This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on January 18, 2018
KUALA LUMPUR: S P Setia Bhd is set to preview its sixth Melbourne project called UNO Melbourne this weekend at Setia International Centre here.
Acquired in June last year from Singaporean developer Tong Eng for A$61 million, UNO Melbourne is a freehold development with a 65-storey tower comprising some retail, residential units and a hotel.
“There are not many new apartment projects coming up this year and next year. Not many property developers are able to get loans from banks and there are changes in the permit regime. And that is why we are optimistic and confident that the property market will strengthen.
“I expect the apartment market in Melbourne to grow even stronger in 2019,” S P Setia chief executive officer of Australian operations Choong Ka Wai said during a media trip there recently.
The developer is targeting owner occupiers, young families, young couples, investors, downsizers and residents who frequent Melbourne for this particular project. The 65-storey landmark will include 486 units of apartments and 256 hotel rooms.
The apartment units range from one bedroom and one study (about 549 sq ft), two bedrooms and one bath (about 646 sq ft) to three bedrooms and one study (about 1,109 sq ft).
Prices of the units range between A$499,000 (RM1.58 million) and A$1.45 million per unit.
UNO Melbourne includes a heritage building, of which its facade will be kept, ground floor retail on its podium, a childcare centre, a hotel and apartments. The project has a gross development value of A$395 million (RM1.25 billion), excluding its hotel component. It is situated close to Queen Victoria Market and major universities.
Choong said it is looking at a four-star hotel for UNO Melbourne. “Hotel business is actually very lucrative. All four- to five-star hotels here have 88% to 91% occupancy. Both Sydney and Melbourne have higher hotel occupancy rates compared with other states in Australia,” he added.
Apart from Malaysia, previews for the development have been planned for Jakarta, Singapore and Hong Kong.
So far, Choong said 122 units have been taken up within three weeks. Elenberg Fraser, the architect firm for UNO Melbourne, has designed at least six other skyscrappers within the vicinity.
The developer’s last project launch was in the middle of last year for its iconic Sapphire By The Gardens on Exhibition Street.
The development features two towers — a 57-storey residential tower and Shangri-La Hotel. It is located across Carlton Gardens, a Unesco World Heritage site. Sapphire By The Gardens will have 500 hotel rooms in one tower and 345 luxury apartments in the other, and these two towers will be connected via a sky bridge. So far, 95% of the apartments have been taken up.