Property Malaysia

Some of you have noticed that there’s been a slight change in the content of the this blog starting sometime towards the end of last month. We’ve done away with a lot of other stuff like property related news and the ilk and are only concentrating on the stuff that matters - reviews, progress photos, and developer / project related stuff.

January is the first full month of this in action, we’ll see how it goes in the short term. There were 4 reviews in January, and one carried over from December. As always, the reviews page has been updated.

Vistaria Residences, Bandar Puchong Jaya

Garnet, Putra Heights (Putra Avenue)
Villa Manja, Damansara
Twins, Damansara Heights
Dhyan Puri

Anyone that stay nearby the hilltop area of Bandar Puchong Jaya would know well enough that IOI have been very busy in the past one year. At the top of the rock mountain, they’ve been chipping away for most of last year, and have completed a spanking new Chinese school (Ladang Harcroft) which was launched at the end of 2007.

Slightly below the school, they’ve also been busy building this brand new phase of luxury superlink homes, and have only just open the phase to purchase in their recent sales launch. Along with the massive earthworks done here, they’ve also constructed an interchange dedicated to this phase and also to ease the traffic coming down the steep incline from the school.

Anyway you look at it, the school is a stroke of genius on the developer’s part. With it, they get brownie points for the community service. And along with it, they increase the value of all the homes around here (including many of the older existing phases) seeing how much purchasers value it.

The developers have also delayed the launch of Vistaria Residences up until now, when the construction of the 79 units are almost nearing completion, to time it right after the launch of the Chinese school as a marketing strategy. It also helps in that buyers can actually see the units when buying, this is a privilege only a financially solid developer can offer, especially when you consider the price of the units on sale here.

Vistaria Residences consists of 3 rows of units terraced down with the highest row furthest in from the entrance. This row commands a RM50k premium for the view, although the row next to the main road has longer backyard for those looking for additional garden space, up to 24′ x 130′. The standard unit is 24′ x 80′ and the corner units offer a wider garden area.

Because of the terraced nature of the platforms here, the units have a steep slope for their garden. There are two types of units here, A and B. Both are two and a half storey units, Type A has a sub-basement half floor while for Type B, the carpark entrace is from the half floor basement at the lowest level. Obviously Type B is located at the highest row, while the rest are Type A. Type B is also smaller (3,002sq.ft.) compared to Type A (3,123sq.ft.). Larger corner units go up to 4,235sq.ft.

Albeit the difference in layout and build up, both types have 5 bedrooms and 4 attached baths. Type A has 3 living lounges while Type B has 2, plus a powder room. Personally we are more partial to Type A, but Type B has its own charm, too. The finishing specs are quite high in line with the price structure, and the facade has this simple, earthy, grey white finish with traditional roof pitching and lines. It’s quite a departure from the overload of hoods and sills and pastel colours of contemporary design that some other developers are pushing recently. The facade looks a bit like a townhouse.

There is a playground on elevated ground, and a linear exercise park, plus the usual security features. The average price for Type A is RM825k while Type B is RM850k. This price range puts it in the category of a semi-D in other development, but Bandar Puchong Jaya is a fully developed and matured township that few others can match, plus there’s also the elevated location and that Chinese school…

Sime Properties recently re-launched their Putra Avenue homes allowing the public to view their recently completed show units. Previously, the site was inaccessible to small vehicles, but now potential buyers can see the actual homes to have a better view of the units. There are five unit types available for sale at the moment, some of them have been open to buyers for quite some time now:

Sapphire
Ruby
Amethyst
Emerald

Garnet is the latest in the series, a 24′ x 75′ linkhome that doesn’t stray too far from the existing formula. It is more of different facade and layout to add to the series of homes available in Putra Avenue as a whole. As a recap, Putra Avenue is the name given to the cluster of phases on the east of the NKVE, differentiated from the rest of the phases in Putra Heights. If you are driving in from the LDP, Putra Avenue is immediately seen on your left.

If you are not familiar with Putra Heights,it is located between Puchong and Shah Alam, just beyond USJ and it’s has really been industriously developed in the last five years. It is inevitable that the development has come to this area, with USJ now being fully developed and all the areas surrounding here are encroaching with new homes and townships.

Seeing Putra Avenue at the site, it is much lower than the the other precincts of Putra Heights, plus there is a mountain with power lines atop overlooking it. In addition to that, this area is also located beside the NKVE, and that too will define the area asa whole.

Garnet consists of 6 parallel rows of homes, with a water retention pond acting as a landscaped park at one corner. The standard unit is about 2,160sq.ft. build-up, but corner and end units have slightly larger designs and plot sizes. The standard features Putra Heights homes are here - alternating types, premium for ‘favourable’ numbers, etc.

The layout is pretty simple this time around. There are three bedrooms upstairs, and a utility room (with minimal ventilation) downstairs. The kitchen is well-sized, and we like the wide gate provided for two side by side parking bays.

The price of unit is from RM393,888 to RM725,888, which is in the same bracket as the other phases.

Sime are a huge property developer in Malaysia, and have many projects in Klang Valley and across the country.

This area has seen remarkable growth in the past two years. While Bandar Sri Damansara has matured into an established neighbourhood along with the older Bandar Manjalara and Kepong, it is the newer Desa Park City (DPC) and Sunway SPK that has raised the profile of this vicinity. Without a doubt DPC has played a huge part in bringing investors’ attention to this previously little-noticed area.

