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☆ Malaysia might add a casino to boost troubled $100 billion mega-development Forest City
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Shubhangi Goel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Malaysia may add a casino to Forest City, a mega-development that has turned into a ghost town. AdvertisementMalaysia's Forest City mega-development started with big ambitions and big money. Now, Malaysia is in talks with several high-profile investors to add a casino to Forest City, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg on Wednesday. AdvertisementThe southeast nation's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim met with the heads of a Malaysian property development firm and a resort company at Forest City last week. Expensive, empty apartmentsA casino — which would only be the second in Malaysia — could help struggling Forest City.

Persons: —, Anwar Ibrahim, Ibrahim Iskandar, King Ibrahim, Anwar, They're, Al Marjan Organizations: Service, City, Bloomberg, nation's, Forest City, Garden, Genting Group, Berjaya Corp, Business, United, United Arab Emirates, Las Vegas, downstate Locations: Malaysia, Forest City, Singapore, Malaysia's, Malaysian, Forest, Genting, Marielle, Johor, United Arab, Al, York City, York

☆ I spent a night in one of the empty apartments in Malaysia's $100 billion ghost town, and I can see why very few people want to live there
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Marielle Descalsota | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

I spent a night in one of these apartments and found they weren't as luxurious as they were branded to be. Dozens of vacant units in the estate are listed for rent on Airbnb. I first visited Forest City in May 2022, and it was a ghost town. Forest City projects that some 700,000 people will live in the estate in the next six years. Take a look inside one of the thousands of vacant apartments in Forest City.

Persons: — Organizations: Service, Forest City, Business Locations: Forest, Malaysia, China's, Johor Strait, Singapore, China, Forest City

☆ Here's how I prepared for my 15-hour long-haul flight to Hong Kong
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-30 | by ( Joi-Marie Mckenzie | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Before I share how I survived my 15-hour flight, I have to let you in on my personal Q2 challenge: I'm determined to eat less ultra-processed foods. Now the city has reimagined itself as a tourist destination, with a waterpark, an artificial beach, and a golf course. According to one estimate, Americans actually have about four to six hours of leisure time every day. AdvertisementSee the full listMore of this week's top reads:The Insider Today team: Joi-Marie McKenzie, editor-in-chief, in New York.

Persons: —, you'll, Let's, Greta Gerwig's, Barbie, Jenny Chang, Rodriguez, Marielle, Marielle Descalsota, Daniel Chaney, Alexa Campbell, Henry Ammann, Alyssa Powell, Beyoncé, Carter, Buckle, Tanner Adell, who's, Javier Zayas, there's, Tyler Le, Ewan McGregor's, Lisa Frankenstein, Zelda Williams, Robin Williams, Joi, Marie McKenzie, Jordan Parker Erb, Dan DeFrancesco, Lisa Ryan Organizations: Service, Business, Canberra Airport, Getty, Art Basel, BI, Visa, Mastercard —, Mastercard Forest City, Paramount, Netflix Locations: Hong Kong, Australia, Johor, Malaysia's Forest, Forest City, Texas, Moscow, New York

☆ Malaysia's $100 billion ghost town really wants to draw in tourists. It's not working.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-25 | by ( Marielle Descalsota | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Forest City, a luxury development in Malaysia, is banking on tourism to shed its ghost town image. AdvertisementWendy Noble lives 15 minutes away from Malaysia's Forest City, across the border in Singapore. Country Garden, the largest developer in China, spent $100 billion building Forest City. "Forest City is able to attract the weekend tourists," Adilah said, referring to tourists like Noble and Nemis. Forest City Golf Resort's lobby, with a miniature figure of the development.

Persons: it's, —, Wendy Noble, Ree Nemis, Noble, Marielle, Nemis, Adilah Zain, Adilah, Sultan Ibrahim, Shawn, Gary, We've, Chandran Organizations: Forest City, Service, Malaysia's, MARA Technological University, Garden, Bloomberg, BI, Forest, Challenge, Hotel Locations: Forest, Malaysia, Malaysia's Forest City, Singapore, Forest City, China, Johor —, Malaysian, Monaco, Challenge Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur

☆ Malaysia's new king has a $5.7B family fortune. Here's how he spends his money.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Mikhaila Friel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, 65, was declared king on Wednesday as part of the country's rotating monarchy. King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar of Johor is photographed with his sister, Queen Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah, after his accession was announced in October 2023. MOHD RASFAN/AP ImagesSultan Ibrahim is head of the Johor royal family and is considered one of the country's wealthiest men. In May 2023, a video posted to the Johor royal family's TikTok account showed them dining at Istanbul Turkish Cuisine, a reservations-only restaurant in Horizon Hills, Johor. King of Malaysia Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar (right) speaks with Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (left) after the oath-taking ceremony.

