BY ZAZALI MUSA

Latest offering: Ong (left) and KIP senior general manager Siew Fook Wah with a model of 8escape@Iskandar Malaysia.

JOHOR BARU: Plans are already in the pipeline for Kuala Lumpur-based property company KIP Group to be listed on Bursa Malaysia next year.

Executive director Datuk Eric Ong said the company was currently undertaking the necessary steps to prepare itself to become a public-listed entity.

He said although there was no exact date when it would be listed in 2016, the exercise would definitely take place as the company had planned it a “long time ago”.

“We are building up our assets now for listing purposes and looking at the real estate investment trust segment as our core activity,” Ong told StarBiz.

He said this at the groundbreaking ceremony of the company’s freehold high-rise condominium project 8scape@Iskandar Malaysia near Taman Sutera here.

The project on a 3.72ha site comprises four tower blocks of 25-storeys each, offering 1,255 units of condominiums with built-up area ranging from 808 sq ft to 1,654 sq ft.

The average selling price for each condominium unit for the first two blocks is between RM450 and RM500 per sq ft and the indicative prices for the last two blocks from RM550 per sq ft onwards.

The project, with a gross development value (GDV) of RM700mil, is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2018.

Ong said the company was confident the project would do well despite negative reports of a property oversupply in Iskandar Malaysia, especially in the high-rise residential property segment.

He said that 60% of the units for the first two blocks had already been sold and the company would soon submit its application for the bumiputra released units for the non-bumi buyers.

“Iskandar Malaysia will be the main factor to continue driving property demand in south Johor.

“The property outlook here has evolved over the years,” said Ong.

He said the company had made its foray into the Johor Baru market during the 1997/1998 Asian financial crisis with Tampoi Indah long before the launch of Iskandar Malaysia on Nov 4, 2006.

Ong said it would open its community mall KIP Mart in Sepang, Selangor, in the first quarter of 2016, to be followed by Sungai Buloh, Selangor, and Sungai Petani, Kedah, in the third quarter, and Kuantan, Pahang, and Kulim, Kedah, in the first quarter of 2017.

He said the company was looking for suitable land in Batu Pahat, Kluang, Muar and Gelang Patah in Johor to open more KIP Mart outlets within the next two years.

“We are looking at a land size of between 4.04ha and 7.28ha for the mall, and the GDV for the mall plus land price should be in the region of RM40mil each,” he added.

He said its first 200-room boutique hotel – KIP Hotel in Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur – would open for business in September this year before expanding to Sepang, Selangor, and Bachang, Malacca, in 2017.