Dubai: Aldar Properties and Millennium Development International will lead the development of the new multi-billion dollar Iskandar Financial District (IFD), located in the southernmost tip of Malaysia, adjacent to Singapore.
The development will be undertaken on behalf of Global Capital, an investment entity representing prominent Gulf and Malaysian Investors.
As the lead investor in Medini Iskandar, Global Capital - made up of a Mubadala consortium of investors that includes Aldar, Malaysia Ventures, Unity Capital, United World Infrastructure and Iskandar Investment Berhad - has collectively committed more than $848 million in the land and infrastructure development within Medini Iskandar.
The IFD will be the new heart of Medini Iskandar Malaysia, an integrated development area in the Iskandar Development Region, itself a premier econ-omic growth region promoted by both national and local governments as a strong and sustainable metropolis of international standing.
The land area covered by Medini Iskandar is approximately 103.8 million square feet, while the IFD land area is approximately 15.3 million square feet and the targeted built up area is 42.1 million square feet.
Aldar has been appointed by Global Capital as the developer and client representative, while Millennium Development International - Malaysia, a member of Saraya Holdings, has been appointed as the development manager.
Ronald Barrot, CEO of Aldar, said: "We are pursuing an aggressive planning and design schedule, to match the infrastructure implementation schedule fixed by the government.
"We decided to launch within Cityscape Dubai a limited number of IFD parcels for commitment in response to the pressure we are seeing from financial institutional developers and equity funds, to secure an early position in this promising economic development region of South East Asia."
Promising to be the hub of Islamic finance in South East Asia, the Iskandar Financial District offers a world class planned district for financial institutions, banks and corporate headquarters
It will also comprise commercial office buildings, shopping centres, condominiums and serviced apartments, five-star hotels, conferencing and meeting facilities as well as community services. The site will be serviced by a dedicated mass transit system positioned within public open spaces and a pedestrian friendly urban environment.
The IFD is the first district to be offered for investment and development by Global Capital.
