Property Malaysia

Anyone frequenting the LDP stretch near the infamous Sunway toll would have at least seen this project with it’s huge billboard just beside the dedicated flyover. The billboard denotes the actual site for the project, it can’t be seen from the highway, because it blocked partly by the flyover and also by the high noise barrier wall lining the side of the reserve. This project has been launched for some time now and will be handed over towards the end of this year.

Casabella is actually on two pieces of land forming a narrow strip with one street and houses on both sides. On one side is, as mentioned earlier, the LDP. The elevated flyover is on the side that is parallel to the river between Sunway and Puchong. The remaining two sides are flanked by the proposed South Quay by Sunway and the existing Bandar Sunway double storey linkhomes. While this 2 pieces of land are not owned and developed by Sunway, it is easily mistaken so, because of its location deep within Sunway territory. Besides, they use images of Sunway’s landmarks heavily in their brochure, which lends to the perception.

Years ago, there was a ‘U’ turn right before the Bandar Sunway toll towards Puchong, which lent some of it notoriety (some, not all) to that said toll house, but it has now been replaced by a new flyover that has slightly alleviated the traffic problem here, but only just slightly. The entrance to Casabella is via the Persiaran Lagoon, just before Sunway Medical Centre.

Casabella is 31 units of bungalows on leasehold land. With such a hectic and ‘squeezed out’ site for a location, they are planning an enclave of luxury bungalows large enough for you to stay indoors without worrying about the outside. At least in theory it should work, somehow or rather the noise and fumes from the traffic will still affect the resident of not just here, but Bandar Sunway as a whole.

There are 9 different design of bungalows, to offer a wider variety of choice to the buyers, and also giving some degree of exclusivity to each home, where there are only a handful of homes with almost the same layout as any particular one. Another reason for this is also the different plot size available.

The plots are mostly standard long rectangles, with corner units larger in size. The units near the entrance are quite small. The smallest plot is 5,005sq.ft. and the largest is 3 times that size at 14,499sq.ft.

The nine different design retains a similar look and feel, what is different is the internal layout and build-up size. 3,858 and 6,465sq.ft. We won’t go into all the designs here, but as we always say, with so much space, you can’t really go wrong. But all the unit types have 6 bedrooms, 1 entertainment room, and 7 baths. All of them are 2 and a half storeys.

The overall feel is quite luxurious. We felt there were some similarities (but still distinctive) in the finishing as with some of the more expensive homes by SP Setia, and the facade is also well designed with elegant pitched roofs and paint color.

Prices are from RM1,900,000 to RM3,940,000. We can’t really put our finger on the price of the unit, but with the constraints of the location and neighbouring developments and the fact that it is freehold, we think that it is not favourable. There are less hectic places to get a bungalow at the better price, but for just those who really love the area and want to upgrade to a bigger place, well… Otherwise, we feel it’s a bit more suited for upmarket areas like Damansara Heights, and not entirely on the same page as the neighbouring development (if you don’t take into account the yet to be launched South Quay).

In terms of facilities, there’s close to nothing here, seeing that most of it has been taken up by the homes. The homes bordering the linkhomes of Bandar Sunway have only a fence separating the two, you can see into each other’s backyards. South Quay is not yet built, but when it is completed, we reckon it would be quite close to the homes here, too. There is security provided, though.