Units at Plaza Damansara have been sold by Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) en bloc for a quicker disposal.
“Rather than selling off parts of [Plaza Damansara], we were able to sell it off as a block — it was an opportunity for us to do so. It would take a longer time if we liquidated bit by bit,” said PNB group chairman Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz.
She explained that the disposal was part of the strategy of the fund to recycle capital so they could reinvest in other assets in order to generate higher returns, reported The Edge.
Moreover, occupancy at Plaza Damansara has been very low at around 60%, said PNB president and group chief executive officer Jalil Rasheed. Given its stratified nature, the various management corporates managing the shop lots also made things complicated for the fund.
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“We are not talking about one or two shoplots — we are talking about over 100. This made it very difficult for us,” said Jalil.
With this, PNB has decided not to get involved in holding shop lots as well as in managing multiple tenants.
“Our real estate strategy is very focused in terms of what kind of buildings we want, and shop lots did not fit that,” he added.
It was previously reported that some units at Plaza Damansara were sold above their asking prices, while some were sold at below asking price.
Based on National Property Information Centre (NAPIC) data, 54 units were disposed above the asking price, while 76 were sold below asking price.
For instance, Block 15, which comprised five floors, was sold to Sycamore Holdings Sdn Bhd for RM6.03 million, up from its RM4.77 million asking price. Blocks 17 and 21 were also acquired by the company for RM5.82 million each.
Block 39, on the other hand, was sold to a Thevandran Ragavan for RM1 million, down from its asking price of RM1.389 million.
PNB also sold the ground floor units at Blocks 63 and 67 at a discount of more than 40%, with 63-G and 67-G both sold for RM700,000, down from their respective asking price of RM1.34 million and RM1.36 million.
Block 50’s four floors were sold to Safeguards Properties Sdn Bhd for RM2.5 million, down from the asking price of RM3.73 million.
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