Persons: Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, Tunku Azizah Aminah, Iskandariah, MOHD RASFAN, Sultan Ibrahim, Sultan Ibrahim isn't, Ferrari Testarossa, HASNOOR HUSSAIN, Adolf Hitler, Hitler, Harley, Davidson, Tunku Ismail, Crown, Prince, of, of Malaysia Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, Anwar Ibrahim, Abdullah Ahmad Shah, Mahathir Mohamad Organizations: Bloomberg, Facebook, Getty, Mercedes, YouTube, Boeing, Guardian, U Mobile, Maharani Energy, Johor Darul, The Straits Times, Malaysian, Malaysia's Locations: Malaysia, Malaysia's, Johor, Malaysian, Kuala Lumpur, India, Istanbul Turkish, Horizon Hills, Johor Darul Ta'zim, Singapore, Forest, Manhattan, of Malaysia Sultan

☆ Malaysia Installs Sultan Ibrahim of Johor State as New King
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia's Sultan Ibrahim from the southern state of Johor was sworn in as the country's new king on Wednesday, taking the oath of office in a ceremony at the national palace in Kuala Lumpur. The monarchy plays a mostly ceremonial role in Malaysia, but its influence has grown in recent years, prompting the king to wield rarely-used discretionary powers to quell political instability. Sultan Ibrahim, 65, succeeds Al-Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, who is returning to lead his home state of Pahang after completing his five-year tenure as king. While the monarchy is largely seen as above politics, Sultan Ibrahim has been noted for his forthrightness and outsized personality, often weighing in on the country's political issues. Known for his large collection of luxury cars and motorbikes, Sultan Ibrahim has wide-ranging business interests from real estate to mining, including a stake in Forest City - a $100-billion China-backed land reclamation and development project off Johor.

Persons: Sultan Ibrahim, Yang, Al, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, Rozanna Latiff, Danial Azhar, Martin Petty Organizations: Reuters Locations: KUALA LUMPUR, Johor, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Pahang, Forest City, China

☆ Chinese Premier Makes Surprise Economic Growth Disclosure
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Jason Douglas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Country Garden, once seen as one of China’s most stable property developers, is now struggling financially, leaving the future of unfinished megadevelopments like Malaysia’s Forest City in doubt. Here’s how overbuilding, and a streak of bad luck, have left China’s real-estate developers in the red. Photo: Adam AdadaChinese Premier Li Qiang gave global business elites a big hint on highly anticipated growth figures, as he sought to reassure them that investing in China is an opportunity—not a risk. Li delivered the message in an address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as Chinese leaders seek to stem an exodus of foreign investment with growth slowing and relations deteriorating with the U.S.-led West.

Persons: Adam Adada, Li Qiang, —, Li Organizations: Malaysia’s Forest City, Economic, U.S Locations: Malaysia’s Forest, China, Davos, Switzerland

☆ It’s Too Soon to Bet on China’s Housing Turnaround
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Jacky Wong | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Country Garden, once seen as one of China’s most stable property developers, is now struggling financially, leaving the future of unfinished megadevelopments like Malaysia’s Forest City in doubt. Here’s how overbuilding, and a streak of bad luck, have left China’s real-estate developers in the red. Photo: Adam AdadaChina’s troubled property market remains on shaky ground despite a raft of government policies to stabilize it—and a big jump in property developer stocks today. Beijing still needs much more forceful measures if it wants to turn around the market and stabilize the economy. They fell 3.7% year-over-year in the first 10 months of 2023, compared with a 3.2% decline in the first nine.

Persons: Adam Adada China’s Organizations: Malaysia’s Forest City Locations: Malaysia’s Forest, Beijing, China

☆ China’s Property Developers Cut Prices—and Homeowners Are Resisting
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Cao Li | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Country Garden, once seen as one of China’s most stable property developers, is now struggling financially, leaving the future of unfinished megadevelopments like Malaysia’s Forest City in doubt. Here’s how overbuilding, and a streak of bad luck, have left China’s real-estate developers in the red. Photo: Adam AdadaAfter being stuck in a housing downturn for two years, cities across China are giving real-estate developers the go-ahead to cut prices on new homes to revive sales. They are quickly running into resistance from homeowners who don’t want to see the values of their properties go down.