On their part, Sunway SPK has not been watching from the sidelines. They reserved the best plot of land nearest to the LDP for their Sunway SPK Damansara Phase 1 and 2 (reviewed here) which sold well. It provided healthy competition and a viable alternative to DPC’s middle priced range of homes.

Sunway is now tackling a higher bracket of homes with the launch of the semi-D units in Villa Manja, although they call them ‘Twin Villas’. This plot of land is further in the road towards Manjalara, facing DPC, located just between Medan Putra and Menjalara 18 if you are coming from the LDP. The site is a rectangular strip of land parallel to the road, with the existing Manjalara shoplots at the back of the project. The location is quite favorable if you are in the market for a home in the area, the are many easy access roads to come in and out.

Altogether there are 196 units of semi-D units, and with only one type of layout set on a rather generous 45’ x 90’ plot. The build-up is 3,498sq.ft. for the standard unit, which low for such a large plot size due to a few reasons. One of the reasons is that some of the space is used for garden area. There is a garden at the entrance on the ground floor, in addition to the garden space all round the house. There is also a roof garden next to the bath attached to the master bedroom which is one of the features of the unit. Other than that, the unit adheres rather strictly to the rectangular layout, the outside façade is quite tastefully done, with tall windows, and contemporary designed roof. Glass is also a major feature here, with tempered glass used railing for the roof garden and balcony, and also for the stair balustrade. May not be suitable for young children.

Another feature is the gallery are which can act as a family or breakfast area, it is between the living and dining, and looks out to the side lanai, or open terrace. This affords a lot of interior design options, and it is definitely a better option than an open courtyard that we’ve seen in many other projects. However the gallery is proportionately narrow compared to the rest of the house, it gives the impression of being just a walkway to some people. But as we always say, it boils down to personal taste.

Not much to comment here, except that for RM1.8million upwards, you are getting a large home on freehold land. The price is similar to DPC, but the designs are different and potential buyers should view both the see which one they prefer. There are no other facilities in the project aside from the parks and playground, so this is something they lack compared to their nearest competitor. But to counter that, they are packaging lots of freebies with the unit to sweeten the deal for buyers. Please check with the salespeople for further details.

With the high-profile DPC being continually developed across the road, it is definitely going to help with the value of the property in coming years. This project is a joint venture between SPK homes and Sunway City Bhd, both experienced players with many projects across the Klang Valley.

New year, new resolutions, new projects. To kick off 2008, there is Twins at Damansara Heights, a high end condominium development project that has just been launched.

Damansara Heights has become quite a touchy issue of late when it comes to new project. The area is synonymous with rich and famous, along with the surrounding areas like Bukit Bandaraya and Bukit Damansara. The quiet bungalow lifestyle here is a marked difference from the bustling closely built condo scene of Mont’Kiara. So developing any high rise buildings in Damansara Heights is never is easy task, especially when you consider the fact that most of the available land is either on a hill slope, or sensitive areas that may not get through the objection process.

But Twins is on a good location, and on level ground. It is behind Menara Millennium facing Taman Bukit Damansara, surrounded by major roads and highways. Generally the location and proximity to the city is one of the main factors that make Damansara Heights so desirable, and so this is to Twins’ benefit.

The project is actually a joint venture between four parties – The Lion Group, AIG Investments, Koh Maju and Heeton Venture. The latter two are established developers from across the Causeway while the Lion Group are old hands in the Malaysian development scene. The trend of cash-rich Singaporean firms looking to invest in Malaysia continues, probably a testament to their faith in the continued profitability our property industry.

On to the development. On this 0.87 hectare land, they have inevitably gone for the upmarket segment. Way upmarket, we’d say. There are two towers of 36 storeys each, housing 318 units (considering it is surrounded mainly by landed units). The twin towers are angled slightly off the north-south axis, perhaps to avoid any units from facing the setting sun directly. This makes the towers slightly diagonal to the plot of land it sits on, making the placement of outdoor facilities slightly awkward. The plot of land is quite small to start with, so it does not afford the developers much space of landscaping to work with. But they do provide the standard issue of high end condo facilities like swimming pool, playground and Jacuzzi and more.

The towers are a bit like a teardrop in section, giving a knife edge at one corner. The lower floors have 6 units per floor (up to the 14th floor) and beyond that there are five per floor. There are also 9 penthouses per tower, and each penthouse is unique, either a duplex or triplex (including a private roof garden) ranging from 2,171 to 5,261sq.ft. (penthouse). The standard units come in 6 different designs, and ranging from 766 to 2,078sq.ft.

Because of the building shape, the units are odd shaped, some with a curved border. The smallest units are studio units (766sq.ft.) while the largest typical unit 3+1 and comes with 3 balconies.

In summary here’s what we like – there is a good mixture of small and large units, and at about RM850psf., that means the price range starts from the affordable to expensive (price starts from RM700k). The location is, of course, undeniably enviable, so no complaints there, which also means good connectivity. The glass façade looks impressive, perhaps mirroring the trend in HK these days. The developers have a good track record (restructuring due to 1997 financial restructuring notwithstanding) and have financial backing. On the downside – we are not too fond of the building shape, although we must admit that it is a bold design statement. Consequently the unit layout is not as efficient as it can be, due to the non-orthogonal borders, but this, too, is down to personal preference. With the small plot of land, the surrounding outdoor facilities is lacking.

All in all, we’d say it’s a good start to the year.