PETALING JAYA: The Raintree Club of Kuala Lumpur will set up a committee to study and prepare for the possible sale of its freehold land, according to general manager Lawrence Lee.
Raintree Club members passed a resolution calling for the appointment of a five-member ad hoc committee at an AGM on Sept 25.
“The resolution was just to elect and appoint a committee to study the proposal,” said Lee.
One hundred and fifty members voted for the resolution to be passed, with 118 voting against and two abstaining. The AGM attracted more than 400 members, the highest turnout in the last several years. The land is held by Raintree Developments Bhd, a 100% subsidiary of the club.
“We will then have another meeting. That is when we will put the matter to vote again,” Lee added.
He said 60% of the members’ votes are needed to dissolve the club and the land sale. Proceeds will be distributed to the members. Membership has been capped at 2,000 since 1983 when the club was first set up.
In view of the rising land value, a source said it only seems logical to unlock value, considering the rising maintenance costs, ageing membership and low patronage.
The land sale would be “a windfall” for them, the source said. There must also be a change in the constitution to allow proxy voting. According to its 2015 annual report, up to 74% of its club members, or 1,480 members, are over 50 years old.
Over the years, developers have been eyeing to buy out clubs for their land. Mah Sing Group Bhd is buying the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Golf Course in Shah Alam. In 2014, developer Perfect Eagle Development Sdn Bhd tried to buy over Kelab Rahman Putra in Sungai Buloh, but members rejected the offer, said Perfect Eagle director Lim Siong Gay in an email.
The value of the Raintree Club land is estimated at between RM500 and RM2,000 per sq ft, depending on what the land can be used for, according to CBRE-CH Williams Talhar & Wong managing director Foo Gee Jen.
“If it remains for club use, then it will be at the lower range. But if there is planning permission for a residential development or limited commercial use, then RM2,000 is something achievable,” Foo said.
The club sits on 6.2 acres of freehold land in Jalan Wickham, off Jalan Ampang Hilir. It is about 1.5km from Ikea Cheras and is located behind the Great Eastern Mall in Jalan Ampang.
It is about 5km from the Government’s planned financial centre Tun Razak Exchange in Jalan Tun Razak and Boustead Holdings Bhd’s mixed integrated project MyTown.
