I-Bhd to launch more high-rise residential projects

SHAH ALAM: Property developer I-Bhd plans to launch more high-rise residential developments within i-City later this year.

I-City director Monica Ong said despite the soft property market, there will always be demand for relevant products.

“It really depends on the product offering that you are rolling out. People are still interested to buy,” she said at the launch of I-Bhd’s Hill10 Residence @ i-City logo yesterday.

“We will be launching serviced apartments at the end of this year,” Ong said, but she did not go into specifics on the project.

According to reports, I-Bhd, best known for its 72-acre i-City development in Shah Alam, plans to complete and deliver over 3,000 high-rise units within i-City.

The company will be launching its Hill10 Residence @ i-City apartment suites on June 10.

Ong said she was optimistic about the take-up rate for the suites.

“The units are open for registration and the response has been encouraging,” she said.

Ong said I-Bhd is targeting the suites at customers over the age of 40, with a monthly income of more than RM10,000.

With a gross development value (GDV) of RM124mil and comprising 200 units, the suites start from RM500,000. Developed on a 42-storey tower block, the Hill10 Residence @ i-City makes up the top half of the building.

The bottom half will be the DoubleTree by Hilton i-City hotel, which will take up 23 levels of the tower. With a GDV of RM250mil, the hotel comprises 300 rooms.

Ong said the Hill10 Residence @ i-City suites will boast Internet of Things (IoT) technology.

Construction of the tower block is expected to be completed in 2020.

I-Bhd posted a strong set of financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017, underpinned by strong demand for properties in i-City. Net profit in the first quarter rose by 21% to RM18.59mil year-on-year, while revenue came in 27.8% higher at RM102.84mil from RM80.45mil in the same period a year ago.

Its earnings per share rose to 1.75 sen from 1.45 sen. The group has unbilled sales of RM447.9mil at the end of March 2017 compared to RM573.3mil at the end of 2016.

In its notes accompanying its first quarter earnings, I-Bhd said it was confident that demand for properties in i-City would remain strong, underpinned by the development progress from its four projects, namely i-Suite, Liberty Tower, Parisien Tower and Hyde Tower in i-City.

For the second half of this year, I-Bhd said it expects to see a jump in new sales from its upcoming Hill10 Residence @i-City project.