JOHOR BARU: Astaka Holdings Ltd launched its tallest residential building in Southeast Asia, The Astaka @ One Bukit Senyum, on Dec 20. Standing at 1,020 ft above sea level, it is also the tallest building in Johor Baru.
Located in the heart of the Johor Baru City Centre, The Astaka @ One Bukit Senyum is the embodiment of modern and luxurious living. The freehold development aims to provide residents with excellent connectivity and various key amenities like the Johor Baru Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine Complex (CIQ) and shopping malls – all being less than 10 minutes away.
The development boasts over 435 luxury residential units, with the two towers scaling up to 65 and 70 stories high. Its strategic location bestows residents with the best of both Johor and Singapore’s stunning skyline and horizon. The development also features a comprehensive suite of facilities for its residents to exploit the excellent views, with its full facility deck being located on the sixth floor and a sky deck on levels 58 for Tower B and 66 for Tower A.
The group aims to bring about luxurious and spacious living to its residents. The newly completed show units, Type A2 and B, have built-up areas of 2,217 sq ft and 2,659 sq ft, respectively. The development was also awarded the Best Luxury Condo/Apartment Development in 2019 by PropertyGuru for its innovative and exquisite design.
As countries begin to adopt the endemic living approach and economies begin to stabilise, the Johor Baru property market is expected to benefit from the improvement in situation. On Dec 14, Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry announced that the Singapore-Malaysia Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) will be expanded to allow Singapore citizens to enter Malaysia via land VTL.
> Effective Dec 20 and vice-versa, following the first phase of the VTL launched in late November 2021. Prior to the pandemic, the value and volume of residential property sales in Johor had climbed substantially with transaction volumes increasing by 8% in 2018 and 7.5% in 2019.
> As travel regulations begin to relax, the prospects and outlook of the Johor property market is expected to gradually improve and normalise. The increase in vaccination rates and stable recovery of the Malaysian economy have also helped to improve outlook on the Malaysian property sector with prices back on an upward trend in the third quarter of 2021 and expected to roll over into 2022.
> This improved market sentiment, together with the incentive rendered through the Home Ownership Campaign by the Malaysian government, will provide a welcome boost to the Johor property market as home seekers look to take advantage of the prevailing low interest rates for home loans. As the Malaysian economy continues to pick up, the group has also prepared attractive year-end packages and Chinese New Year packages along with the launch of the new show units in anticipation of an uptick in the market.
The completion of both the Malaysia-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) link project and the Gemas-Johor Baru electrified double-tracking project (EDTP) is also expected to help stimulate the state’s property market and attract more foreign investors. Both the major infrastructure projects are expected to further increase Johor Baru’s connectivity with Singapore and the different states in Malaysia respectively.
Commenting on the launch, Khong Chung Lun, executive director and CEO of Astaka Holdings Ltd said: “We are extremely pleased to announce the launch of the new highest show units of The Astaka @ One Bukit Senyum. The development is poised to become the ultimate energy of sophistication, and a new benchmark for modern living experiences in Johor Baru with meticulously crafted architecture, innovative designs, and a clear sense of discerned luxury living. It aims to be the embodiment of modern and luxurious living, allowing for undisturbed privacy living while still maintaining connectivity to external facilities and amenities.
As the global pandemic situation starts to stabilise and travel restrictions continue to ease, we expect the demand for our development by both local and foreign investors to increase and reach near pre-Covid level. Moving forward, we will continue to innovate and develop attractive residential projects to bring greater value to both our customers and shareholders.”
