Paramount Targets RM1.3b GDV of Launches This Year
KUALA LUMPUR (March 7): Paramount Corp Bhd will be launching RM1.3 billion gross development value (GDV) worth of projects in 2019, as the developer targets sales of RM1 billion for the year, matching its performance in 2018.
Paramount chief executive officer Jeffrey Chew said the group will see a steady stream of launches this year, which includes Phase 3 of its Utropolis Batu Kawan project comprising serviced apartments and commercial shops, over 200 units of affordable homes for Greenwoods in Salak Perdana, as well as the upcoming Berkeley Uptown in Klang.
He said the Utropolis Batu Kawan project has seen good take up with Phase 1 of the development comprising residential suites, and commercial shop offices seeing take up rates of 99% and 71% respectively, while the serviced apartments under Phase 2 saw take up of 56%.
The third phase of the project, which comprises serviced apartments with GDV of RM222 million, is expected to be launched towards the end of the year.
Meanwhile, Berkeley Uptown, a RM1.2 billion mixed development which includes a Sri KDU International School, serviced apartments, commercial zone, offices and a public park, will be launched soon and is expected to act as a catalyst for the area.
“Berkeley Uptown will be launched in two weeks. We believe that with Sri KDU in the development, it will rejuvenate the Klang Old Town area,” Chew said.
The group is also launching the office portion of its Atwater development in Petaling Jaya this year, which he said the group is slightly concerned about, given the glut in the Klang Valley office space.
However, if take up is slow for the office units, Chew said the group could potentially get Co-labs — its coworking space venture — to occupy 60,000 sq ft of space to build awareness of the building.
The group is also looking to further expand Co-labs and have identified three sites for upcoming spaces — namely NAZA Tower in Kuala Lumpur, Sekitar 26 in Shah Alam and the expansion of its existing space in Starling Mall.
The co-working space venture is expected to contribute RM4 million in revenue for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2019 (FY19).
“With all these projects and our unbilled sales of RM995 million, we are quite confident we can achieve this year’s target of RM1 billion,” he said.
Source: https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/paramount-targets-rm13b-gdv-launches-year (The Edge Markets)