Persons: Adam Adada Organizations: Malaysia’s Forest City Locations: Malaysia’s Forest, China

☆ Xi Jinping Is Looking for Someone to Blame for China’s Property Bust
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Lingling Wei | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Country Garden, once seen as one of China’s most stable property developers, is now struggling financially, leaving the future of unfinished megadevelopments like Malaysia’s Forest City in doubt. Here’s how overbuilding, and a streak of bad luck, have left China’s real-estate developers in the red. Photo: Adam AdadaWith China’s property bust threatening to sink the country’s economic recovery, Xi Jinping is looking for someone to blame. After putting the billionaire founder of Evergrande , a heavily indebted property firm, under investigation for possible crimes, Beijing is expanding its probes to include bankers and financial institutions that facilitated developers’ risky behavior, people familiar with the matter say.

Persons: Adam Adada, Xi Jinping Organizations: Malaysia’s Forest City Locations: Malaysia’s Forest, Beijing

[1/5] A view of the residential apartments in Country Garden's Forest City development in Johor Bahru, Malaysia August 16, 2023. The group hired PJT Partners (PJT.N) as financial adviser to lead discussions with Country Garden, two people with knowledge of the matter said. Ratings agency Moody's said on Thursday it could downgrade Country Garden's (2007.HK) 'corporate family rating' if the recovery prospects for its creditors weaken further. Moody's said Country Garden's senior unsecured rating of C was already at the lowest of its rating scale. Country Garden and Frasers did not immediately respond for a request for comment on that sale.

Persons: Edgar Su, PJT, Moody's, Frasers, Houlihan Lokey, Sidley Austin, Yeung Kwok Keung, Yang Huiyan, Yeung, Yang, Cao Jianglin, Garden's, China Evergrande, Scott Murdoch, Xie Yu, Clare Jim, Anousha Sakoui, Liz Lee, Lewis Jackson, Kim Coghill, Christopher Cushing, Jamie Freed, Lincoln, Miral Fahmy, Jane Merriman Organizations: REUTERS, HK, PJT Partners, Garden's, Australian Financial, Reuters, China International Capital Corporation, Finance, HSBC, China National Agricultural Development, SOE, Thomson Locations: Garden's, City, Johor Bahru, Malaysia, China HONG KONG, Garden's Australian, Melbourne, China, Shunde, Guangdong province, Sydney, Hong Kong, London, Beijing, Sydndey

☆ A Financial Crisis in China Is No Longer Unthinkable
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Greg Ip | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Country Garden, once seen as one of China’s most stable property developers, is now struggling financially, leaving the future of unfinished megadevelopments like Malaysia’s Forest City in doubt. Here’s how overbuilding, and a streak of bad luck, have left China’s real-estate developers in the red. Photo: Adam AdadaThe world’s second-largest economy has a deflating property bubble, local governments struggling to pay their debts and a banking system heavily exposed to both. Anywhere else these factors would be seen as precursors of a financial crisis. But not in China, conventional wisdom goes, because its debts are owed to domestic rather than foreign investors, the government already stands behind much of the financial system and capable technocrats are on top of things.

Persons: Adam Adada Organizations: Malaysia’s Forest City Locations: Malaysia’s Forest, China

☆ China’s Country Garden Was Given a Second Chance to Make a Bond Payment. It Failed.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Rebecca Feng | Frances Yoon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Country Garden, once seen as one of China’s most stable property developers, is now struggling financially, leaving the future of unfinished megadevelopments like Malaysia’s Forest City in doubt. Here’s how overbuilding, and a streak of bad luck, have left China’s real-estate developers in the red. Photo: Adam AdadaChinese property giant Country Garden has missed a final deadline to pay interest on a dollar bond, capping a remarkable fall from grace for a company that was once considered among the safest developers in the country. The company hasn’t made a $15.4 million interest payment on an outstanding dollar bond, according to two investors who hold the bond. Country Garden had around $15.2 billion of international bonds and loans outstanding at the end of June, according to its public disclosures.

