Property Malaysia

Bandar Menjalara seems buzzing with new and buzzworthy projects in the recent years, boosted mainly by the massive Desa Parkcity and Sunway SPK (review here) launched some time back. Sunway SPK, which originally sold the large tract of land to Perdana Parkcity to develop the former, is now almost completed and will be handed over to purchasers soon.

Desa Parkcity (DPC), on the other hand, has many parcels of both landed (e.g. LeVenue II) and apartment units (Zenia, Nadia, etc) and will take some years to be fully developed in its entirety, and some of the earlier launches are also going to be ready soon.

These new developments are actually built on the edge of the older Kepong, and Bandar Menjalara. Bandar Menjalara, actually grew in prominence since about 15 years ago, and now, developer Radiant Symphony is building Menjalara 18 Residences (or just Menjalara 18) at the edge Bandar Menjalara bordering with Desa Park City.

If you are familiar with Bandar Menjalara, you’d know the Telekom building. Well, this project is actually behind the aforesaid Telekom building. Behind it, there are some existing double storey linkhomes, across the road is a tract of land belonging to Sunway SPK. They are currently clearing it for some future development. From this site, you can exit out to the LDP (past DPC and Sunway SPK) or you can also go out to the Middle Ring Road II (MRR2) via Kepong. Another alternative is to Taman Sinar Segambut. Come to think of it, it’s actually very near to Segambut, and buyers may want to compare to some of the projects launched there recently, like Bukit Segambut Apartments and Anjung Tiara.

From Segambut, you can go on to Mont’Kiara, Sri Hartamas and the Duta area, but bear in mind you’ll be passing through some narrow roads in part and also heavily trafficked roads (some areas by heavy trucks). There is also a planned exit out to Jalan Kuching, although the developer was not able to give more details on this proposed road, but anyhow from the looks of it, it’s a little too far away from this site to make much of a impact on the buying decision.

The building comprises of a few levels of parking, then a common podium level, and two similar towers. The clubhouse and common facilities are located near the entrance, adjoining one of the towers. The plot of land that the building is set upon is oddly shaped, it kind of wraps around the existing Telekom building, with a narrow strip of land for the entrance. There’s good and bad to this, the building is set a little in from the main road, giving it an exclusive drive in feel, similar to some of the condos we’ve seen in Singapore (although here it probably isn’t a design choice). On the downside, lower levels will have their view obstructed by the Telekom building. But it isn’t that bad, as very few units are affected.

There are generally two views, KL City view, or alternatively Menjalara view. In addition to that, there a some which are have a clear pool view. There are two unit types available , 1,316 and 1,635sq.ft. Duplex penthouses are also available, from 2,793 to 3,120sq.ft. The build-up of the duplexes aren’t that sizable because it isn’t really a duplex unit, the upper floor is taken up by a pool, a large roof garden, and a raised pool deck. The build-up of the higher floor matches the lower floor level, and they have wisely not included the higher floor space in the unit build-up.

But let’s concentrate on the two typical unit types. We found them both very attractive and appealing. The smaller one, (Type A, 1,316sq.ft) has 3 rooms plus one study. All three rooms are quite well-spaced, although the kitchen is a little small. Also, the attached bath for the master is small, too. In return , the yard is quite spacious to cater for most Asian families, and there is a second exit from the yard to the common corridor. The second type, (Type B, 1,635sq.ft) is quite similar, but here there are 4+1 rooms. Good for big families or opening out one room for rent.

There are only 8 units per floor, and the developer is marketing them as semi-D units, in the sense that there is only one unit sharing a common party wall with each other unit. Similar to what you’ll find in Opal Damansara down in Kota Damansara.

Units on the common podium floor has an extra private garden space (but hope your neighbours aren’t those that like to flick cigarette butts and rubbish out their windows…)

In terms of facilities, the clubhouse and common area have lots to offer. Lots and lots. Like swimming pool, Jacuzzi, nursery, a lot lah, we’re not going to list it all here. This is also in addition to that they have marketed this place as very near to Mutiara Damansara, and the crown jewels there – Ikea, the Curve, 1 Utama, you know the drill. Although it isn’t far, but there is actually a toll in between…

This is Radiant Symphony’s first project, but they are quick to point out that the company has vast experience in managing other projects (although they didn’t mention which). Managing some one else’s project is decidedly different from steering your own project from ground up. So we’d say that you should consider them as first time developers (rightly so) but not inexperienced. According to them, they are also not working on any other soon-to-be launched projects at the moment.

Units come with one or two parking spaces, depending on the unit size. All parking bays are covered. Very important, that.

At the moment, the show unit is still under construction, tentatively will be ready in December. At the moment, the sales office is located in the supremely congested Plaza Medan Putra.

Right, the bottomline. We haven’t done an in depth survey of the prices of apartments in DPC, but we understand that it is generally priced slightly higher. A competitor would be the nearby Beverly Tower at Plaza Medan Putra (review here), which has also been recently launched. But that one, although priced slightly cheaper, is a serviced apartment, built atop a large multi-storey supermarket , so Menjalara 18, has already huge advantage in that aspect (unless you’re a service apartment fan). But the market here seem hungry for apartment space, judging from the good sales of most of the projects here, and from the looks of it, there’ll be a few more coming soon.

We like this place. It’s mediumly densed, at 18 floors for each tower (thereby giving it the name, now you know). Pricing is competitive, it’s a well connected area, highways and existing commercial and residential areas all around. It’s freehold, and as the people in DPC always say, “This one KL address“…