Friday 10 January 2014

IKEA to open outlet at Batu Kawan Penang

Popular Swedish home furnishing store Ikea Store will be opening its first outlet in Penang with groundwork expected to commence by end of the year or early next year.

In announcing this, Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng said the Ikano Pte Ltd, the franchisee for Ikea in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, formed a joint venture with local company, Aspen Vision Land Sdn Bhd (in which Ivory Properties Group Berhad has 49% stake), to develop the integrated shopping mall in Batu Kawan.

The joint venture company, Aspen-Ikano bought the land from state agency, Penang Development Corporation, for 483.95 million ringgit.(RM45.35psf) The cost of the land is about RM484 million and payment is to be made 60 months from the agreement date. A RM5 million non-refundable deposit has already been paid.

“Aspen-Ikana has bought 245 acres (100 hectares) of land in Batu Kawan at RM483 million to develop an integrated shopping mall and mixed development of offices and residences,” Lim said.

The 245 acres will include 30 acres (12 hectares) for the first Ikea Store in the northern region of Malaysia and the first phase of the shopping mall.

Another 45 acres (18 hectares) is to be set aside for phase two of the shopping mall and 170 acres (69 hectares) for mixed development purposes.

Lim added that the entire commercial and mixed developments on the 245 acres of land are expected to be completed within 10 years from the date of Agreement.

“The time frame that all parties are targeting at is about 5 years or sooner, depending on various surrounding, economic and demand factors.”

Also present was Penang Development Corporation (PDC) Datuk Rosli Jaafar, Aspen Group CEO Datuk M. Murly and chairman Datuk Seri Nazir Ariff.

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