Persons: Adam Adada, hasn’t Organizations: Malaysia’s Forest City Locations: Malaysia’s Forest

☆ Reality check, as Country Garden sells down a barely started Australia project
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Byron Kaye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

That has left Country Garden, once China's biggest private developer, which on Wednesday reiterated it was unlikely to meet all of its offshore debt repayments amid liquidity problems, trying to sell a project that is barely started and mired in uncertainty. Unlike Country Garden's other global projects, its financial exposure in Australia is mostly land purchase price and costs associated with subdivision. Country Garden Australia CEO Guotao Hu said in a statement the company's Australian assets "continue to perform well, in line with normal market behaviour and as planned". Country Garden did not disclose a purchase price when it announced the subdivision project in 2019, with a declaration at the time that "Risland is with the Wilton community for the long term". The Chinese firm has not said how much it hopes to make by selling most of the project.

Persons: Sebastian Pfautsch, Wilton, Suzy Brandstater, it'll, it's, Guotao Hu, Byron Kaye, Jamie Freed Organizations: HK, Wilton Greens, University of Western, Garden, Thomson Locations: Sydney, WILTON, Australia, Malaysia, Forest, Sydney's outskirts, Wilton, University of Western Sydney

☆ Country Garden's entire offshore debt to be in default if Tuesday payment not made
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-16 | by ( Clare Jim | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsHONG KONG, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Country Garden's (2007.HK) entire offshore debt will be deemed to be in default if China's largest property developer fails to make a $15 million coupon payment on Tuesday, the end of a 30-day grace period. Lack of payment - which is expected after Country Garden last week warned about its inability to meet offshore debt obligations - would make the firm the latest in scores of Chinese developers who have defaulted. Country Garden has also missed other offshore payments in the past few weeks though those payments still have not seen their 30-day grace periods lapse. Country Garden declined to comment. With nearly $11 billion of offshore bonds and $6 billion of offshore loans, a default by Country Garden would set the stage for one of China's biggest corporate debt restructurings.

Persons: Edgar Su, Houlihan Lokey, Sidley Austin, Clare Jim, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: REUTERS, HK, China International Capital Corporation, Kingboard Holdings, JPMorgan, Thomson Locations: Garden's, City, Johor Bahru, Malaysia, HONG KONG, China, Hong Kong

☆ The High-Tech Drones Tracking the World’s Most Dangerous Storms
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

What This $100 Billion Ghost City Says About China’s Real-Estate Crisis Country Garden, once seen as one of China’s most stable property developers, is now struggling financially, leaving the future of unfinished megadevelopments like Malaysia's Forest City in doubt. Here’s how overbuilding, and a streak of bad luck, have left China’s real-estate developers in the red. Photo: Adam Adada

Persons: Adam Adada Organizations: Malaysia's Forest City Locations: Malaysia's Forest

Forest City has since been referred to as a “ghost city,” like the megadevelopments across China that were built on big dreams but never completed. Country Garden Pacificview rejected the moniker, saying more than 80% of residential units have been sold. But most of them appear to have been bought as investments and no one lives in them.

Persons: Pacificview Locations: Forest, ”, China

Seven years in, Country Garden has invested 20 billion ringgit ($4.3 billion) in the project, Forest City said, a far cry from the initial $100 billion plan. "Seeing is believing," Forest City said in an email response. "The land plot itself is valuable," a Singapore-based bondholder of Country Garden said, while highlighting the complications of dealing with a local government joint-venture. Last month, Malaysia's central bank said local banks had limited exposure to Country Garden amid concern about its financial stress. Anwar, Malaysia's prime minister, has designated Forest City a "special financial zone" to attract investment, which Forest City said would help with its marketing.

Persons: Foo Gee Jen, Anwar Ibrahim, Anwar, Malaysia's, Yang Ming Han, Loh, Loh Wee Loon, I'm, Xinghui Kok, Xie Yu, Anne Marie Roantree, Lincoln Organizations: ISKANDAR PUTERI, Garden, Forest, Malaysian, Reuters, Thomson Locations: KUALA LUMPUR, ISKANDAR, Malaysia, Garden's, City, Johor, Singapore, Forest City, Malaysian, Forest, Loh Wee, China, Johor Sultan, Iskandar Puteri, Kuala Lumpur, Yantoultra, Hong Kong

☆ Watch: Hawaii’s Kilauea Volcano Erupts for Third Time This Year
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

