Property Malaysia

Gives a new dimension to the phrase ‘between a rock and a hard place’… Anyone fancy living in this home? Kind of leaves little room for renovation…!

Taken from here.

Last week we ran a poll with the title:

Would You Pay More for Awesome Landscaping in Your Development?

for one week, and it has since concluded. We received a high number or respondents, 117 in all. The results are shown below.

67% or roughly 2 out of every 3 readers responded ‘Maybe’, depending if the concept is done or executed well enough.

‘Yes’ and ‘No’ answers were slight equal, with the affirmative slightly ahead.

I think developers are well aware of this (they’ve probably realized this quite a few years ago) and some developers with the space and money have executed this to that effect. The ones that come to mind are Setia Eco Park and Ara Damansara.

Smaller developments are also doing this, but the budget is usually relative to the price of the home.

We look forward to the next poll.

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What a view from the restroom.

I think some people may having problems ‘going’ here…

Taken from here.

As our capital city continues to expand wider and higher to cater for more skyscraping condominiums, the divide between the haves and have-nots is becoming more and more noticeable.

Perhaps it is something to be expected - our city is an old one, there plenty of old neighbourhoods with aging shophouses and urban villages that once housed the thousands of immigrants from the rural areas looking for employment back in the 60’s and 70’s.

But now, a new breed of towers have appeared around the KLCC, perhaps a sign of a deeping divide in the city. This of course is not an issue peculiar to KL, most other third world country face this reality too.

This photo is from Paraisópolis favela, Morumbi, Sao Paulo in Brazil.

The second photo is another view of the divide, taken from the side of the shanty town.

This two photos below, are in the Venezuela capital, Caracas.

The same location as seen from Google Earth.

This last set is taken from Dharavi, Mumbai in India.

Note the homes built on the small hillock.

The same hillock from Google Earth.

Photos and write-up are from deputy-dog.com.

Sering Akasia is a condominium development located in the Taman Sg. Sering development in Cheras, which is located near Taman Orkid and Taman Suntex. It can be considered a relatively new area, but is beside existing matured areas bordering with the forest reserve. Ara Asa, the developer has a fairly large landbank to work their development, and this is basically the only condominium they have planned amidst the other phases of landed units and commercial areas.

While it is further away from the main Cheras areas, it is not to say very far, it is not much further from the city as, say, some of the other new developments that have been launched in this area over the past one year, like:
Taman Wangsa, Cheras
Hijauan Residence, Cheras
Suria Residen, Cheras
Sunway Cheras: Phase 2B &3, Cheras
The Oasis@Cheras Courtyard Terraces, Cheras
Bayu Segar, Cheras

But the difference here is that this is a condominium project, all the others are mainly consisting of luxury bungalows or semi-Ds at the very least. Condominiums are common in Cheras, as they are in most districts surrounding the city. It has been so for many years, driven mainly as a cheap housing infrastructure for those looking to stay near the city and enjoy suburban commercial facilities. In the past 30 years or so, the focus was mainly on affordable terrace homes and linkhomes, this can be easily be noticed all over Cheras is you travel around it, and also evident when you look from the MRRII. But in this day and age of land scarcity and spiraling costs, condos seem to the preferred choice of entry-level homeowners.

Sering Akasia is basically a low density condo; there are only 74 units on offer. The plot of land is quite small, thereby restricting the amount of workable space there is and as a result, there are not much facilities beyond the usual pool, gym, cafeteria and playground. The podium level is on the third floor. There are 3 levels of parking from ground level up, and beyond that there only about 10 level of units. There are both single units and duplex units available.

The standard unit is a simple layout of 3 rooms with 2 baths, at 972sq.ft. This is a very common size, that is basically suitable to the widest group of people, from bachelors to small families to investors. The third bedroom does not open out to the open air, but to an airwell due to the layout constraints. There is also a small balcony.

The developers have included a high number of duplex units in the ratio, perhaps to attract larger family units who prefer larger build-up. The duplex is basically double up of the typical unit, but there are smaller units starting from 1,546sq.ft.

The single floor units seem to be more popular than the duplex units, maybe because the concept is not yet as readily accepted.

Facilities and commercial areas are not lacking around this area – the shops around the condo alone can cater for the residents’ needs, that is one of the plus points of the development.

One of the main draws of this place is the low density, there are only 74 units. Plus it’s freehold, and this area is still not as congested as other parts of Cheras, but in time it will catch up no doubt.

The parent company of the developer is actively involved in a few projects across the city, like Ara Ampang. Their head office is at Taman Segar also in Cheras, but there is a sales office and show unit near the site.

Looks like there are plans for another luxury development in Kenny Hills.

Mycom Bhd is planning a residential cum commercial project in the tune of some RM450 million luxury. The location is on a piece pf on a piece of 6.55ha land somewhere in Kenny Heights/Mont’ Kiara, Kuala Lumpur.

According to a report,

Announcing the project yesterday, Mycom said its subsidiary, KH Land Sdn Bhd, had signed a letter of intent with Merrill Lynch (Asia Pacific) Ltd (MLL) for a proposed 51:49 joint venture to develop the property.

MLL would participate in the JV directly or through its affiliates and a definitive agreement was expected to be signed within 45 days from the date of the letter of intent, it said.

It added that the site of the project formed part of the total 29.95ha parcel of land acquired by the company from Kenny Heights Developments Sdn Bhd under Mycom group’s restructuring scheme.

We are definitely interested to see what kind of development masterplan that is in store, given the small plot of land and existing surrounding of the area.

Got the invite via SMS and a letter that came today.

Perumahan Kinrara Bhd will be launching their latest linkhouse tomorrow with the following details:

If it is going to be anything like the last launch, the response should be very good. Units purchased are based on balloting basis. For more info, you can check out the developer’s homepage here. You can also download a copy of the brochure.

Seven reviews for July, not a bad catch. And they were all before the property exhibition season in end-July to August. As usual, the project reviews page has been updated.

The July reviews are as follows:
Matahari, Desa Sri Hartamas
Seni, Mont’Kiara
Challis Damansara, Sunway Damansara
Alam Idaman, Taman Tasik Puchong
Elite Apartments, Taman Mas Sepang
Ampersand@Kia Peng, Ampang
Ceriaan Kiara, Mont’Kiara

Reader Jade has sent in some recent photos of the Rhapsody series of homes Lakeside Residences in Puchong. It’s actually located somewhere behind Tesco Puchong, on the other side of the lake from Lakeview and Mutiara Puchong.

The original review done during the launch in November 2005 can be found here.

On the same note, anyone has any news regarding the proposed bridge across Puchong to Sunway here?