KUALA LUMPUR : Land & General Bhd (L&G) has allayed fears that its joint venture partner Hong Kong-listed Country Garden's liquidity issues would have a negative impact on their 167-acre township development in Semenyih.
"Our joint venture with them (Country Garden) for this Diamond City project is ongoing. So far, there is no impact from the holding company's financial issues," said L&G managing director Low Gay Teck.
Low said after the company's shareholders meeting last week that the Diamond City development is three-quarters complete and financially self-sustaining.
"I would say (it's) about 70 per cent to 75 per cent. The whole project is divided into plot A and plot B. Plot A is all done in the earlier years," he said at a media briefing.
According to him, the earlier phases of plot B, which include terraced houses, have all been completed and are completely sold.
"We are now in the midst of building and selling phase five with 201 units of terraced houses, of which we have sold 163 units. That will represent just slightly above 80 per cent. With that kind of sales, this project is basically self-sustaining and there is also a bridging financing from financiers," he added.
L&G, long synonymous with the successful development of Bandar Sri Damansara in the 1990s, owns 45 per cent of Diamond City, while Country Garden, one of the largest developers in China, owns the remaining 55 per cent.
Diamond City is Country Garden's second project in Malaysia. The China firm's maiden development is in Danga Bay, Johor, and the third is Forest City.
L&G is 34.7 per cent owned by Mayland Parkview Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Mayland Group, controlled by Tan Sri David Chiu.
Diamond City is Malaysia's first Spanish-style villa township comprising Spanish-style link houses, bungalows, and luxury mansions spread across 104 hectares, providing residential options for working couples, young families, and retirees.
The township was launched in 2014 with a gross development value of about RM2 billion.
Plot A had about 450 units of luxury link houses, bungalows and mansions. Each unit reportedly sold for between RM700,000 and RM5.4 million (for the mansions) and the majority of the buyers were Malaysians and around 20 per cent were from China.
For Plot B, there are around 600 units of semi-detached homes and bungalows, worth about RM1.7 billion.
The township has a 57,000-square-foot Spanish-themed clubhouse with a private cinema, bowling alley, badminton courts, basketball courts, squash courts, gymnasium, and spa room.
L&G's current landbank totals 3,288 acres, 2,495 of which are estate lands.
The developer's current unbilled sales are RM163 million, and its balance sheet has a gearing ratio of 0.2 times.