DA Land, Sanderson in RM300m theme park deal

PETALING JAYA: DA Land Sdn Bhd has teamed up with Sanderson Group, a design and construction group from Australia, to build a RM300 million theme park in Rawang, Selangor.
Its COO Sip Mun Yee said the one million sq ft indoor and outdoor park will be conceptualised, designed and operated by Sanderson.
"With their experience, we strongly believe they will give us a special idea and concept. For the outdoor park, we are thinking of an eco-friendly water park but it will be designed by Sanderson," he told reporters at the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding between the two companies yesterday.
The theme park is part of DA Land's RM5 billion project named The TWO, a 51-acre integrated project in Rawang which is divided into three phases.
The RM300 million theme park is part of Phase 1 which also includes a tourist hub, wholesale outlets and hotels.
Phase 1 has gross development value of RM2 billion spread over 14 acres and would take five years to complete.
On funding for the project, Sip said it is selling some retail components within Phase 1.
"We are looking at RM1.3 billion sales from the retail space and this will fund our project. For the hotel, we are looking for partners to co-own it," he said.
Meanwhile, other phases of The TWO are still in the planning stage and will include a convention centre, tourist mall and food haven. The entire project is expected to take 10 to 15 years to complete.
The theme park which is expected to open its doors to visitors in 2018 or 2019, is targeted at local and international visitors.
Sanderson business development director Luke Riley said it is reviewing several options for the theme park and the group has yet to decide if it will bring in an entertainment brand such as the 20th Century Fox theme park at Resorts World Genting.
He said the theme park will complement and add to the number of tourist attractions in Malaysia, in anticipation of the Tourism Ministry's target of 36 million tourists by 2020.
The theme park is expected to offer thematic rides and shows, water rides and adventure sports, and themed dining experiences.
"Integrated destinations have been a key economic and strategic development catalyst used in Singapore and it is our pleasure to bring our successful 25 years of empirical knowledge and expertise to realise this exciting project," said Riley.
Sanderson, which specialises in integrated tourism destinations, has completed projects for the likes of Disney, Warner Bros, Universal Studios, SeaWorld and Wet 'n' Wild with regional clients such as Resorts World Sentosa, Sunway Lagoon and Singapore Zoo River Safari.