Setia Walk, Pusat Bandar Puchong
The biggest talking point in this part of town isn’t the financial fallout in the US or the local council issues, its the mega construction going on at the site of Setia Walk in Pusat Bandar Puchong. You can really miss it, its just next to the LDP between Pusat Bandar Puchong and the latest phase of shoplots in Bandar Puteri. At the moment the piling works going in full swing.
This review is on the residential condo of Setia Walk only.
But what is Setia Walk actually? It’s one of the last parcel of land in SP Setia’s Pusat Bandar Puchong, and the most lucrative by any standards. In their own words, Setia Walk is anintegrated residential and commercial development which comprises offices, retail blocks, an entertainment complex, serviced and residential apartments. The commercial area will combine conventional shop offices and a shopping mall (most of this is taken from their recent press release, since they say it best).
Phase One will consist of 85 blocks offering 170 retail and 336 office units. Prices of shop offices range between RM2.5 million and RM8.9 million per block. Retail lots will be located on the ground and first floors, and offices will occupy the higher floors. Phase Two will feature a business hotel, office tower and entertainment complex which will house cineplexes, bowling alleys and karaoke lounges; while apartments will be built in Phase Three.
The residential component will include three 27-storey blocks offering a total of 759 units. Prices start from RM210,000. There will also be 46 small office home office (Soho) units.
Taking a glance at their sales chart show that the shoplots in Phase One have been doing brisk business at the pre-launch, with most if not all of them having been snapped up. And for the time being, they have opened up one tower (out of the three planned to be built) of the residential condo for booking, the one located nearest to Bandar Puteri.
Setia Walk is right next to the LDP, located at near the elevated U turn. There will be two main entrances to the development, one off the slip road from the highway, another one is near the entrance to Taman Wawasan, which you will need to make a U turn at the junction. At the moment, the traffic can be very heavy coming out of Pusat Bandar Puchong due to the high volume of cars at peak hours, this will inevitably be compounded when Setia Walk is completed. The developers plan to add traffic lights to the the exit junction, this maybe a little trickier than it would seem if you are familiar with the road network there. But lets see how it pans out.
On one side is the existing shoplots of Pusat Bandar Puchong, behind the Setia Walk is the existing apartments and landed homes, and or the other side is the newest (and last phase) of Bandar Puteri Puchong developed by IOI Properties. There can be no through road linking the two commercial centres, since they have abutted the entertainment complex right where the road meets. Besides, the whole concept of Setia Walk does not utilizes roads, cars go straight into underground parking.
The condo blocks form a line right at the rear of the development, at the higher ground overlooking the commercial area. For the moment the they are opening one of the three blocks for booking, and it is the block nearest to Bandar Puteri.
There are 15 units per floor, and start from the 8th floor up to the 23rd floor. The residential block consists of two asymmetrical wings, 8 units per floor on the left wing and 7 on the right wing. The space for the 8th unit on the right wing is taken up by the common lifts. The three lifts service all the units on the floor.
So then, the units either face LDP, or away from the LDP, which is facing the Bukit Hitam forest reserve and the rest of Taman Wawasan / Pusat Bandar Puchong. While the front units facing LDP may not be as appealing, they have a good view of the boulevard and commercial area below. But since the apartments are the furthest away from the highway, they will not be affected so much by the noise and pollution from the traffic as you would think.
One block has 253 units, which is pretty low dense. It is a wise move by the designers to keep the number of residential units low (or maybe they were limited by the plot ratio), which will indirectly mean a strong demand for the condo units, while keeping the price of residential units in their Taman Wawasan healthy. There are already many existing apartments in this area, about 8 years old but priced lower, and with this Setia Walk, the demand for those units will surely be boosted.
The facade of the condo is quite unspectacular - nothing like the more upmarket condos that are have appeared around the Klang Valley recently. The reasons for this could be guessed, they are obviously keeping the cost of the condo down (in view of the volatile price of construction materials) and they definitely want to maintain the price of the units attractive to investors. Secondly, the attraction of the condo lies mainly in the boulevard and its landscaped water features, so perhaps it would be better to keep the expenditure where it mattered most.
