BY EUGENE MAHALINGAM
PETALING JAYA: Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) is tipped to refurbish the various sports facilities at the National Sports Complex (NSC) in Bukit Jalil, including the 17-year-old Bukit Jalil Stadium, which is the main venue for sporting events in the country.
Sources said the refurbishment work could cost up to RM1bil and in return, MRCB would get parcels of land in the vicinity of the NSC for development if the proposal is approved.
Apart from the refurbishment of the various facilities, the job will also involve building a sports museum and hall of fame to commemorate sporting greats.
“MRCB has submitted the proposal to the Youth and Sports Ministry and is awaiting the results. It is for the refurbishment of a few stadiums,” said a source.
The buildings in the NSC include the Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Putra Stadium, National Hockey Stadium, National Aquatic Centre and National Squash Centre.
The UEM-Renong group built the facilities in the 90s for the Commonwealth Games in 1998. They have not seen much refurbishment since then.
Sources said that the development of the land surrounding the stadium would be done after the refurbishment works have been completed. “The land MRCB would get in return for the refurbishment and building of new infrastructure would depend on the cost of the job. That will be the next phase of the project,” said the source.
A spokesperson from the Youth and Sports Ministry confirmed that plans to refurbish the stadiums in Bukit Jalil were in the pipeline.
The spokesperson, however, declined to reveal if the stadiums would be confined to just those within the NSC.
“We will reveal more information very soon,” the spokesperson said.
A property developer with a project in Bukit Jalil said that land was hard to come by, especially near the NSC.
“Not many parcels are for sale. It is strategic and has good access,” said the developer who declined to be named.
Among the companies with land bank in the area near the Bukit Jalil sports complex is Berjaya Land Bhd, which has developed a golf course with bungalows.
The bungalow parcels are going for about RM350 per sq ft.
One of the biggest developers in that area is Malton Bhd, which has 50 acres to be jointly developed with Ho Hup Construction Bhd. The plan is to build a large shopping mall called Pavilion 2.
There are several smaller developers that have launched apartment buildings that are being sold at more than RM600 per sq ft.
MRCB, after seeing a change in its management that is now headed by group managing director Tan Sri Mohamad Salim Fateh Din, has become one of the more aggressive property developers and infrastructure builders.
The strategy adopted by Salim is to emphasise on cash flow and enhance the group’s assets that are providing recurring income.
In this respect, it injected Platinum Sentral into Quill Capita Trust Bhd, a real estate investment trust (REIT) company, last year for shares and cash in a deal valued at RM740mil.
After that exercise, MRCB has become the single largest shareholder of the REIT that is now called MRCB-Quill REIT Bhd and it hopes to benefit from the steady dividend income.
MRCB also owns a highway in Johor called the Eastern Dispersal Link that leads to the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex before connecting to the Causeway into Singapore.
MRCB announced last week that it had bagged three construction jobs worth RM485mil in Desaru Coast, Johor, from Destination Resorts and Hotel.
The projects involve a RM61.4mil conference centre, the 386-room Desa Desaru hotel valued at RM212mil and the 275-room Westin Desaru Resort worth RM211.6mil, said MRCB, adding that the construction period of the projects would be between 19 and 21 months.
According to a report, the more jobs are expected to be added to MRCB’s order book, as it is set to launch a mixed development with an estimated gross development value of between RM1.2bil and RM1.6bil next year.
The first phase of multi-billion-ringgit Desaru Coast features four premium resorts – Aman Country Club and Aman Villas, Datai Desaru, Sheraton Resort and Plantation Hotel.
The whole Desaru Coast development, stretching 17km over 3,900 acres, is estimated to take 15 to 20 years to complete.
For its first quarter ended March 31, MRCB’s net profit jumped to RM237.86mil from RM11.99mil in the previous corresponding period, while revenue jumped to RM404.19mil from RM204.65mil previously.
The improved earnings was due to higher revenue contribution by all the business units.
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