Property Malaysia

This is mentioned to be the last phase of land for Mayland here in Sri Hartamas, perhaps as a testament to the two decades plus of development they have been involved in in this goldmine of a district. It started out with the Puncak Prima condo, which is still a landmark right next to Plaza Damas, and followed by other condominiums (like Menara Hartamas) and the Hartamas Shopping Centre (strategically drawing the expatriate market here) and Plaza Damas built atop the shopping mall. In the interim years, too, they have actively development other areas like along Jalan Kuching, landed homes further up from here and also in Johor. Despite how people regard as a developer and builder, there’s no denying the demand for their products and the success of their Sri Hartamas ventures.

And so we come to this last phase of Plaza Damas. Location, very easy to find, its opposite the Hartamas Shopping Centre. As those of you familiar with the area will know, Plaza Damas Phase 1 and 2 is above the shopping mall, actually the 2nd floor of the mall opens out to the ground floor of Plaza Damas. Its a bit complicated, especially if its your first time there and you’re looking for an office, the best way i found is to park your car in the mall parking lot (its a dark place) and then go to the information counter at the mall entrance and ask for directions to the office block. Coming back to Phase 3 across the road from Hartamas Shopping Centre, this plot of land in the past has been used as a sales office and show unit for many of their earlier launches.

The land for this phase is a narrow strip, flanked by the main road on one side and multiple terraces of a high slope on the other. The development consists of 3 blocks of retail / service apartments, one high rise building to be developed in the future (either apartments or office block) and a small clubhouse. There are 3 to 5 levels of retail outlets, as the road slopes up, but there a 5 levels of apartments all throughout. There three blocks of units are Carlton, Chelsea and Cliveden (seriously, who came up with these names?!). At the moment, block A, that is Carlton is open for sale. This block has 185 units, in total there are 595 units.

Most of the units are studio apartments, 500sq.ft. or 595sq.ft. with a long narrow linear design. You enter your unit, kitchen is beside you, there’s a living room, and then you enter the bedroom, and then a balcony. Simple as that. For those who want a little more, the corner units give a variety, up to 940sq.ft. with an extra bedroom making it a 2-bedroom suite. But by and large, most of the units are the earlier mentioned single room suites. They are offering the units fully furnished. So its no secret which niche market they are targeting, with the retail lots and unit types.

Which made us wonder, why opt of service apartments? Wouldn’t a full office and retail block be a better return of investment for them? After all, they could still reserve the last highrise block as a condominium if they wish to? Maybe some of you who had invested in the office units in the earlier phases of Plaza Damas may shed some light on what necessitated this change of strategy. Having said that, they are offering a guaranteed return rate of investment for those interested, it is pegged at 6% for two years. That is rather paltry to say the least, but at least they provided a safety net if lets say the economy suffers a further meltdown come 2012. But we’re thinking most investors would rather do it themselves for better returns.

The average pricing is from about RM413k to Rm512k for typical units, bigger units cost up to RM960k. You have a choice of the green slope view, or main road view. Both aren’t very much more appealing than the other, given the low rise nature of the blocks, but you probably would not opt for the unit facing another block. At a rate of RM825psf upwards, we’re not talking about small pennies here, this is comparable to Mont’Kiara and reflects the value Mayland places on this prime location. But comparably, it’s more favorable to being deep in MK with its high density of condos on both sides of the road. Here, its just off the main road, and near to the exit to KL. But then again, its onlystudio apartments available. So a large segment of the market will not be looking twice here.

Maintenance fee is 35sen psf. No free parking bays allocated to units.

At the small clubhouse, there is a function room, a small lap pool, gym, and um, that’s basically it. But the cascading water feature should look nice.

Pricey, but good freehold location. And pricey. No parking!