JOHOR BARU: Forest City is quickly gaining interest among potential tenants who work in Singapore and the surrounding areas.
A property agent, who wanted to to be known only as Nazeri, said the renting out of properties had been improving since the Covid-19 Movement Control Order was lifted.
He said a large number of locals were enquiring about renting houses in the area.
However, a problem has arisen because many of the owners — mostly from China — have yet to collect their house keys.
"In the days during the Movement Control Order, the area was a bit quiet, but now we have more people living in Forest City.
"There are still many empty houses that we cannot rent out because the owners, who are mostly in China, have yet to come and collect their house keys."
Built on the southern tip of Johor, the 1,740-ha Forest City is a mixed development that includes residential, leisure, commercial and industrial spaces on four islands.
It was previously reported that the developer at Forest City had handed over keys to more than 20,000 residential units, far below the planned 700,000 residents expected to be living there upon completion in 2035.
As the name suggests, Forest City emphasises greenery. Buildings incorporate attractions like crawlers and outdoor decorative plants, even near the balcony of every house. After being deserted during the pandemic, many houses were covered with unmaintained plants.
The closure of international borders hit businesses on the first island particularly hard.
Forest City's first island houses residences, an international school, retail and commercial spaces and luxury hotels.
Almost 90 per cent of the shop lots and commercial spaces have been left abandoned. This has given Forest City a new moniker — The Ghost Town.
However, Nazeri admitted the ghost town moniker did little to dampen demand for property in the area.
"Some say the area is haunted. It's located too far from other places, and it has become like an actual forest. So, people prefer to rent in other areas such as Gelang Patah.
"But we must understand that this forest concept is what they are going for.
"Things are better now as compared with when the borders were closed. It looks nice now because it is well kept.
"Those days, during the MCO, it was unkempt because workers were not allowed to work," said Nazeri, who has been a property agent for four years.
When the New Straits Times visited Forest City recently, contractors were seen maintaining the areas.
Nazeri said many Malaysians working at the Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) and Singapore like the "low rent with excellent facilities" appeal of the place.
"Rent is quite low. A fully furnished one-bedroom unit with one bathroom unit is going for only RM850 a month, and a house with two bedrooms and a bathroom is only RM1,200.
"If you compare with areas such as Country Garden in Johor Baru, a fully furnished one-bedroom apartment will be rented out for RM1,300 and a two-bedroom unit will go for RM1,800 a month.
"Here, in Forest City, with a rent similar to that of a flat, one can enjoy many facilities."
Nazeri said out of 50 people who inquired about Forest City properties, 10 would confirm their tenancy within a week.
Another property agent, Seri Izzati Roslee, 31, said she had not received any complaints from clients renting units in Forest City. She said the rooms and apartments were selling like hotcakes.
"There will be inquiries intantly after we upload any advertisement. We can rent out two apartments in a week."
She said interested parties included those who worked in Singapore, Iskandar Puteri and PTP.
She said a fully furnished room could be rented out for about RM350 a month, and a fully furnished apartment was between RM900 and RM1,200 a month.
Unfurnished apartments would be between RM600 and RM650 a month. - NST
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