The sale of Desa Kudalari, the first high-rise condominium project in Kuala Lumpur, has been delayed as unit owners take more time to decide on the proposals submitted by shortlisted bidders, reported The Sun Daily.
“Things have changed so much and there are other things to consider now. The issue is not so much with the proposals but with market conditions and uncertainties in the economy. Perhaps the unit owners want more certainty before deciding,” said a source close to the proposed deal.
While the entire process was supposed to have been completed in October, the same is still ongoing given the slow response from the unit owners.
In April, majority of the unit owners appointed property consultancy firm CBRE-CH Williams Talhar & Wong (CBRE-WTW) to seek out potential buyers.
If it pushes through, the deal will become the first en mass sale of strata property in Malaysia. A survey conducted earlier by CBRE-WTW revealed that more than 90 percent of Desa Kudalari’s unit owners are in favour of the sale.
The 30-year old project had an occupancy rate of 70 percent as at April 2016 and a total of 140 unit owners.
On 27 April, the submission of expressions of interest closed, with the en masse sale attracting 12 bidders comprising both foreign and local parties. The information memorandum was released on 11 May to the shortlisted bidders.
Based on the initial timeline of CBRE-WTW, the unit owners were to make a decision by end-September, which will be followed by the completion of the execution and binding agreements in October.
The 19-storey Desa Kudalari was developed by Tan & Tan Developments Bhd on 7.35 acres of freehold land, featuring 186 units.
CBRE-WTW deputy managing director Danny Yeo noted that the last transacted price in the project stood at RM1,250 psf in a sale done in 2015. The firm noted that prices in nearby projects stood at RM3,573 psf.
Based on CBRE-WTW’s calculations, the RM1,250 psf transacted price works out to a land price of RM960 psf. This is a far cry from what unit owners could receive from the en masse sale, based on the indicative value of RM2,000 to RM3,500 psf.
Image sourced from Wikimapia
Diane Foo Eu Lynn, Senior Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories email diane@propertyguru.com.my