But coming back to the condo - sizes available are 845, 1,007, 1,096 and 1,396sq.ft. The smallest units are almost a studio apartment design with 1+1 rooms, and the largest unit has 3 rooms. The largest unit (Type A) at 1,396sq.ft. are obviously targeted at small families who need the space, while most of the other units are targeted at the lucrative young working adult group, the mobile generation that will benefit most from the chic lifestyle that the whole Setia Walk encompasses. It is, after all, about hitting the right niche market.
Each unit is provided with one to three parking bays.
Talking about hitting the market, the prices are from RM273k to RM400k, but these prices are subject to confirmation when the official launch takes place. Judging from that pricing we’re looking at about RM320psf. Considering the good location in what can be said to be heart of Puchong, and with the freehold status of the land (although this is an apartment) and the track record of the developer, they may feel the price is justified. Whether you perceive this to be on the high side or low side depends very much on how sold you are on the whole lifestyle boulevard concept of Setia Walk. At the heart of it all, the condo is unspectacular because they aren’t really marketing and selling just the condo, they are basically marketing the high concept of the development. If you like the concept of the whole development, you will want to invest in the condo, or stay there yourself. That, we feel is the bottom line. We like that they have kept the number of units low, although they may still change the number of units for the other two blocks that have yet to be launched.
| Project Name | Setia Walk |
| Location | Pusat Bandar Puchong |
| Description | Residential condominium in integrated development |
| Land type | Freehold |
| Development Size | 20.8 acres (including commercial area) |
| Encumbrance | Nil |
| Price | From 273k - RM400k (about RM320psf |
| Unit size | 845 - 1,396sq.ft. |
| No of units | 253 |
| Launch Date | now available |
| Expected Completion | 2011 |
| Developer | S P Setia Berhad. |
| Contact | 03 – 3344 8800 |
| Website | www.spsetia.com.my |
Another overpriced development. Average household income per family in Malaysia only about rm2k-3k/month. How to afford? Govt must take action against developers for pricing houses way way above what rakyat can afford.
Comment by nik271 — September 22, 2008 @ 8:05 am
I rasa dia tak nak golongan pendapatan rendah kat sana lah … this is called market positioning?
Comment by hamzah — September 22, 2008 @ 11:06 am
this developer spsetia is elitist, meaning only want to build high end houses for rich but dont want to build low and medium end houses for the masses. boycott spsetia! get the authorities to investigate!
Comment by isaac — September 22, 2008 @ 7:59 pm
Overpriced? elite? its only 200k. free market ever here of it? You want govt action? the Govt is the reason you cant afford it. I would never live in such a low class development but it has investment possibility.
Comment by wme — September 23, 2008 @ 2:52 pm
To me, overpriced projects are reserved for Cyberjaya and Putrajaya. This one is far from grossly overpriced. Overpriced or not, it depends on how you compare and contrast. At a glance, yes it’s on the high side, but if you do a study on the newly launched projects in Puchong and Subang, it suddenly looks ordinary.
Just to make you feel better, Zen Residences, a project by Sentral group is said to launch at 271/sqft. Leasehold, 2kms further away from the heart of Puchong.
Comment by linustw — September 23, 2008 @ 6:53 pm
With the rising cost of materials and construction, the price around $300/sf is reasonable. I feel the cost will rise further considering apartments in Subang jaya are currently priced around $400/sf. Don’t forget Puchong is neighbour to Subang Jaya and Sunway. Buyers will shift their focus to Puchong as the prices here is lower.
Comment by JL — September 30, 2008 @ 3:02 pm
Demands for building materials are so low and this cause the price to drop. Not overpriced? Just a matter of time.
Comment by compass — October 12, 2008 @ 11:27 am
hey wme, 200k for 1 unit? it would be sold like hot cakes but the cheapest that I got to know from sales rep is 275k for the 845 sqft. Whether it is overprice or not just leave it to the market to decide. Looking at the sales figure and pick up rate, we can roughly know how is the market responding to this project by now. Again, price is driven by market and not what the developer feels like putting the figure on the price tag.
