Malaysians plan floating city

HONGKONG'S leading property developers got a glimpse on Friday of what is set to become one of the most dynamic showcase waterfront cities of the 21st century.

Malaysian developers plan to create a floating city at Johor Baru on the southern tip of peninsula Malaysia, just minutes away from Singapore.

Representatives from the JB Waterfront City project said yesterday that they were now looking for ''first-class, top-of-the-line developers'' to participate in the M$4 billion (about HK$11.94 billion) project.

''We had some of the largest and most important developers of Hongkong here last night and we are very pleased because they were very interested,'' said Mr Hong Lee Pee, chairman of the Johor Coastal Development and The Pelicon Group of Companies.

When fully completed, the unconventional city will incorporate Johor Baru's new central business district with about 863,000 square metres of saleable commercial space.

Developments will include a grand plaza of four 30-storey office towers and a central block of 40 storeys, an international-standard convention centre, three low-rise island blocks, which will be linked by bridges and have water frontage, and three luxury hotels.

And, located just 1.2 kilometres down the sandy coastal line is the second plot of land, which will house a 1,560-condominium-unit residential enclave of atrium buildings, towers and offshore islands.