Deal sealed: (from left) Chew, Lasseters International CEO Paul Wong and AccorHotels vice-president, development, and executive director, Indonesia-Malaysia, Rio Kondo exchanging the documents.

PETALING JAYA: Paramount Corp Bhd is setting foot into hotel development and ownership, with the property developer set to build a four-star Mercure Hotel at its university metropolis township in Shah Alam.

The group said the hotel is the final part of its integrated development at Utropolis Glenmarie, and is expected to open its doors by 2019.

Paramount Corp, through its joint-venture (JV) company with Singapore-listed Lasseters International Holdings Ltd, yesterday entered into two agreements with French multinational hotel group AccorHotels, which owns the Mercure brand.

The JV company, Super Ace Resources Sdn Bhd (SARSB), which is 45% owned by Paramount Corp, will invest RM75mil into the development of the hotel.

Lasseters International, which owns the remaining stake in the JV, is primarily involved in the hospitality and health and wellness businesses.

Paramount Corp group CEO Jeffrey Chew said its unit Paramount Property would build the hotel and then sell it to the JV company, after which AccorHotels would manage and operate the hotel.

Apart from the hotel management agreement, SARSB also entered into a hotel consultancy services agreement with the international hotel group, which will see AccorHotels providing its expertise in the design and technical fit-out of the hotel.

Chew told a press conference that the group had decided to build the hotel to complete the ecosystem in the 21-acre township development, which houses the new flagship KDU University College (KDUUC) campus.

“We have the university, the residence and of course the retail portion, but we felt that there was one more component that was missing.

“We could have either had an office development or a hotel, and we decided that the hotel was a better fit for the ecosystem,” he said.

Launched in 2013, Utropolis Glenmarie signified the first time the group brought its two core businesses of Paramount Property and Paramount Education together in one location.

Chew said the 230-room hotel would also present the group with the opportunity for further cooperation between its property and education businesses.

“Ultropolis Glenmarie is anchored by KDUUC.

“The hotel will provide students of KDUUC’s School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts with a real-world training ground for internships and possibly even job opportunities upon graduation,” he said.

On the target market for the hotel, he said they were looking at corporate and education-related clientele.

“There are many multinational factories in the area, so we are targeting expatriates as well,” he said.

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