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12
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CEO
CONVERSATIONS
2014
The Business Times | Wednesday, October 8, 2014
T
HE coming year is a
busy and exciting time
for Johor-based MB
Group of companies.
TriTower Residence
@ Johor Bahru Sentral, its landmark
luxury development right next to the
proposed RTS (Rapid Transit System)
station at Bukit Chagar, has received
good response and has only limited
units left.
A host of new developments right
by the Causeway to Singapore will also be launched, catering in part to Singaporeans and permanent residents
looking for a retirement or investment home next door.
MB Group co-founder Alan Sim
says the company's unique selling
point is its integrated business
model.
“We can cover most of the main
areas required in a property development, ranging from construction,
building materials trading, landscape
and interior design to credit financing,” he says.
“This enables better cost control
and consequently benefits the purchasers by providing premium products at a reasonable price.”
Mr Sim, with more than 35 years of
experience in the property development industry, has been instrumental
in the growth of the group through
identifying, securing and managing
various projects.
Established since 1983, MB Group
was initially involved in building public structures such as schools, municipal buildings, mosques and various
government projects in Johor. This
has helped the group to build and
maintain a good relationship with
state government agencies.
It slowly grew and entered other
businesses such as trading building
materials, resort and hotels, and other forms of property development.
“Our vision is to be a leading property developer in Malaysia and, conse-
“We can cover most of the main areas required in a property
development, ranging from construction, building materials trading,
landscape and interior design to credit financing. This enables better cost
control and consequently benefits the purchasers by providing premium
products at a reasonable price.”
Alan Sim, Co-founder, MB Group
quently, expand internationally with
the support of our construction and
design arm to develop premium properties that seek to improve the quality
of life for all,” Mr Sim says.
“We have a strong multi-disciplinary team of 2,000 employees. With
over 30 years of experience in the industry, we have gained valuable
knowhow on the development of a
wide range of property types.”
TRITOWER
SUCCESS
RAISING
LIVING
STANDARDS
Property developer MB Group aims to
improve the quality of life for all
TriTower Residence, the freehold luxury development in Johor Bahru by
MB Group unit MB Builders, promises
to do just that.
A key draw is its strategic location
next to the proposed RTS station at
Bukit Chagar and the Johor Bahru CIQ
immigration checkpoint. The JB Sentral transport hub and City Square
shopping mall are also within walking
distance.
Bukit Chagar is reportedly the site
that the Johor government has earmarked for the upcoming RTS linking
Singapore's MRT network to Johor.
The development, expected to be
completed in 2017, consists of two
residential towers and a four-star hotel offering called Capri by Fraser
Hotel Residences, managed by Frasers Hospitality Pte Ltd.
A sky bridge will be a defining architectural feature, containing facilities such as a gymnasium, a lounge, a
spa and sauna, and an infinity pool.
“Internally, we are providing luxury and quality finishes such as marble
and teakwood flooring,” says Mr Sim.
TriTower Residence has picked up
some accolades. It won the “Best Luxury Condo Development (South Malaysia) and has been shortlisted in the
“Best Condo Development (Malaysia)”
category in the South East Asia Property Awards 2014 recently.
“In the next few months, we are expected to launch a number of new developments including the Sky Habitat
and Twin Tower Residence which are
also located near to the proposed RTS
Station at Bukit Chagar,” Mr Sim says.
“Projects in this area will be a good
investment, especially for Singapore
PRs and Singaporeans who often travel between the two countries. We expect the properties will appreciate further in value when the RTS station has
started operation later.
“We will also be developing a
75-acre wellness residence with close
proximity to nature,” adds Mr Sim.
WHITE KNIGHT
MB Group is one of the top 10 developers in Johor with a gross annual revenue of RM1.46 billion (S$572 million).
Evolved from Mahabuilders Sdn
Bhd, it has turned around abandoned
projects in Johor in the past decade,
gaining a reputation as a “white
knight” developer.
The group entered its first redevelopment project in 2001 in Taman Baiduri, a 15-minute drive from the Johor Bahru city centre.
Other examples include the Skudai
Ville Apartments and Pandan City, a
development in Tebrau abandoned in
the early 2000s after the original developer ran into financial problems.
Mahabuilders began investing in
Pandan City in mid-2007. Today, it is
bustling and the developer is busy finishing a number of homes there. For
example, Pandan Residence I, a leasehold apartment, is sold out. It is also
currently building nearby Pandan Residence II.
Although nine-tenths of the
group’s business is focused on Malaysia, MB Group has also diversified
abroad.
“In Perth of Western Australia, we
are currently developing two residential apartment projects as well as three
hotels in Perth Waterfront, Fremantle
and Northbridge,” says Mr Sim.
“The hotels will be named DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel managed by the
world-renowned Hilton Worldwide.”
MB Group has a promising outlook
in the year ahead, Mr Sim says.
“Our land banks are at strategic locations, like Bukit Chagar. Other than
Johor Bahru City Centre, our group also has a huge land bank of more than
900 acres in Desaru, which has been
developed into Taman Desaru Utama
with 35 per cent built-up so far.
“Our Taman Desaru Utama is the
first township development in the
area. We foresee a big increase of population and demand here due to the
Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex (PIPC) development.”