Naim launching more medium-cost residential projects to ride on demand

First hotel: Artists impression of Fairfield by Marriott, part of the Bintulu Paragon project and the first hotel property owned by Naim.

KUCHING: Property-and-construction firm Naim Holdings Bhd is launching more medium-cost residential projects to ride on the good demand in Sarawak.

One of the state’s leading township developers, Naim posted higher revenue in property sales in the first half of this year despite a generally weak market.

The company’s latest medium-cost project, Naim EduVista, was unveiled on Aug 31. The project, located in the university town of Kota Samarahan’s Desa Ilmu township, comprises 60 units of apartments in four-storey blocks priced from RM350,000.

“Take-up rate of the proposed apartment units during the launch has been encouraging,” Naim deputy managing director Christina Wong Ping Eng told StarBiz. The company has developed Desa Ilmu over the years and built several thousand units of residential properties, including terraced,semi-detached and detached,as well as shophouses.

Kota Samarahan, located 30 km south of Kuching, is the main education hub for the state and has several institutions of higher learning, including University Malaysia Sarawak and Universiti Teknologi Mara as well as a teachers’ training college and the Sarawak General Hospital Heart Centre.

Wong said that in the first six months, Naim’s property sales rose to RM91.4mil from RM89.9mil in the first half of 2015 against the backdrop of a slowdown in the property market. New sales for the first six months was RM72mil, the biggest contributor of which was from new launches in the flagship Permyjaya new township project in Miri.

Also contributing to new sales were the Bintulu Paragon and Kuching Paragon mixed development projects. The Bintulu Paragon comprises an upmarket 34-storey condominium project called “The Peak” while under Kuching Paragon, 445 high-end condominium units in three towers known as “Sapphire on the Park” have been planned with the first tower currently under construction.

According to Wong, more than 50% of the units offered under “The Peak” and “Sapphire on the Park” have been taken up. She said the company will continue to focus on existing property developments in Miri, Bintulu and Kuching, with various sales-driven strategies put in place to boost sales.

“Strategies employed include target marketing and a range of attractive packages and incentives as well as participation in major roadshows and expositions.

“Focus will also be given to affordable residential properties to sustain the performance of the property segment, with a cautious approach adopted towards product launches,” she added.

From property development, Naim has diversifed into the hospitality/tourism industry, with the company’s first international-hotel property in Bintulu scheduled to be operational by mid-2017.

Wong said the 238-room hotel, part of the Bintulu Paragon project, would be operated by Fairfield by Marriott, the first such brand hotel in Malaysia.

Industrial town Bintulu has seen a big influx of outsiders following the set-up of several energy-intensive industries, including aluminium and ferro-alloy and manganese smelters in Samalaju Industrial Park within the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy. This has brought about a big demand for accommodation, including housing and hotels.

Wong expects work on the RM1.57bil Pan Borneo Highway work package that the company has partnered with Gamuda Bhd to commence this month.

The road project, which will be undertaken by Naim Gamuda (Naga) JV Sdn Bhd, covers a total of 89.3km and involves the construction of nine bridges and one interchange for a period of 51 months. Naim and Gamuda have 70% and 30% stakes in the joint venture company.