SPB returns to local property after 15 years

Selangor Properties Bhd (SPB) is making a comeback to the local property development scene after a lull of more than 15 years.

SPB, which is more well-known to the older generation of property investors and buyers locally, will go against the trend to launch big-sized units in Damansara Heights to mark its comeback. As a result of the slow property market, most developers, if they do launch, tend to offer smaller units.

In many ways, SPB’s return is significant. Damansara Heights, one of Kuala Lumpur’s most prestigious location, is its birthplace. It was the first property developer there.

“Most of the units will be about 4,000 sq ft. We would like to be known also by the younger generation today and I believe they will know us through our new developments.

“We are trying to reposition our brand to have a better connection with the younger crowd,” said the company’s chief operating officer Chong Koon San at a press luncheon yesterday.

SPB, which was known for its developments in Damansara Heights since the 1960s, will launch Aira Residences at the peak of Jalan Batai. It developed Pusat Bandar Damansara in the 1980s and some of the other office buildings there.

It still has more than 13 acres in Pusat Bandar Damansara which is currently undergoing a massive regeneration by Malton Bhd Tan Sri Desmond Lim Siew Choon.

On Aira, Chong said there will be three main designs. There will be a total of 105 units, five to a floor, in the 18-storey Aira.

“Our target market will be owner-occupiers,” he said.

The development will be launched in the second half of this year with a gross development value of about RM800mil. It is slated to be completed in 3.5 years.

On whether the company is planning to launch other projects in the near term, Chong said that SPB was a conservative company and would like to focus on this project and manage its return to the property scene.

“We were known as a conservative company and we still are.

“Our philosophy is that we do one thing at a time and we will put all our time and passion into it in order to create enduring value for our stakeholders,” he said.

“We are also on the lookout for good land purchases, but we will only do so when prices of land have corrected downwards. When the land price is too high and the market demand is not there, it will not be feasible,,” Chong said. - The Star