Smart city deal to boost Nusajaya property prices

http://www.btimes.com.my/

By Sharen Kaur
Published on 28th July 2011


KUALA LUMPUR: Property prices in Nusajaya in Iskandar Malaysia, Johor, are expected to rise further as UEM Land Holdings Bhd and Iskandar Investment Bhd (IIB) plan to transform the area into a "smart+connected" community.

In the last five years, property prices had increased by 10 to 30 per cent in East Ledang, Nusa Idaman and Horizon Hills in Nusajaya, said UEM general manager for strategic marketing, Zamri Ibrahim.

He said houses sold at RM300,000-plus in Nusa Idaman in 2008 are now selling at more than RM400,000 each. Those launched in East Ledang around the same year have seen price increases of RM500,000 to above RM600,000.

"Turning Nusajaya into a smart city will enhance the offerings in the market which would see the value of the properties appreciating," Zamri said.

UEM owns 4,208ha of land in Nusajaya, a key component of Iskandar Malaysia. It is responsible for the development of five catalyst projects - Kota Iskandar (Johor state new administrative centre), the Southern Industrial and Logis-tics Clusters, the Puteri Harbour waterfront development, Afiat Healthpark and Nusajaya residences.

UEM and IIB yesterday signed a collaboration agreement with network system provider Cisco to develop an information and communications technology (ICT) and services smart city masterplan for Nusajaya.

UEM and IIB will ride on Cisco's smart+connected community platform, which is the next generation of community development where cities are connected from an ICT stand- point.

This will be the first smart+connected community development for Malaysia where services from retail to banking will be offered in an integrated manner.

UEM managing director and chief executive Datuk Wan Abdullah Wan Ibrahim said a 12-week study is being undertaken, starting yesterday, to deliberate on its next step for the transformation plan.

"There is a lot of space to introduce ICT at Nusajaya, at global standards," Wan Abdullah said after the signing.

Getting acquainted with JB property developments

In preparation for living in JB, some research must be done...

Yesterday, I visited a few developments for the first time. Started with Nusa Idaman, dropped by HH to chat with the sales people, went over to East Ledang and did a final stop at Setia Tropika. Of course, we recuperated at Old Town Coffee after the Saturday morning over Link 2. This was what I had:

 Ipoh Chicken Horfun

Alright, on with my journey...

Nusa Idaman: Really liked their Semi-Ds. Unfortunately, all sold out. Told sales to keep me updated about the upcoming cluster launch. This development is value for money.

Horizon Hills: They have just launched a row of Super-links (for the unfamiliar, a.k.a. super-sized terrace houses). Prices going for RM 8XXk for the intermediate and slightly more than 1mil for the corner unit. Although these super-links are larger in build-up than my cluster semi-d, I'll still go for the cluster because of the view. Well, that remains to be seen. :) Can't wait to collect the key in 2 years time...

East Ledang: I was really impressed with the security of EL. They really took time to scrutinise each and every visitor before permitting them entry. It took all of 8min before I finally managed to speak to the guard who gave me the directions to the sales office. Haha. I only found out what I knew all along after speaking to the sales person---everything was sold out! Well, except for the Luxury Pool Villas which are bungalows. Even then, there were only 3 units left. Will sit this one out. :)

 I will get one of these for my HH cluster home.

KFC: Mom and I were famished by 4.30pm. We took a much-needed break at the new KFC @ Setia Tropika Connection. There were Macs, Starbucks, Pizzahut as well as a Maybank branch as far as I had noticed. Really convenient place.

Setia Tropika: I was really impressed with their sales office. Very professionally done, felt like I was visiting the typical car showrooms back in Singapore. Anyway, this development was one of the few that really interested me as I did my research online mainly because of the low prices and interesting concepts such as the garage houses being offered (1 more international unit left). Admittedly, I rather liked the of 2 types Cluster homes offered. The Bridge (2.5 storeys) was going for RM 932,500 while The Louvre (2 storeys) was being snapped up at RM100k less. I was told that Singaporeans made up the majority of new home owners here. The figure? 60%. Visited the show houses and these images resulted:

It was a day that I felt was very well spent. First and foremost, it was quality time spent with mom. The bonuses were that I got to get a better overview of the properties and developments in Johor, adjusted my sense of safety and expectations in JB, got to drive my car for almost the whole day (210km) and came home knowing that I had made the right decision getting HH as my future home. :)

Sales persons who served me:

NI - Lee Irene (+6014-315-1618)
HH - Premila Velu (+6016-742-2291)
EL - Spiritu Santha (+6016-791-4688)
ST - Zanareyah Salim (+6012-742-3312)