What This $100 Billion Ghost City Says About China’s Real-Estate CrisisCountry Garden, once seen as one of China’s most stable property developers, is now struggling financially, leaving the future of unfinished megadevelopments like Malaysia's Forest City in doubt. Here’s how overbuilding, and a streak of bad luck, have left China’s real-estate developers in the red. Photo: Adam Adada

Persons: Adam Adada Organizations: Malaysia's Forest City Locations: Malaysia's Forest

☆ Watch: Historic Marrakesh Mosque Damaged in Deadly Morocco Earthquake
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-09 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

What This $100 Billion Ghost City Says About China’s Real-Estate CrisisCountry Garden, once seen as one of China’s most stable property developers, is now struggling financially, leaving the future of unfinished megadevelopments like Malaysia's Forest City in doubt. Here’s how overbuilding, and a streak of bad luck, have left China’s real-estate developers in the red. Photo: Adam Adada

Persons: Adam Adada Organizations: Malaysia's Forest City Locations: Malaysia's Forest

☆ Morocco Earthquake Kills More Than 1,000 People
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-09 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

What This $100 Billion Ghost City Says About China’s Real-Estate CrisisCountry Garden, once seen as one of China’s most stable property developers, is now struggling financially, leaving the future of unfinished megadevelopments like Malaysia's Forest City in doubt. Here’s how overbuilding, and a streak of bad luck, have left China’s real-estate developers in the red. Photo: Adam Adada

Persons: Adam Adada Organizations: Malaysia's Forest City Locations: Malaysia's Forest

☆ Same Surgery, Different Price: Why Hospital Bills Vary So Much
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

What This $100B Ghost City Says About China’s Real Estate Crisis Country Garden, once seen as one of China’s most stable property developers, is now struggling financially, leaving the future of unfinished megadevelopments like the $100 billion Forest City in doubt. Here’s how overbuilding, and a streak of bad luck, have left China’s real-estate developers in the red. Photo: Adam Adada

Persons: Adam Adada Organizations: Ghost, Forest City Locations: China’s

☆ Watch: Sen. Graham Responds to Recommended Jury Charges in Georgia Case
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

What This $100 Billion Ghost City Says About China’s Real-Estate CrisisCountry Garden, once seen as one of China’s most stable property developers, is now struggling financially, leaving the future of unfinished megadevelopments like Malaysia's Forest City in doubt. Here’s how overbuilding, and a streak of bad luck, have left China’s real-estate developers in the red. Photo: Adam Adada

Persons: Adam Adada Organizations: Malaysia's Forest City Locations: Malaysia's Forest

☆ Country Garden: How bad are Chinese property developer's debt problems?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-02 | by ( Xie Yu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A view of closed shops in a mall at Country Garden's Forest City development in Johor Bahru, Malaysia August 16, 2023. Who is Country Garden and why do people care about its debt woes? How bad is Country Garden's financial situation? It faces 108.7 billion yuan ($14.9 billion) worth of debts due within 12 months, while its cash levels are around 101.1 billion yuan. It said Country Garden was facing tight liquidity and recovery prospects for bondholders could be weak.

Persons: Edgar Su, Will, Moody's, Xie Yu, Sumeet Chatterjee, David Holmes, Gerry Doyle Organizations: REUTERS, HK, China Evergrande, Thomson Locations: Garden's, City, Johor Bahru, Malaysia, HONG KONG, China, Evergrande, Will Beijing, Beijing, Guangdong, Caa1

☆ Some onshore creditors of Country Garden private bond receive interest payments
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A view of the residential apartments in Country Garden's Forest City development in Johor Bahru, Malaysia August 16, 2023. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsHONG KONG, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Some onshore creditors of embattled Chinese property developer Country Garden's (2007.HK) private bond have received interest payments, sources told Reuters on Friday. The development comes after Country Garden on Thursday delayed a deadline for creditors to vote on whether to postpone payments for that onshore 3.9 billion yuan ($537 million) private bond until Friday 1400 GMT to give bondholders "sufficient time" to prepare for the vote. Country Garden did not immediately respond to request for comment. Reporting by Li Gu, Kevin Huang and Xie Yu; Editing by Alex RichardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Edgar Su, Li Gu, Kevin Huang, Xie Yu, Alex Richardson Organizations: REUTERS, HK, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Garden's, City, Johor Bahru, Malaysia, HONG KONG

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