Property Malaysia

Property Malaysia wishes all our readers Gong Xi Fa Cai.

May the Year of the Ox bring prosperity and happiness to everyone.

Two of the most visible and talked about projects in Puchong right now are actually within 1km of each other - IOI Boulevard in Puchong Jaya and Setia Walk in Pusat Bandar Puchong by SP Setia. Both projects are conforming to the current trend of boulevard inspired ‘lifestyle’ projects, but the difference between the two is that Setia Walk incorporates service apartments in their mixed development, while the former is does not. There are quite a few reasons for this, IOI already has a sizeable residential area surrounding their development, and while SP Setia is focussing more on comprehensive development covering all aspects of urban living in one enclave.

That is why SP Setia seem to be attracting the vibe from the younger buyers looking for a convenient place to stay. But now, there’s another almost similar development not too far away - The Zest in Bandar Kinrara 9. It’s located a short distance from IOI Mall, along the busy Sg. Besi - Puchong road (also popularly known as the Astro road). To be clear, although this project covering 5.6 acres is located in Bandar Kinrara, it is not developed by I&P or any of their subsidiaries. Instead it is developed by Darul Dinasti (wholly owned subsidiary of Trinity Towers), the same people who brought you the Heron Residency (now completed and handed over).

The commercial area basically consists of about 16 units of 3-storey and 4-storey retail / office lots, fronting the main road. Behind this single row of commercial lots, is the 3 blocks of apartments, with a separate entrance. They are 20 storey service apartment towers with altogether 720 units. The location of BK is conveniently connected to many of the important highways, and from the salespeople (and info on the website) they are also talking about the planned LRT station in Kinrara. One downside is the traffic along this Sg. Besi - Puchong can be quite heavy at peak hours, but the new flyover leading directly into BK will alleviate some of the traffic.

The design of the residential blocks are quite unspectacular, but they serve their purpose well. Only one of the three blocks (Block C) is open for registration at the moment. There are 12 units per floor, either facing poolview, or non pool view. The units are sized 1,110 to 1,213sq. ft., all with a rather similar 3 bedroom 2 bath design. Type A and Type E are the favourable units located at the corner that maximizes the open view sides, some of the other corner units do not have this advantage due to the design. We feel they should have had a choice of larger units, and maybe certain floors with fewer units per floor. But it seems that they are focussing solely on a particular niche of potential buyers.

The facilities are quite extensive though, with a pool area, a landscape oasis, and a clubhouse.

Each 2 parking bays per unit, all podium parking. Somehow we feel that there will be insufficient parking for the commercial area and there will be illegal parkers choking the area surrounding this apartment complex (and also from the residents here). Something to consider.

At the moment the project has not been officially launched yet, so some of the details may be subject to changed so check with the salespeople for the latest changes in the project information.

The indicative pricing starts from RM224,888 onwards which is about from RM200psf. Comparatively, Setia Walk is priced at RM320, much higher but with a different locale and by more established developer. While may make the Zest look more competitively priced, there are also other condo projects around this area that are cheaper, but of course not marketed as lifestyle projects, like Sierra Residency, Kinrara Mas and Avila, just to name a few. At least there are choices for comparison.

This one from awhile back.

Rooftops NYC

Its a series of Flickr photos (here) of fancy apartment rooftops decorated creatively as living spaces or recreational space. As one of the commenters said, looks like straight out of SimCity4…!

Talking about advertising to sell homes, this is one funny pic. The top one is the pic used in the real estate advertisement, the bottom one is the actual pic taken on site.

I guess photoshop must have help to get that blue sky look

(Source)

You know, just when you think the end of the road is near for Mont’Kiara condos, another one comes up to prove you wrong. We didn’t even think there were any more pieces of substantial land to be developed in this area, but they keep surprising us. This project by Mitraland isn’t exactly spanking new, but it is one of the latest in a long line of projects that started off by Sunrise more than 15 years ago.

Mont’Kiara is chockful of condos these days, not only by Sunrise but by any other developer who can get their hands on a reasonable plot of land that isn’t already occupied. Many developers (other than Sunrise) have started and completed their projects here, and in an almost unrecognizably different property climate here in Mont’Kiara, Mitraland is embarking on their project here, Kiara 9.

But of course they aren’t greenhorns. The developer cut their teeth as a contractor built from the ground up, and are also busy with their flagship development in Puchong Prima. So coming to Kiara 9, they’ve obviously incorporated some of the lessons learnt from their experience and by simply observing the moving trends here in Mont’Kiara.

Kiara 9 is located on Jalan Kiara 3 beside and existing village just opposite Kiara 1888. The three acres gives them a little more space to explore different segments of the buying market. There are 192 units of highrise condominiums and a two separate blocks consisting of 16 units of garden villas facing a “stream-lined linear garden that culminates in a breathtaking 11 meter high water feature” (wow, seriously, 11 metre is high, i gotta see this when its done). The plot of land for Kiara 9 is actually a long rectangular piece of land, with the condo at one end and the villas at the other.

In between the 2 blocks of villas is the aforementioned landscaped garden and waterfall. Flipping through their brochure, they seem to emphasize a bit on this part, with the stream with natural boulders, a 75-meter long linear garden and life-size deer sculptures. Why life sized deers? No eye deer.

But seriously.

There are two types of 3 storey garden villa, so named because all of them have a private garden at the rooftop. Nice for hosting dinner parties. These units are 4,450sq.ft. and have 4+1 rooms. The footprint of the unit is actually not very big, 24′ x 50′, while part of the ground floor is taken up by the car porch. They all built as link units, so there isn’t much open space allocated to you privately. At RM3.8million minimum, these units would probably seem attractive to those who want a landed home in Mont’Kiara, and are willing to pay for it. But for the price you get your very own private lift.

Moving on to the highrise tower units.

This is a 41 storey tower, with 8 units per floor. There are three basic unit types with size range of 1,661sq.ft., 2,201sq.ft. and 2,694sq.ft. The units are arranged in a ’semi-D’ type of layout, with each unit sharing only one party wall with another unit, giving it more window space and a little more privacy. All units have at least 3+1 rooms. Compared to the villas, these are a little bit more affordable, but only just slightly, at RM1.2million onwards. This works out to be around RM790psf., quite the average for this area. In addition to these units, there are four number of penthouses, which double up of the typical units at the very top of the tower. They range from 4000sq.ft. up to a max of 9,000 sq.ft. Let’s just not get into the price here, okay?

For facilities, there is Two-tiered swimming pool, water cascade & lap pool, cantilevered sky gymnasium & sky lounge, tennis court & squash court, par course, children’s playground & yoga deck, etc. We especially like the squash and tennis facilities, not many condos have space for them.

Other than the two projects in Mont’Kiara and Puchong Prima, the developer is also venturnig into a high end project in Singapore and a 300ha golf and country resort in Johannesburg, South Africa which includes 1,600 homes.

Good morning folks, here’s a recap of the reviews in the last 2 months. After taking it slow we’re lining up a busy January ahead of the Chinese New Year holidays. As usual, the reviews page has been updated.

208.Panorama, Jalan Ampang
209.Zen Residence, Puchong
210.The Serai, Segambut
211.The Valley TTDI, Ampang