Greenland’s $666M Project to Bring Snow and Opera to Malaysian Seaside

Shanghai-based Greenland Group is planning a RM2.4 billion ($666 million) mixed-use development in Malaysia’s Johor state, adding to a wave of projects by Chinese real estate developers in the area bordering Singapore.

The state-owned property firm’s 128-acre (52 hectare) Tebrau Bay Waterfront City will be jointly developed with Malaysia’s Iskandar Waterfront City Berhad (IWCB), according to a statement by the Malaysian developer this week. Tebrau Bay will be Greenland’s second project in the Malaysian state after it signed an agreement to develop a 13.6 acre (5.5 hectare) site in nearby Danga Bay last year.

The area of Malaysia bordering Singapore has now attracted projects from more than 13 developers – many of them from mainland China – as investors speculate that Johor Bahru, the capital of Johor state, can become Malaysia’s Shenzhen.

Snow World and Opera By the Sea

For its newest overseas project, Greenland is promising more than just housing. According to a statement from the local partner, Tebrau Bay Waterfront City is expected to include a snow world theme park, an opera house, a hospital providing care based on Chinese traditional medicine and a school. Greenland expects to finish the mega-project over a 15 year period.

“We’ve undertaken urban development in over 80 cities throughout China. We’re keen to share the experience with IWH as our long-term joint-venture partner and help transform Iskandar Malaysia into an international destination,” Greenland Group executive vice-chairman Xu Jing said in the statement.

For Greenland, the $1.28 billion that it is committing to its two Malaysian projects is just a fraction of its total overseas ventures. During the past two years the company has taken on development projects in London, New York, Los Angeles, Sydney and Melbourne, among other locations.

This flurry of overseas projects helped Greenland move past China Vanke last year to become the country’s largest developer by contracted sales.

Chinese Developers May Outnumber the Locals in Johor

Greenland’s latest Johor project adds to a flood of Chinese real estate speculation in the rapidly growing area along Malaysia’s border with Singapore.

At least seven Chinese developers now have projects in the area with projected investment values totalling billions of dollars. Both Greenland and Country Garden Holdings now have two projects in Johor, along with developments belonging to Vanke, Guangzhou R&F and others.

Just the Iskandar Waterfront City project, where Greenland’s latest project is located, is said to have a cumulative gross development value of RM125 billion ($34.7 billion).