Residency @ Park 51, Petaling Jaya
A friend of ours joked that the name of this new condo project is a pop culture reference to Area 51 in the Nevada desert notorious for the purported alien sighting.
But we’re guessing it is refering to the Section number of Petaling Jaya where it is situated.
But in all frankness, we would never have guessed that there would be substantial vacant (or available) land in this part of PJ for a medium scale development like this one. Well if you take a moment to study how the type of land that they have pieced together to form Park 51 (or ask the salespeople to tell you). This area is more known for its factory lots like Cycle and Carriage and Guiness Anchor Berhad and existing village interspersed with equally old landed homes from PJ’s earliest days.
What the developer has done is acquire all the available land (some of them occupied by squatters) and relocated them to low-cost apartments built specially for this purpose. The low cost apartments, Impian Baiduri, are located in the same area, and have been recently completed and occupied.
Some of our associates have noted their concern regarding the connectivity of this area. While it is surrounded by 3 major highways - the Federal Highway, the LDP and the NPE, getting out of this area onto any of the three routes isn’t as straightforward as it seems. This is partly due to the current restrictions of the inner roads surrounding the project site, which are desperately in need of widening but the lack of road reserve cannot allow this. The other reason is that the peak hour traffic on LDP and Federal Highway is crippling to say the least, especially at this all important interchange. But of course those who have stayed here long enough would partly be used to it and would not view it that seriously.
With the land matters settled, the developers have huge plans to make this a comprehensively designed “a City within a City”, despite the current image of the area. Considering all the parcels together, there are 28.7 acres made up of 6 parcels namely made up of 2 parcels for condominiums - Residency (5.6 acres) and MyHome (2.5 acres), and commercial parcels named Boulevard (2.8 acres), Commerce Square (2.8 acres) and Paragon Towers (15 acres). This review will only for Block D of Residency, the only open for sale at the moment.
Residency is a narrow strip of land which will be fully developed as the footprint of the building. The clubhouse with the facilities will be located at the centre of the strip, with three towers of condos (presumably named A, B and C) at the northern end while there is one block of twin towers at the other end, which is named Block D. Block D is the tower which is being launched at the moment. We have been told by the sales people that the other 3 blocks may be sold en bloc or to foreign purchasers.
The entire strip of land forms a monolith of structure, held together by about 5 storeys of parking structure to accomodate the many number of units planned for the entire Residency. The common facilities are in the clubhouse, and also at the podium level, at the top of the parking structure between the towers. For Block D, there are 16 levels of units, and the two wings are symmetrical. A the maximum there are 8 units per floor per wing, giving a total of 256 units for Block D alone. There are 4 units of duplex penthouses at the very top of each wing, that means 8 in total. The penthouse units have a total of 1,867sq.ft. of space in two floors, plus 1,035sq.ft. of roof terrace (which actually is the roof of the neighbouring unit). The roof terrace is an interesting feature, but it is very expensive.
The other single floor units come in many different types, we have noted at least 5 types. There are two type of small units (F1 and F2), limited to only at level 1 and 2, at 662 and 675sq.ft. At the lowest level 1, these units come with generous planter box space, good only if you appreciate maintaining the greenery (and falling small pieces of debris from the higher floors). On most of the other floors, the units are either Type C (1,143sq.ft.), C1 (994sq.ft.) and F (921sq.ft.). The units are typefied by being either corner units or intermediate units, the number of these per floor vary according to the layout for that particular floor.
The smaller units are basically studio units, but with a utility that can be used as a very small bedroom, but would most likely be a store room. The masterbedroom for these units are large, larger than even the living room. But with less than 700sq.ft. to work with, plus a balcony, it is obviously suited for the single working adult without much stuff to store.
The larger units come with either 2, 2+1 or 3+1 rooms, all with balcony. The baths are rather small though. Purchasers are given free membership to clubhouse facilities.
In a nutshell, the location, while good, can be a double edged sword depending on how you perceive it. The narrow strip of land for Residency makes the design of the condominium quite problematic. Pricing from RM300psf upwards isn’t cheap for this context.
| Project Name | Residency @ Park 51 |
| Location | Petaling Jaya |
| Description | Residential condominium |
| Land type | Leasehold |
| Development Size | 5.6 acres (Total for 5 plots is 28 acres) |
| Encumbrance | Ambank (M) Berhad |
| Price | From RM193,888 - RM704,888 (from about RM300psf onwards |
| Unit size | 662 - 2,443 sq.ft. |
| No of units | 664 |
| Launch Date | now available |
| Expected Completion | 2011 |
| Developer | Taipan Focus Sdn. Bhd. |
| Contact | 03 – 3371 6010 |
| Website | www.taipangroup.com.my |
I visited this development, i don’t think they are selling higher that 300psf, is around 250psf,which i think is reasonable at this high construction cost trend, however the review here is totally not encouraging, i m sure there are good points as well like the whole area at section 51 is changing and redevelop, the developer is try thier best i must say, perhaps the reviewer can consider this. To be honest currently in PJ to find a new development at this price is impossible unless 2nd hand. any way leave it to other to comment.
Comment by Boon — September 9, 2008 @ 9:06 pm
I think the price is too high. Price of construction material like steel dropping. So expect price of houses to drop too.
Comment by nik271 — September 10, 2008 @ 8:41 am
i think the writer forgot to mention that the developer is giving 10% discount of the selling price which after discount is around 235/sqft
Comment by walle — September 12, 2008 @ 5:55 pm
the developer seems unknown though
Comment by woon — September 12, 2008 @ 6:03 pm
I am not sure if it’s discount! more like developer pays the 10% deposit on your behalf so that there is no cash upfront from buyers. Yr SPA price is still the original price.
