Four Seasons Langkawi to sell for RM483 Million

THE 34-villa Four Seasons Residences in Langkawi, which will be built on the land adjacent to Four Seasons Resort, could fetch as much as US$140 million (RM483 million) once ready, says real estate agent Zerin Properties.

Four Seasons Resort Langkawi, recently acquired by a company controlled by Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin AbdulAziz AlSaud, plans to initially spend some US$35 million (RM120.8 million) to add 34 villas and offer them for sale.

"Each unit could fetch between three and four times its cost of construction. The product is exclusive. Langkawi has a good profile internationally and the existing product has good returns," Zerin Properties chief executive officer Previndran Singhe said.

Zerin Properties was instrumental in bringing in Prince Alwaleed to make his first investment in Malaysia.

Kingdom Langkawi BV, a company affiliated to the Arab Prince, expects the expansion to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2008.

The acquisition was made through a joint-venture company which is 90 per cent owned by Kingdom Hotels Investments (KHI) and 10 per cent by European Hotels Corp Ltd.

"KHI intends to expand the resort by adding an additional 20 keys and developing 14 luxury villas that will be sold as Four Seasons Residences," KHI said in a statement.

The purchaser paid RM400 million for the hotel portion and RM35 million for another 10ha of land.

According to Previndran, the size of the smaller units may be around 1,000 sq ft and the larger luxury units about 3,000 sq ft.

"The entire development has to blend with the existing beach villas, existing environmental impact assessment and the existing architecture of the place," Previndran told Business Times.

The deal made history last month, when "Malaysia's most expensive hotel" in terms of average room rate (ARR) and cost per room, was sold at RM4.4 million per room (not including the 10ha of land).

The villas to be built, Previndran said, would be beach-front villas and mangrove villas.

"KHI is trying to emulate the residences concept which proved to be a success in Four Seasons Private Residences Marrakech in Morocco," he said.

"KHI's acquisition is its fourth venture in Asia. It follows the acquisition of a land lease for development of a Raffles resort near Da Nang (Vietnam) in January 2007, the Movenpick Karon Beach Resort in 2006 and land acquisition in Phang Nga, Thailand, earlier this year.

The 91-villa five-star Four Seasons Hotel was previously owned by Malaysian Airline System Bhd.

Source : Hotels
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