Property Malaysia

IJM Properties have launched yet another project in the Klang Valley, hot on the heels of last month’s Laman GranView. This time, it is also another of the ill-fated Talam’s landbank, now taken full advantage of by the IJM group (and the financial backing). This piece of land is situated in the Ukay Perdana / Hulu Kelang area.

Actually from what we know, IJM have been wanting to launch this project for quite some time now, given the recent uptrend of property market in this area. But some factors have made the launch only possible until now. Quite of a few projects have been launched prior to this around here, and the nearest would be Sering Ukay. Some the others are:
Ukay Bayu and Puncak Ukay, Ukay Heights
Laman Oakleaf, Ampang
3Residen, Melawati
Kemensah Mewah, Hulu Kelang
Kemensah Residency, Kemensah Heights

To get here is quite straightforward, turn off the MRR2 at the Ukay Perdana interchange, which is the same one leading to Kampung Pasir. Pass Sering Ukay on your right and just follow the signs leading to the project site. At the moment, there is no show house, the sales office is located in IJM’s head office in PJ. Coming to the site, you will appreciate one of the reasons why this place took some time to launch – there is considerable infrastructure done prior to this (and still ongoing) due to the nature of the terrain. The site is nestled on the small hilltops. This is ideal for a living place, in that it is surrounded by greenery and according to the salespeople, it is part of a forest reserve that will not be developed, at least not in the near future.

But it also means that there is little land that is suitable available for development, after subtracting the area for fill slopes and infrastructure works like wall and such. Also, the cost of the infrastructure works is almost always factored into the unit price that is borne by the purchaser. The 90 acres that they have for this project is large by any standard, and even more so when considering the good location and proximity to the city centre. By comparison, Sering Ukay also invested quite a sum into their infrastructure preparatory works prior to the pilot launch.

There is currently one access road leading up to the development, but there is plan for another connecting leading to Kemensah Heights. This adds an air of being secluded to the area, but it also poses a problem of traffic in future, since there is limited choice of how to get in and out.

Altogether, the masterplan for this 90-acre development consists of 821 units, consisting of mainly linkhomes and semi-D homes. For this first phase, they are launching a limited number of linkhomes, nearest to the entrance, 225 in total. There are a lot of unmarked plots in the master plan, but the salespeople were not forthcoming with what they were planned for. But there should not be any apartments or highrise of that sort, but we feel they may opt for higher end homes like bungalows in the later phases although this is not shown at the moment.

As with the scarcity of land mentioned above, the linkhomes launched are pretty small yet pricey comparatively. The unit is a small 20’ x 70’ two storey home with a 1400sq.ft. buildup. The layout is pretty unimaginative for IJM’s own standards, probably in an attempt to limit the unnecessary cost that is transferred directly to the bottomline price. The layout is rectangular – 20’ of driveway, unit is about 40’ long, the remaining 10’ serves as a backyard. There are 4 bedrooms, and 3 baths, even the dry and wet kitchen is combined into one. The no-frills design is offset with a pleasant façade design, and this is where IJM Properties maintain their signature look and overall feel with earth tone colours.

Not counting the low cost homes in Klang, this stands as the most affordable landed units that IJM have launched in recent years. But we quite disappointed with the minimalistic design that is coupled with a minimum price tag of more than RM350k (it is, after all only 1400sq.ft.), but it still far cheaper than the recent Laman GranView. But at this build-up, it not accessible to the entry-level buyers, so the main selling point is the view and green surrounding. However, with the tight competition in this area offering the almost similar concept, this is a rather tough sell.