Headline Crest Builder to bid for more government land projects MediaTitle The Edge Date 12 Mar 2018 Color Full Color Section Corporate Circulation 23,635 Page No 38,43 Readership 70,905 Language English ArticleSize 520 cm² Journalist Kamarul Azhar AdValue RM 9,022 Frequency Weekly PR Value RM 27,066 Crest Builder to bid for more government land projects BY KAMARUL AZHAR velop a 4.61-acre parcel in Brickfields, next structure of the LRT station.The base retail "Based on the feedback obtained from to the Tun Sambanthan monorail station, structure was completed in 2017. the local authorities, we expect all the clear- onstruction and property player Crest while TRC Synergy will undertake a com- "We were among the first companies to ances to be resolved and cleared this year Builder Holdings Bhd will contin- mercial-residential project near the Ara be awarded a TOD development project with and we expect to commence the submis- ue to bid for development projects Damansara LRT station. Prasarana. Therefore, a lot of the processes sion of the development order in 2018 as on government land, unperturbed At the time, Prasarana targeted to mon- — especially to convert the land status — well," says Yong. by the more than two-year delay etise its land bank on and along the LRT were not smooth. Besides the TOD projects with Prasarana, Cin developing such projects in Jalan Dang and monorail lines and expand its non-fare "Now that we have learnt from the expe- Crest Builder also has a project with the Ma- Wangi and Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, revenue to 30% by this year. This is similar rience with the Dang Wangi LRT TOD, the laysian Rubber Board (MRB) in Jalan Ampang. and Kelana Jaya in Petaling Jaya. to Hong Kong's MTR Corp and Singapore's processes will be much smoother if we se- In 2012, Landasan Bayu Sdn Bhd, Crest Joint ventures with government agencies SMRT Ltd's business model. cure more TODs from Prasarana," says Yong. Builder's 51:49 joint venture with Tindakan that hold the land will give Crest Builder The first TOD project that Crest Builder Crest Builder soft-launched Latituds in- Juara Sdn Bhd, secured a deal for the redevel- entry into prime and strategic plots at a low and its partner Detik Utuh Sdn Bhd secured ternationally in Hong Kong, China and Tai- opment of the MRB land in Jalan Ampang. cost, enabling it to expand its property de- was a mixed-use development on top of the wan, which saw 35% the residential units However, the project has yet to take off due velopment business, says managing director Dang Wangi LRT station. Prasarana has a booked. Due to the current soft property to lengthy negotiations with the landown- Eric Yong Shang Ming. 21.2% share of the total gross development market, the local launch has been pushed er, says Yong. "Provided the location of the land is good, value (GDV). till later this year. The building plan is still under evalua- I will look at it. We are eyeing quite a few The Dang Wangi TOD project, called Lat- Besides the Dang Wangi LRT TOD, Crest tion by Kuala Lumpur City Hall. such plots," says Yong in an exclusive inter- itud8, will comprise a boutique transit mall, Builder has also secured the redevelopment The project, called Elevat8,will comprise view with The Edge. open offices, small office/home office resi- of the Kelana Jaya LRT station. It has signed a 28-storey corporate tower — as payment in Crest Builder is among the few companies dences and a rooftop entertainment lounge. the joint land development agreement with kind to MRB — and three 45-storey residen- that entered into agreements with Prasara- It has a GDV of RM1.2 billion. Prasarana, which will get a 24.8% share of tial towers on top of double-storey shoplots, na Malaysia Bhd to develop transit-orient- However, it took Crest Builder about two the GDV. with two levels of basement parking. It has ed developments (TOD) on the latter's land years to convert the land status from a 60- The project will comprise mini retail lots, a GDV of RM1.33 billion. along light rail transit lines, the monorail year lease to Prasarana for the purpose of a corporate tower and two residential towers To replenish its land bank, Yong says the and LRT depot in 2012. operating a rail public transport system to with a GDV of RMl billion. The redesigna- group is also looking at the government's land Other companies that have secured TOD a 99-year lease. tion and realienation of the land, plus the swap model, in which strategically located developments with Prasarana include Bina The agreement with Prasarana was fi- re-zoning by the Selangor government are parcels are transferred as a consideration Puri Holdings Bhd and TRC Synergy Bhd. nalised in 2015 and by 2016, Crest Builder ongoing, says Yong.The project was secured for construction of its facilities. Bina Puri was awarded a contract to de- had started strengthening the underground by Crest Builder in late 2013. CONTINUES ON PAGE 43 Headline Crest Builder to bid for more government land projects MediaTitle The Edge Date 12 Mar 2018 Color Full Color Section Corporate Circulation 23,635 Page No 38,43 Readership 70,905 Language English ArticleSize 520 cm² Journalist Kamarul Azhar AdValue RM 9,022 Frequency Weekly PR Value RM 27,066 Tajuddin's daughter, Sri Rahayu Ta- juddin, his wife, Datin Seri Rohkiah Abd Looking at land Samat, each have a 35% stake while the rest is owned by his son Firdaus Tajuddin. swap deals too Sri Rahayu also holds a 40% stake in Detik Utuh, which in turn holds 49% eq- uity interest in the joint venture for the FROM PAGE 38 LatitudS project in Jalan Dang Wangi. In fact, Crest Builder is currently ne- For the financial year ended Dec 31, gotiating a land swap deal in Kepong 2017, Crest Builder reported a jump in net worth RM400 million, says Yong. The profit to RM29 million, from RM15 mil- land is located in Kepong Metropolitan lion in the preceding financial year, on Park, part of which is under water. the back of a 76.8% increase in revenue. While negotiations on the construc- The board has announced a dividend per tion contract are still ongoing with the share of 4% for the year. Ministry of Home Affairs and the Royal The group currently has a construc- Malaysian Police, Crest Builder already tion order book of RM1.8 billion, which has a vision of the type of development will last it for about 2Vi years. Crest Build- that would be suitable for the site. er is targeting a yearly contract replen- The market in Kepong is ripe for mid- ishment value of RM500 million, and die-high cost high-rise properties, says has put in tenders for RM3 billion worth Yong. of projects. On the MRB land development, Crest Closing at 92 sen last Thursday, Crest Builder set up a special-purpose vehicle Builder had a market capitalisation of on Oct 16 last year, called K L Water- RM157 million. front Development Sdn Bhd, in which The Yong family owns a 39.03% stake the group has a 51% stake. The rest is through SC Holdings Sdn Bhd. B owned by its partner for the MRB land, Tindakan Juara. A check with the Companies Com- mission of Malaysia shows that Tin- dakan Juara is owned by the wife and children of Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry and Member of Parliament for Pasir Salak. Tajuddin's daughter, Sri Rahayu Ta-.