Naim Cendera Starts Second Mixed Project In Kota Samarahan

NAIM Cendera Holdings Bhd, which targets to build some 1,500 houses annually in the next three years, has embarked on a second mixed property development project in fast-growing Kota Samarahan.

Managing director Datuk Hasmi Hasnan said the proposed Desa Sungei Kuap project, along the Kuching-Kota Samarahan expressway, would comprise more than 800 houses of various types and some 100 shop-houses.

“Earthworks for the project have started, and sales of the houses will be launched in the second half this year,” Hasmi told StarBiz in Kuching yesterday.
He said the project, on a 40ha site, was expected to take between three and four years to complete.

Naim Cendera’s first mixed property development in Kota Samarahan, Desa Ilmu, was launched in 1999 for completion by 2010.

The company has launched 2,266 houses (out of the planned 4,334 units) and sold almost 97% of the units. It chalked up sales of about RM270mil last year.
Property consultant CH William Talhar Wong & Yeo, which released its 2005 Sarawak property market report in Kuching yesterday, is bullish about housing demand in Kota Samarahan and other major towns, which it said, would remain strong.

The consulting firm’s managing director Wong Ing Siong said that housing demand in Kota Samarahan would receive a further boost with the increase in the student enrolment at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) to 10,000 for the June intake (from 7,000 now) when the first phase of its permanent campus project is completed next month.

The student intake is expected to jump to 20,000 a year on full completion of the campus in five years.

CH William Talhar Wong & Yeo was commissioned by Naim Cendera to undertake the state housing survey.

The survey ranks Naim Cendera as Sarawak’s largest developer, having completed 9,155 houses between 1997 and 2004, or an average 1,144.4 units a year.
Naim Cendera’s flagship project is Bandar Baru Permyjaya in Miri. The company has sold some RM800mil worth of properties in Bandar Baru Permyjaya and Desa Ilmu.
Hasmi said Naim Cendera had also started work on the proposed RM24mil Rock Commercial centre, opposite Wisma Saberkas shopping complex, in Jalan Rock, Kuching.

Earlier, at a media briefing when Wong released the 2005 Sarawak property market report, Hasmi said about 70% of the houses built by Naim Cendera were priced below RM150,000 each.

“These houses are affordable to the people and are selling well,” he added.
Wong said housing demand in Miri was expected to be further reinforced by the influx of Shell Malaysia staff and contractors as the oil town had been designated as Shell group’s Asia-Pacific exploration hub and Shell Malaysia’s upstream base.
Miri will be upgraded to city status on May 20, and its housing industry has benefited from the growing student intake at the Curtin University.