Property Malaysia

With quite a low profile all this while, Bangsar South is brewing up to be major residential and commercial mega development in an area that is ripe with development potential. The place in question is not Bangsar however, not the hub of expatriate dining and pubbing, and million ringgit old bungalows. Its in Kerinchi, just a little off the Federal Highway at the Pantai Telekom and Universiti LRT station landmarks.

(The junction leading up to Bangsar South)

How is this Bangsar?! Never mind, maybe they reckon ‘Bangsar’ sounds a whole lot more ‘Kerinchi’. The development on a large piece of land on a slight incline, just beside the well known DBKL Kerinchi flats. The whole master development plan is an ambitious project that would embark on transforming this area which so far hasn’t really seem that many new projects despite its proximity to the city centre. Bangsar South comprises of five elements, not unlike the Mid-Valley City just further down the Federal Highway. First there is The Village, a small building for upmarket F&B outlets which is currently used as the property gallery. UOA has shown its long term commitment to the project by completing this building first, and it affords a good overall view of the project. The Horizon and Vertical are commercial components, shoppoffices and office towers respectively, while the Sphere looks like a shopping mall of some sort.

(The entrance statement at the front of the show gallery)

And then there is the Park, consisting of 8 residential towers forming a strip of condos on a hillslope facing KL.

First off the blocks is Acacia and Begonia, a two tower complex (i reckon the third condo tower will have a name starting with ‘C’, just a gut feeling…). These two towers are separated by the common facilities, and the rest of the developments around Bangsar South will be starting construction following this. So for til then the future residents will have to make do with the Village, plus the discomfort of the construction going on so near.

The front units have a good view of the KL city line, especially the higher floors, but the units on the other side suffer from a blocked view from the existing neighbouring condo. But according to the sales view, if you buy a unit that is high enough, you’ll also get a good view of “the neighbouring condo’s pool”. Oooo-kay…

(a view looking up to the site from the main road. That’s the neighbouring condo you can see, its behind the site on higher ground)

(the Village)

Both the towers look identical, employing a white and green facade dominated by the windows and a modern design, which we found to be pleasing, and the condos can probably be seen from a distance especially from lower ground when completed. The facilities also look kind of awesome, with a infinity pool design that everyone is going for these days, but again as we said, they’re only completing it with the second tower.

(Note the slope protection works )

(ongoing foundation works)

While the facade looks great, the floor plan does not fare so well. There are 8 units per floor and they all share a common lift lobby. We’d expect private lift lobbies or at least a lobby 2 units. But they make up for it with some clever design - Each unit borders only one other unit, so it can be said to be a semi-D design of sorts. However there are still only 4 corner units with two sides of open view, and the 4 units that can be considered intermediate ones. Which leads us nice to the fact that there are only two types of units available, the aforementioned corner and intermediate ones.1,910sq.ft. and 2,095sq.ft.

(The future entrance to the condo)

Type A, the corner unit, is pretty large with 3+1 rooms, plus a study area. The study does not have windows, it may be more suitable to be an alcove for the kids’ TV or games room. It opens out to the living and is right smack next to the kitchen so it may be as private as you’d expect it to be. The dining and living is pretty large, and the balcony is impressively large. If you have a good view of the KL skyline it would be an excellent place for early morning coffee or a party at night. The master bedroom is large, and so is the attached bath. However, the 2nd and 3rd rooms are pretty normal size, and they both share and attached bath. Maybe with all the space they should have considered separate attached baths. No complaints on the kitchen space, and the yard is large enough for most families.

The intermediate unit employs a slightly smaller, more square-like layout. There is no study, here. And the other difference is that the 2nd bedroom does not have an attached bath at all, which we find surprising, especially when you consider the overall build-up is over 1,900sq.ft. But overall, the larger Type A, although only slightly bigger in space, wins our vote in the design department.

(the view of KL skyline from thesite)

The common facilities when completed, should be quite impressive.

Let’s talk pricing. It starts from RM629k for the smaller unit, while the larger on starts from 800k. The ceiling price for the penthouse units goes over RM3million. The average price of RM410psf, which is still slightly cheaper than the newer launches in Mont’Kiara. But effectively this sets a high standard for an untapped area like Kerinchi, and the factors to this pricing are very different to other more mature markets in the Klang Valley. It’s very close to KL, the Federal Highway and Mid-Valley city, but on the other hand, Kerinchi still retains a lot of the old KL presently.

But overall, it is our opinion that this condo should be judged on the basis of the whole development of Bangsar South. It isn’t a one off condo project, done and dusted by a new contractor. Instead, it should be viewed as part of the larger, more ambitious comprehensive project, where the benefits of buying here can be fully appreciated when the offices, shopping mall and commercial district is up and running. In light of that, the price now seems relatively more attractive, but of course, that fulfillment of the masterplan remains a few years down the line and a lot of construction and financing needs to be realized.

So would we buy it, if we had the money? Perhaps, but it looks like the KL view units are running out fast. We won’t buy the other side of the building, nosiree bob.

UOA is quite an experienced developer in Malaysia are currently involved in many large projects across the Klang Valley. Another project by them that we have reviewed before here in Property Malaysia is Villa Yarl in Taman Yarl.