Grand Merdeka partners, Mr. Tong Kok Vui from Dasar Kinabalu Sdn Bhd, and Mr. Chew Sang Hai from Megasavana Sdn Bhd, our financier Maybank Berhad, distinguished guests, our fellow loyal confidants of consultants, contractors and suppliers, our most valued purchasers and investors, SHAREDA members, datuk-datuk and datin datin, ladies and gentlemen.
A very good morning to all of you.
To quote from Mr. Sam Jones, Mayor of Mobile, Texas in a recent groundbreaking ceremony of Airbus A320 aircraft final assembly line, “This project will touch every facet of our community.”
How appropriate is this quote to mark the groundbreaking ceremony of our new flagship project in Menggatal, Grand Merdeka Mall. Hence, I am most honored and delighted to be part of this momentous event. I remember those days where Menggatal was little known. Today after many years, Menggatal and Tuaran have definitely grown tremendously.
Ladies and gentlemen,
All of us here today can definitely plan, and we can draw up concept drawings, but until we see the first shovel of dirt get turned, it is just an abstract concept. This morning we will witness the ground being broken by the shovels signifying the beginning of the construction of Grand Merdeka Mall. It has taken us 2 years, and a great amount of effort and work, in order to bring us here. However, this is not the end of our journey. Quite the contrary, we stand here today upon a milestone, and it is in fact the beginning.
In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of shopping malls in the CBD area of Kota Kinabalu, and yet there are very few suburban shopping malls. Grand Merdeka Mall is strategically located in the suburban area of Menggatal to capture the local and neighboring population of more than 380,000 households and this number is growing with the development efforts from our neighbours, namely, Taman Rimba by Wah Mie Group, Sierra Biz Hub from Wijaya Daya Sdn Bhd, and Bandar Sierra by Dapan Holdings. We can foresee a great future of economic and social growth in this neighborhood.
Grand Merdeka Mall with our anchor tenants, such as Tong’s Enterprise and Upperstar Café and Bar, and many more to come will create a good tenant mix and will draw customers not only from up and coming Menggatal, but also shoppers from Tuaran, Kota Belud and Kudat wanting to go to KK who will stop at Grand Merdeka because of the growing problems of traffic jam in KK.
Grand Merdeka Mall is a Mixed-Integrated Development of 18 acres divided into 3 lots of approximately 6 acres each. The present construction is on Lot 1. In Lot 2 and 3, we plan to have a superstore, shops specializing in furniture, household appliances etc, signature offices, a medical center, hotels and service apartments. Furthermore, this project will fetch a Gross Development Value of RM1 Billion. Hence, Grand Merdeka project is planned to run for the next 8 – 10 years and destined to change the neighboring landscape and transform and upgrade the lifestyle of the community.
The ultimate success of Grand Merdeka Mall relies greatly on our relationship with the purchasers who have such great confidence in us. From what I have seen this morning a lot of effort has gone into that aspect and we will all reap the benefits. Thank you valued purchasers and investors of Grand Merdeka for your continuous support. Sales are on-going at our Grand Merdeka sales office where units are sold for RM650 per sq.ft. onwards with price as low as RM123,000 per unit onwards. According to our sales statistic, we have managed to sell 373 units out of the total open for booking units of 552 units (67.57%). At ground floor, we achieved a sale of 72% with 201 units sold out of 279 units, and at first floor, we have a sale percentage of 66% and lastly, our second floor, we have a sale percentage of 46%. Kudos to Grand Merdeka Sales and Marketing team.
For your information, we have engaged Eng Han Bina Sdn. Bhd, a very competent construction company as our main contractor. We expect the signing of the Sale and Purchase Agreement with our purchasers starting from 23rd May 2013. This will be done in batches as there are more than 300 buyers in the list.
In closing, I look forward to standing here with you upon the successful completion of Grand Merdeka Mall in 2016! Finally, on behalf of the organizing team of Grand Merdeka Mall Groundbreaking, I want to extend our deepest gratitude to each and every one of you for your presence and your continuous support. Thank you!
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