Comment by jean — October 25, 2008 @ 10:00 pm
for those who may not be aware, setia walk is not residential freehold but commercial freehold. Hence it’s a “Service Apartment” with higher utility fees.
Comment by James — December 1, 2008 @ 8:22 am
Rumour says they cancel the project. Is it any truth?
Comment by Joveena — December 18, 2008 @ 12:12 pm
Hi James.. Utilities rate can be converted to residential rate like what is being done by many service apartment around (E-tiara, Viva Jalan Ipoh, Heron Condo). Check with SP Setia as the sales person told me that they will convert it.. Utility tariffs is small issue..
What is the latest status of Setia Walk? any launching date announced?
There is a new service apartment called Zest @ Kinrara 9 which offer much more lower price (RM 200/sqft) compare to Setia Walk (RM320/sqft). It will be like day time robbing for Setia Walk. In terms of pricing, no brainer, but interms of savvy lifestyle, Setia Walk wins it all but there is a premium to pay for it :p
Comment by jean — January 16, 2009 @ 9:51 am
just read newspaper and found out sp setia is launchign for their 5:95 new home loan package. only 5% downpayment:95% loan and nothing more until completion. developer actually absorbed the all the legal fees, progress interest and stamp duty!!
just need to pay installment after completion. i think it’s a good news to investor.
Comment by alicia — January 21, 2009 @ 11:33 am
The Zest in Bandar Kinrara is reviewed here:
http://propertymalaysia.blogsome.com/2009/01/21/the-zest-bandar-kinrara/
Comment by Administrator — January 21, 2009 @ 2:49 pm
I heard this project delayed, there is a new late 2008 the developer has been ordered to stop work due to complaint from neighbouring house owners. How is the progress now? any news on Setia Walk, please email me nasb at gmail dot com . Thanks
Comment by nasb — March 18, 2009 @ 12:14 pm
Official Opening of Setia Walk Galleria
22nd March 2009
10.00am Arrival of Guest
10.30am Registration & gift redemption
10.30am Welcome Address by GM
10.40am Setia Walk ” Wishing Tree” Presentation
11.00am Opening Ceremony & Lion Dance
11.15am Tour De Galleria
6.00pm END
[b]* Refreshment will be served throughout the day[/b]
Bring your family member and friends together to view the show units
Comment by BBB — March 21, 2009 @ 8:32 pm
Man … Take up rate very poor, still less than 100 unit sold despite heavy publisity for more than 6 months since softlaunch in July last year.. The 5/95 scheme is doing minimal attraction to this project.. I counted the stickers today when I was at their new gallery, only 79 units and half of them are the 845psft units.. That translate into 10% units sold out of the total 700++ units.. If the sales trend continues, only 60% take up after completion?? Moreover, if 2nd block and 3rd block pricing is increased, will ppl still buy??
Zest is out performing at this stage, despite minimal publisity, booking starts late last year (only 3 months till now) and its not even soft launched, 1st block has sold more than 170 units..
Herm.. wonder SW will throw even more freebies or not :p ..
Comment by jean — March 22, 2009 @ 2:26 pm
Hi Jean thank you for your very concise updates. i was at the showroom too last sunday… i thought since last week official launch SP setia sold so many units ! Have no intention to buy but after viewing quite keen on the 845sqft studio .. but find the min. RM273K price tag bit high…unless got more freebies… by the way can anybody educate me what is the difference between commercial freehold and residential freehold ? …how it will affect the residential unit resale values in 3 years time ?? Would love to hear from more people who are experts on this project or condo investment .. by the way, i am quite shock that the Setia walk condo does not come with full or even partial furnishing … weird..is that normal in KL condo development ?
