Berjaya To Build Four Seasons Resort In Okinawa

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 (Bernama) — Berjaya Land Bhd is expanding its footprint in Japan with the development of the Four Seasons Resort and Private Residences Okinawa at a projected development cost of US$400 million and estimated gross development value of US$1 billion. Berjaya Corporation Bhd (BCorp) founder and executive chairman Tan Sri Vincent Tan said the project will comprise about 12.14 hectares of project development land area on a beachfront along the western coast of the island with 120 hotel rooms, 120 residences and 40 villas. “We have 40.47 hectares (100 acres) of land bank in the area located about 50 kilometres northeast of Naha International Airport. After the Four Season development, we still have 28.33 hectares from which we can build many more two- to three-star hotels, shopping malls and residences on the land behind the resort. “The Four Seasons is low-rise, so any development behind can be a high-rise which could also have sea views. The Four Seasons is expected to raise the value of the entire land before we consider any other development,” he told reporters after the signing of the hotel management agreement here Thursday. The agreement was signed between Berjaya Land Bhd’s wholly-owned subsidiary Berjaya Okinawa Development Co Ltd represented by Tan, and Four Seasons Hotels and Resort Pte Ltd Asia Pacific represented by its senior vice president for development, Christopher Wong. Tan said the Four Seasons Resort and Private Residences Okinawa is another iconic project in Japan emulating the success of the Four Seasons Hotel and Hotel Residences Kyoto which officially launched in December 2016. On funding for the project, he said the group purchased the land at a low price in 2009 and had fully paid for it, with the US$400 million development cost to be funded via bank borrowings. “Once we sell the residences we would manage to pay the bank’s borrowing off and we will get free hotels plus some cash,” he said. The tycoon said the group also plans to list its hotel business, which it does not intend to sell and hold for the long term particularly its Malaysian hotels, and is still in talks with some minority stakeholders on the move. Berjaya Group has a total of 15 hotels worldwide. It intends to carve out its hotel business from Berjaya Land and undertake an initial public offering in Singapore as it cannot be listed in Malaysia due to the Securities Commission Malaysia’s chain listing requirement. As for the group’s properties in the UK, he said Brexit is not good for the economy with property prices going down, although it presents opportunities to buy. Fortunately, he said the group’s luxury car business in the UK, H.R. Owen, is not affected by Brexit as the customers in this income group are not impacted by a recession. On the divestment of the Four Seasons Hotel and Hotel Residences Kyoto, he said the group is still in talks with several parties as it is looking for a “high” price for the property. “It is a trophy asset which some people say is the best hotel in Kyoto and one of the best in Japan. It has a good rate of about US$1,500 a night. “Most probably we would sell the whole stake in the hotel but we still have over 20 units of residences that we might keep or sell later when the price is right,” he said. The group expects the divestment to be finalised in the next three months, he added. — BERNAMA