby winston » Fri Mar 10, 2017 6:34 am

Country Garden halts Malaysian housing sales to stem capital flight

The Forest City project, covering 14 square kilometres of land on four artificial islands in Johor, Malaysia, was one of the best-known overseas properties among mainland Chinese residents due to Country Garden’s widespread promotion, including heavy advertising on state-owned television.


Guangdong-based Country Garden, China’s second-largest developer, has four residential projects in Malaysia.


Source: SCMP

http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/ ... an-housing
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Re: Malaysia - Johor, Iskandar, Forest City etc

Postby winston » Tue Mar 21, 2017 7:35 am

How China’s overseas property dream turned into a nightmare

Capital controls mean people who signed up for flats in Malaysia cannot send money from mainland

Source: SCMP

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies ... -nightmare
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Re: Malaysia - Johor, Iskandar, Forest City etc

Postby winston » Sun Jun 18, 2017 8:42 am

Country Garden Holdings: China's capital controls no serious impact on Forest City project

BY THEAN LEE CHENG

Source: The Star

http://www.thestar.com.my/business/busi ... 1XpWzzc.99
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Re: Malaysia - Johor, Iskandar, Forest City etc

Postby behappyalways » Sat Jun 24, 2017 9:34 pm

The US$100 bil city next to Singapore has a big China problem
http://www.theedgemarkets.com.sg/us100- ... na-problem
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Re: Malaysia - Johor, Iskandar, Forest City etc

Postby behappyalways » Mon Nov 20, 2017 7:53 pm

Largest Ikea opens in Johor Bahru, cheaper than S’pore prices
https://mothership.sg/2017/11/ikea-johor-bahru/
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Malaysia 04 (Jun 16 - Dec 17)

Postby behappyalways » Wed Dec 13, 2017 9:40 am

Johor Bahru’s Paradigm Mall was abandoned for almost 20 years
https://mothership.sg/2017/12/paradigm- ... ayan-city/
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Re: Malaysia - Johor, Iskandar, Forest City etc

Postby winston » Tue Jan 02, 2018 7:24 am

Top speed for Garden's Malaysia project

by Tracy Hu

With Chinese enterprises joining the craze for overseas expansion, the fierce competition is speeding up.

Country Garden Holdings (2007), developer of the US$100 billion (HK$780 billion)-backed Forest City in Malaysia, has revealed that it spent only nine months completing sea reclamation to build artificial land and another nine months building the hotel for the project.

Forest City, the biggest overseas scheme by a Chinese developer, covers 14 square kilometers on four artificial islands in the Malaysian city neighboring Singapore and is partly backed by the local state government.

Yu Runze, chief strategy officer of Country Garden Pacificview, said getting the support from the local community is important for the construction of the project.

Yu added that about 80 percent of the labor force is local and the company is contributing to local education as well as environmental protection, which ought to help the firm keep abreast with the local community.

With support from local government, an immigration checkpoint which links Singapore will be set up in the special economic zone where the project is sited and the zone will be developed as a duty-free island.

Forest City could also be seen as an attempt by Chinese enterprises to seize opportunities under the Belt and Road initiative. Malaysia is seen as an important partner in the initiative.

Upon the proposed completion in 2035, the project is expected to make Johor Bahru, which is the third-largest city in Malaysia, become the "next Shenzhen." There are two bridges connecting Johor Bahru with Singapore and another bridge is under construction.

Production manager Jiang Shihao said the company has spent 136 million yuan (HK$163.3 million) on an industrialized building system from Europe, which helped save 30 percent of labor and greatly increased construction speed.

He added that the system allows 70 percent of the construction process to be completed in the facility before it is transported to the site. The facility could integrate construction design, precast concrete production, transportation, processing of accessories and assembly construction, as well as materials research and development.

Source: The Standard

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/section-n ... 0102&sid=2
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Re: Malaysia 04 (Jun 16 - Dec 17)

Postby behappyalways » Tue Jan 16, 2018 9:17 pm

Johor set to open Capital 21, its largest mall with an indoor theme park, in August 2018
https://mothership.sg/2018/01/johor-cap ... l-opening/
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