JOHOR BARU, Aug 2 — Johor-based Forest City, located in the state’s southernmost tip, is prepared to review and re-evaluate its property development plans after 2025 if the need arises as part of its commitment to the state.
Forest City master developer Country Garden Pacificview Sdn Bhd (CGPV) said it is currently focusing on its sales and marketing strategy that targets property buyers from Asia, that includes Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
Its regional deputy president Ir Syarul Izam Sarifudin said in order to realise that effort, Forest City is committed to stepping up its promotions here this year.
He said this includes the appointment of more than 100 international real estate agents.
“In addition, we also welcome locals who are interested in renting shop units in Forest City as the area is surrounded by various sectors such as ports, factories, government administration offices and so on,” he said in a statement today.
The iconic Forest City project started in 2015 and to date, 28,000 residential units have been completed with the development’s main focus on the first artificial island spanning 1,400 acres.
To date, Forest City houses two hotels, two international-rated golf courses, the largest Industrial Building System (IBS) prefabrication factory in Malaysia, Shattuck-St Mary’s Forest City international school as well as a recreational water park.
Syarul Izam said Forest City is committed to successfully planning its mega development projects as detailed in their master plan despite a sluggish domestic property market in the post-pandemic era.
He said Forest City’s long-term plan to create sustainable development involving its four artificial islands with an area of more than 2,832 hectares has never changed.
Syarul Izam said CGPV believes there is no need to change Forest City’s plans for the first 10 years of the project, which started in 2015.
“The first phase, which is between 2015 and 2020, was to complete residences as well as some infrastructure and business spaces to accommodate existing settlements, while the focus of the second phase, which is between 2020 and 2025, is to attract more investments especially in trade, finance and high-tech industries.
“The company remains optimistic about developing an artificial island with the real estate sector as its core business.
“However, due to unforeseen factors such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the slowdown in the global economy, the original master plan continues despite the development momentum being affected,” said Syarul Izam.
Forest City, which covers 14 square kilometres of land on four artificial islands near the border of Malaysia and Singapore, has to date sold more than 20,000 units.
The majority of the property owners are from Singapore, Malaysia, and China.
The development, which comprises eight phases, and touted as a mega project, includes residential, leisure, commercial and industrial spaces.
In the past three years, development progress has slowed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and also economic considerations.
