Property: A word familiar to the ears of the Malaysian public. Whether you’re looking for a room to rent, a house to buy, an office lot to lease or just looking for an opportunity to invest in property, the focus land and buildings is unavoidable.

Since the property boom in Malaysia last year, a healthy demand for property has been fast increasing. This demand is not only because of Malaysians seeking homes, but also foreign investors who view Malaysia as a budding real estate market that offers stability with opportunities for good returns.

Binastra Group is one of a relatively new crop of developers to break into the scene.

Binastra Group’s roots traces back to 1979 when Binastra Construction was set up as a sole proprietorship by Tan Nge. Focusing on qualityworkmanship, it grew from strength to strength and obtained a class “A” construction licence in 1984.

The group’s entry into property development happened by chance, says the company’s group CEO and executive director Datuk Seri Michael Tan How Yap who is also the son of Tan Nge.

Michael was approached to help revive an abandoned project that had been idle for 10 years and decided to take it on.

The result is the 35-unit Seri Titiwangsa condominium in KL that was completed in 2005 after only six months.

Fast forward eight years later, Binastra has completed eight projects with a good mix of quality houses, apartments, condominium, commercial premises and industrial space within areas of the Klang Valley.

Completing eight projects in eight years is evidence of just how much Binastra Group is raising its abilities.

When asked what the company’s secret was, Michael laughed and said, '"There is no secret." According to Michael, Binastra Group is a property developer with no specific property specialisation as it does not believe in limiting itself to only one type of development.

"We build according to what is needed," says Tan.

Because of this, Binastra is consistently on the lookout for new land and project sites in the Klang Valley. Tan adds that there may be some plans in the works for Binastra to expand its development projects to Penang and even to Johor Baru in the next five years.

Today, Michael and his brother Jackson, who is joint group chief executive officer and executive director, run the day-to-day operations of the company. Binastra Group is made up of two major divisions; the property development arm managed by Michael and the construction arm managed by Jackson.

"Being a contractor and a developer at the same time gives us better control and extra assurance in terms of the quality of the property and the delivery times," he added.

Above and beyond its completed projects, Binastra has RM1.38bil worth of current and ongoing projects.

Ongoing projects include The Park @ Bukit Serdang, 32 Avenue Phases 1 and 2 @ Bukit Serdang, Megah 18 Phase 2 @ Bukit Jelutong and Green Terrain @ Cheras 9 2013 to mid-2014. Some of the group’s projects are slated to be completed and unveiled in 2016.

Cybersquare Cyberjaya

Breathing new life into Cyberjaya’s city centre, Cybersquare is located within the heart of Cyberjaya.

As Tan aptly puts it, "Location is everything."

Cybersquare is easily accessible via major highways — the KL-Putrajaya Highway, the North-South Expressway, the New Klang Valley Expressway, Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong — and surrounded by a multitude of MNC's and universities.

The location of this RM513mil mixed development is meticulously planned into three sustainable components of residential (SoHo), offices (Biro) and retail spaces (Fiesta).

The SoHo, that comprises a total of two towers — Apex Tower (37 storeys; 670 units) and Vertex Tower (38 storeys; 754 units) — provide highly adaptable living spaces that can be a home or even a home-based office with two layout choices of 450 sq ft studios and 775 sq ft 1+1 bedroom units.

Biro, the two signature six-storey office blocks offer a total of about 42,000 sq ft per block, making it the perfect layout for medium-sized and even large companies. Units were sold en-bloc, giving owners full flexibility to design the space to suit their business needs.

Fiesta holds 21 exclusive units of two- and three-storey shop offices with practical and spacious layouts measuring 22ft by 66ft per floor, making it suitable for a wide array of retail and business operations.

The project in its entirety is equipped with an array of lifestyle facilities including an Olympic-size glass pool flanked by tropical landscaping and a sky garden dedicated for relaxation and outdoor activities.

These offerings resonated with homebuyers and when the Cybersquare units started selling in July, 98% were sold in just three weeks.

All these happened even before a brochure was printed.

The Reach @Titiwangsa 

Towering at 41 storeys, The Reach is a freehold luxury condominium project located in the highly sought after area of Titiwangsa right in the vibrant city of KL where everything you would need is right within reach. Strategically located along Jalan Pahang and the Duke Highway intersection with direct access to Duke, it is also easily accessible via Jalan Pahang, Jalan Tun Razak and Jalan Titiwangsa.

Only 5km away from the Petronas Twin Towers KLCC, The Reach offers a panoramic view of Titiwangsa Lake and the twin towers from the medium or large units ranging from 1,400 to 2,700 sq ft. It is set to be launched in October, but even then, sales from the private preview alone have already exceeded 70% of the units.

Green Residence @ Cheras

One of Binastra's upcoming projects that Tan is eager to see completed is a high-rise residential project called Green Residence in Cheras. The project is currently being built on about 10 acres of freehold, elevated land along the Grand Saga Highway that links Cheras and Kajang.

The artist's impressions show three towers — with Block A featuring 19 storeys of 178 units, Block B 26 storeys of 192 units and Block C 30 storeys of 224 units.

When broached about whether there would be anymore revival projects considering the many abandoned sites around the Klang Valley, Tan said, as long as legal issues can be resolved and worked through, Binastra would be more than happy to take on more revival projects in the future.

On whether they have bigger plans in the works, Tan said Binastra would like to venture into property projects in Penang and Johor next.

Binastra aims to create new projects with a total worth of RM1.5bil in the next two years, a slight increase from the RM1.38bil of projects for this year alone.

Though much has changed over the years, Tan agrees that after 33 years of experience, Binastra Group still maintains its business philosophy adapted since its inception of "Profitability acquired without sacrificing quality".

When asked what quality means to him, his answer is simple, "It is when your workmanship is of a certain standard that gives you fewer or even no complaints from customers. Their feedback is the most important."