Comment by Keith — March 30, 2009 @ 1:32 pm
If you think a 845 sqft (1+1 room) can be sold at RM 327k after 3 yrs (assuming reaping 20% profit from RM 273k), it will be a good bet.. But think again, will people spent RM327k for a 845 sqft in Puchong?? Maybe got la .. I dunno.. if you are confident enough, you can get a unit or 2
Comment by jean — March 30, 2009 @ 8:50 pm
i think it is hard to achieve 20% return after 3 years because the selling price at 325/sqft is too high. not much to move up. take up rate is too slow, only studio is well received maybe investors think it is easier to sell 3 yrs later… but the 5/95 scheme will enable investor to have some leverage. Assuming you pay RM20K for down payment and developer absord all th fees, even increase 10%, expected gross profit is still ok at rm27K, minus interest deposits forgo on your initial RM20K outlay ..u may still have RM20K+= net profit. quite good return for RM20K throw out, in this speculative case heeee … but the downside u ended selling below cost 3 yrs later.. !
Comment by Keith — March 31, 2009 @ 11:13 am
like that ah.. I think my not so classy apartment have better ROI than this..
Assume you pay RM20k downpayment for SW and get RM20k net profit after 3 years, thus ROI after 3 years is 100%.. simple annual ROI will be 33% per annum
My apartment cost RM138k at developer price, I pay at 5% downpayment due to developer discount, free legal and stamp duty and 0% during construction.. upon completion after 1 and half years, the bank evaluater evaluated my unit had raise to RM160k.. ROI more than 300% in just 1 and half years.. simple ROI per annum will be 200% per annum..
Not all classy project will give good return.. Most important is to work out with numbers..
I will give this project a skip :p
Comment by jean — March 31, 2009 @ 9:19 pm
Did a second visit yesterday at SW..
There wasnt many ppl, thus I can walk through the show unit and have a thorough view of the interior finishing and layout..
Man.. to my horror.. with RM320 persqft, and you still can find those ancient windows that are found in houses built 20 years ago.. you can find this ancient windows at the solace kitchen..
Rivals projects around puchong are offer 2x2 porcelain tiles but sadly, SW till giving ancient ceramic tiles from living hall to dining hall and bedrooms.
Balcony grills is another disappointment, looks cheap while other less expensive projects around are giving glass balcony fence..
Layout is a big dissapointment.. the 2nd bedroom window is facing the airwell.. Cant imagine paying more than 300k for a 1000 sqft unit and still get such layout..
Lastly, the aircon compressor location is another big dissapointment.. it is still located at the side of the balcony.. I know its common for old condos and apartments, but come on.. buyers are paying RM320 psqft, cant they be more innovative?? New condos nowadays have dedicated aircon compressor location so it doesnt compromise residence trying to get fresh air in the balcony rather get toasted by the compressor heat.. Maybe its good to get your wet clothes dry faster
No Gym for residence.. maintainance fee still RM0.25 psqft..
I guess SPS is not sensitive with what rivals are offering around and dun understand much about high rise
What is Setia thinking??
Comment by jean — May 10, 2009 @ 4:25 pm
Those who insist that they still wanna buy but complain that sps has priced SW beyond their expectation or reach should only blame themselves for not earning enuf. Developers like sps r not charitable or welfare organisations. In fact, purchasers like me here r happy that sps has priced it at a premium to reflect its brand and at the same time act as an entry barrier to prevent ‘non-elites’ from owning a share of the goldmine. From the many posts and forums that I have been reading, non-elites, who form the majority and as far as puchong is concerned, are always looking at and could only afford properties below RM250/sf and/or around RM300k. I may sound discriminating but this is true.
There r also others who complain about the layout, quality of material used and what not. R these ppl able to afford 1 if sps decide to change according to their hearts’ content.
Comment by lampard — June 9, 2009 @ 11:42 am
I am thinking if I should get a unit. I have place the booking but the way I look at it the reponse is kind of slow. I do not know if they will start throwing freebies of the second phase would be cheaper… concept wise quite good but the finishing i hope would be good.. only saving grace is the package of 5/95 at this moment i think…
Comment by thomas — June 10, 2009 @ 1:45 pm
Just bought a unit at SW and quite pleased with it. The overall concept is great. Can’t wait for the commercial area to be completed together with the water ways, etc. Given SP Setia’s track record, very confident that they will do a good job of it. Hopefully, the office towers will be rented out to some MNC companies, perhaps the units could be rented out to staff working there. Ha!
