By Kalpana Rashiwala

MALAYSIA'S YTL Corp will launch later this year 18 luxury waterfront villas at Sandy Island on Sentosa Cove and prices are expected to start from $12 million for a villa or at least $2,000 per square foot (psf) of land area, BT understands.

YTL's spokeswoman declined to comment on the planned pricing, but confirmed that the plan is to launch the project later this year.

The development will nestle within a tropical rainforest and boast upscale finishes and fixtures. It is being designed by renowned Italian architect Claudio Silvestrin, famous for designing Giorgio Armani boutiques worldwide as well as the Museum of Contemporary Art in Turin.

YTL has also appointed celebrated Australian landscape architect Jamie Durie for Sandy Island. Each two-storey waterfront villa will have a basement and a terrace floor, and feature a double-volume living room facing a private berth.

'Each home will have a private car lift, a passenger lift, kitchen and wardrobes personally selected by Mr Silvestrin,' YTL's spokeswoman said.

The villas will be built on 99-year leasehold land plots ranging from about 6,000 sq ft to 10,000 sq ft each and will have four or five bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, a pool and timber patio set within a waterfront garden designed by Mr Durie.

Sandy Island will feature more than 30 trees transplanted from the Resorts World integrated resort site. Sandy Island is located in Sentosa Cove's Southern Precinct. YTL also has another villa development in the waterfront housing district's Northern Precinct on the Lakefront Collection site abutting Serapong Lake.

This project is expected to comprise more than 10 villas which will boast views of Serapong Golf Course. The project is still in the design development stage and could be released next year.

On the mainland, YTL is looking at different proposals by world-renowned architects to develop an 'iconic lifestyle quality development' on the Westwood Apartments site at Orchard Boulevard.

YTL inked a deal in November last year to buy the 62,179-sq-ft freehold property for $435 million, which worked out to $2,525 psf of potential gross floor area inclusive of an estimated $4.6 million development charge at the time.

Westwood Apartments' collective sale was approved by the Strata Titles Board earlier this week.

The deal was brokered by Savills Singapore. Law group Rodyk & Davidson acted for the majority owners.

This article was first published in The Business Times on 26 June 2008.