A 163.05-acre lake-front parcel, the last undeveloped precinct in the south of Bandar Sunway, will be developed into a high-end exclusive residential development with limited commercial components.

Sunway City Bhd (SunCity) managing director Datuk Wong Choon Kee said the new development would blend in with the integrated and self-contained Bandar Sunway, which has a population of more than 30,000.

''We are looking at a mixed residential precinct of medium to high-end properties to cater to a wide spectrum of buyers, with a higher component of high-end property in line with the township’s Resort Living within the City concept,'' he told StarBiz.

Datuk Wong Choon Kee (right) explaining the development plans for Bandar Sunway's south precinct. With him is Sunway Semenyih Sdn Bhd senior GM Ong Ghee Hin.

Located within Bandar Sunway with good accessibility via the major highways including Damansara Puchong Expressway, Kesas and Elite, the project will be built around a former mining lake.

It is scheduled to begin construction by the end of next year and be completed in seven to eight years.

Wong said that with demand for residential property growing stronger, it was timely to launch the project to meet the changing needs of today’s discerning home buyers.

Of the total areas, he said, 10 acres would be taken up by the new Monash University campus, with construction expected to begin by year-end.

The new campus to be built at a cost of RM48mil to RM50mil would see the student enrolment more than double to 20,000 (from 8,000 now).

Wong said that to introduce new creative designs in the new precinct, SunCity had teamed up with the Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM) to hold the Master Planning and Architectural Concepts competition for architects to come up with the best architectural design and concept.

Open to all PAM members worldwide, the competition aims to attract participation from different countries, including Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Britain and the United States.

He said that more than 100 architects had been briefed at the site and about 80 had registered to take part.

''Competing architects would have to conceptualise and provide a superior design and development plan, optimising the potential of the lake created by the open-cut quarry and to use part of the slope around the lake.

''They have also to submit feasibility studies with costing projections, traffic dispersal system and economic viability of the project,'' Wong said.

He said design excellence was an important criterion to bring out the best designs to create an architecture showpiece.

The closing date for registration is June 30 and winning entries will be finalised next January.

The first prize winner will walk away with RM200,000, second with RM100,000, and third RM50,000. There will also be three winners taking home RM25,000 each.

Wong said the latest development would further enhance the value of properties in the 800-acre Bandar Sunway, which is still undergoing revitalisation in its various precincts.

''The township with all its integrated components of the award-winning shopping centre Sunway Pyramid and Sunway Lagoon Theme Park, a medical centre and institutions of higher learning, is continuously being upgraded to meet the needs of the changing times,'' he said.

Wong said that a new wing, Pyramid 2, would be added to the shopping precinct which would increase the total net lettable area to 1.5 million sq ft from 800,000 sq ft now, making it one of the largest retail malls in the country.

The hotel precinct will also be expanded from 441 rooms in Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel now to 1,200 with the addition of an 11-storey, 560-room four-star Pyramid Tower and 280 suites in a 31-storey block on top of the tower hotel.

The fully furnished suites with built-up area of 500 to 850 sq ft will be priced from RM275,000.

Wong said that under a pilot project, 18 Balinese chalets would be built and if successful, the number of units would be increased to 80.

They would be operated as exclusive hideouts for the upmarket clientele, with charges of between RM800 and RM1,000 a day, he said.

Wong said the hotel expansion, scheduled for completion in August next year, would be in time for the influx of tourists following the global economic recovery.