Comment by aj — June 11, 2009 @ 1:09 am
Hi there
Can u let me know which banks u will be using and what rates they are offering? I am a buyer too. tks.
Comment by dt — June 15, 2009 @ 9:25 am
Over price doesnt mean cannot afford
Over price means not worth the value..
As long as you are happy, good luck **peace
Comment by jean — June 16, 2009 @ 2:31 pm
hihi .. i m also a buyer of solace .. my bank is eon offering blr-2.2 ..
now my opinion on most feedback which is overprice … overprice is very subjective .. of cos, if were to compare jst the solace condo, i would have to agree with it .. however, it is the whole concept of SW tht matters .. personally i like very much on the waterways and i think no condo ever built with such landscaping .. plus cinemas, starbucks, etc in few steps … so u judge if the price is reasonable .. onli main drawback is because it is in puchong .. what u say bout lake edge, 36 green n etc … one thing sure is that these developers are heading the same direction which is to upgrade puchong … whether this can be done, onli future can tell ..
Comment by zavier — June 18, 2009 @ 12:46 am
Hi guys..
anyone knows what is the sale status now?? TQ 
Is the 2nd block being launched, what is the price for new block? The last time I been to the sales office was last yr July during soft launch, probably 1st block had been sold out by now
Comment by newbie — June 18, 2009 @ 9:26 pm
Hi zavier, did u have to request for 2.2 or is it the rate currently offered? PBB verbally offered me 2.2 but later retracted so I am thinking of changing banks now.
Comment by dt — June 21, 2009 @ 6:22 pm
Hi dt, mine is a long story though .. my loan was initially blr-2.0 then i appeal for blr-2.2 after reading forum ..i heard mostly with blr-2.2 is from direct access .. so u may want to try that one .. or eon bank tht can provide u flexi loan .. i heard from the lawyer firm that many get blr-2.2 also .. so try harder and look for other banks to get the best rate .. good luck ..
Comment by zavier — June 22, 2009 @ 10:40 pm
Zavier, tks for the feedback. Looking at EON now, straightaway was told their rate is -2.2. Fingers crossed will get this rate. Tmr will call Direct Access.
Comment by dt — June 22, 2009 @ 11:17 pm
Oh my mistake, it’s Direct Access that’s offering me -2.2 not Eon. I shall stick to Direct Access for now as I am quite late in the process. Tks.
Comment by dt — June 23, 2009 @ 11:49 am
I have made a market research on a few developer for example Soho Subang Jaya for 1 bedroom apt (fully furnish), selling price $262,800 with built up area - 498 sq ft. The price per sq ft is $527-00. Oasis Serviced Suite for 2 bedroom apt in Ara Damansara selling price $444,360 with built up area - 944 sq ft. The price per sq ft is $470-00. Those other developer offering is much more expensive. I think Setia Walk Condo is reasonable price and I have bought a unit.
Comment by Hafiz — June 26, 2009 @ 3:49 pm
BLR-2.2%?!? i got mine from PB at -2%. Agent says -2.2% only for staff.. feel like kena tipu… sigh… loan agreement also signed.
Comment by aj — June 26, 2009 @ 11:00 pm
I accepted PB on a firm verbal confirmation that they would give me -2.2 and I went ahead to sign the documents. Then they conveniently told me they cannot give me -2.2 but since I did not sign their LO I am now applying for another bank. Although I will incur a couple of hundred rgt, I don’t mind. I also felt cheated when they refused to honour their word so I am not accepting their -2.
Comment by dt — June 26, 2009 @ 11:12 pm
take up rate for SW is not bad, right now reached 85% ald. end of the year will launch the second phase. so no more worries.
Comment by Vict — July 12, 2009 @ 8:29 pm
Err… Zest almost finish selling 3 blocks in just 6 months..
Atmosfera almost finish selling 2 blocks in 4 months..
Setia Walk still selling 1st block for a year and havent even finish 1 block.. herm.. SP Setia need something special to boost 2nd Block~
Comment by RE — July 13, 2009 @ 1:29 am