I don’t feel too good abt this project. too close to cementaries, factories and narrow roads.
Comment by linustw — September 15, 2008 @ 1:53 pm
I am totally agree with linustw that cementaries is too near with condo is not very good. if purchase a unit which facing the cementaries, i will not able to sleep very night and very scary.
Comment by Bryan — September 16, 2008 @ 12:15 am
Over the years I learnt to buy smart properties. abodes closer to those general ‘patang’ things are a definite NO NO. why gives prospective rentee or potential buyer a -ve thought when there are other properties in the market free of such prohibitives?
Comment by linustw — September 16, 2008 @ 12:22 pm
hey, where is the cemeteries located at? Facing KL or Subang? OMG, i juz bought one unit there
Comment by anonymous — September 23, 2008 @ 5:12 pm
It’s difficult to find new development in PJ area anymore. The surrounding is not ideal but the layout is practical with good finishing. If you’re thinking of getting a unit, better get it while you can still get the 10% discount. Location wise, it’s still relatively near to PJ SS2 and not that far away from the Federal Highway which will get you to anywhere else.
Comment by 007 — September 26, 2008 @ 7:54 pm
exactly that what i m thinking commented by OO7, this project is still relatively cheap as compared to current market situation. cemeteries issue is not a big issue, all has been blocked by the impian baiduri development, block D is far away as compared to Block A, B & C. i try to view from Sri Setia aparment somewhere near here, the view is fantastic, the KLCC tower is surprisingly quite big in scale although in actual you can only see almost 2 tower overlapped, but the whole KL skyline is right infront of your balcony and window if you buy unit facing KL, not that bad as well, those facing Subang you may have chances seeing Subang Golf course if you are ok with west sun.
the way i see this area will be going thru a thorough change of land use not far from now, the land cost of PJ particularly this area has been keep raising up, logically it is no viable to use as factories anymore, commercial will overshadow section 51. this can be seen whole stretch of federal HW has been keep changing, i suppose this is good investment..
Comment by jenifer — September 26, 2008 @ 9:08 pm
Hi, Anyone want to sell their unit.Please contant with me 0123139194.
Comment by KC — October 3, 2008 @ 9:28 pm
I had been the area few times to check on the access. Indeed the access is a problem later. The road is quite narrow. But the sales person mentioned that the road will be 4 lanes in the future. I am not sure how true it is. According to the sales person, almost 80% had been booked and 10% discount is no more applicable for the later units booked. Other than the access matter, the security factor is another vital issue that have to look into.
Comment by Mimi — October 8, 2008 @ 3:25 pm
I am so happy to hear that the KLCC view is nice because i am buying the penthouse unit with huge rooftop terrace. my sales person told me that they will have intercom system (which is great because i love privacy!) and card access from parking and club house. They are also trying to implement card limited access to floors. The location is not bad, I test drive three times to mid valley and took me less than 10 mins and less than 10mins to sunway pyramid! cemetery very far away and already being blocked by impian baiduri and completely will be block by paragon tower (the business tower) in the future. I am very excited for the penthouse and not really have any problem with the “leasehold” status because if gov wants to buy your property, they will buy at current price (which will be high because of PJ area). Yes, close to SS2 and who knows in 2011 what else gonna happen in PJ area. The security is scary no matter you are in PJ, KL, Subang etc. That is the price you have to pay for development. The sales person and one of the “big guy” from this developer said that the security will be tight and they will install the CCTV in very common area. If this house is ready, I would install more CCTV around my house like entryway, main house area and terrace. There are a lot of technology out there that can let you check your house while you are not around with your computer or online. You should protect yourself!!
Comment by LK — November 16, 2008 @ 4:17 am
Wa La! I’m very excited with this Project. I just received a copy of SPA for my Penthouse unit. I hope the security intercom system will realized too. I hope the Block A,B and C will be SOLD OUT soon, so that the whole project can complete at the same time. For investment or family, this is superb value for money!~
Comment by DG — December 8, 2008 @ 5:04 pm
Checked out the development over the weekend and it seems over 90% sold for both the block D leave only the bigger 1143sqft unit available. Developer also increased the price by 10% of the remaining units paying way for the launch of Block A.
Comment by chrislee — December 24, 2008 @ 9:46 am
Also noted that they provide better than average sanitary wares for all the bathroom. Even the master bathroom comes with glass panel shower screen. The clubhouse facilities are not common and you need to subscribe to the club to use it. This does translate into lower maintenance fee for the entire development.
Comment by chrislee — December 24, 2008 @ 9:51 am
I am interested to buy a unit, for investment, any comments?
Comment by M123 — March 31, 2009 @ 8:32 pm
i just brought one unit, which is the 1143sq…i think i have make a right decision and good investment. Trust me, you wont regret!
Comment by Eve — April 9, 2009 @ 5:19 pm
hi,Eve.Which floor you brought? i brought a unit at 15 floor and also 1143sq.
Comment by AhKC — April 11, 2009 @ 10:09 pm
hi,Eve.Which floor you brought? i brought a unit at 15 floor and also 1143sq.
Comment by AhKC — April 11, 2009 @ 10:10 pm
hi AhKC,sorry for late reply!! mine is 7th floor…facing west..
Comment by Eve — April 14, 2009 @ 10:15 am
Looks like the developer planted their own people to push their condos!!
who talks like ChrisLee!
Comment by sri — July 17, 2009 @ 5:48 pm
eve oso..
Comment by Kg — July 17, 2009 @ 5:51 pm