Property Malaysia

Reader Lee Wei Li sent in these Hijauan Residences photos some time back, we apologize for the delay in posting them up, we’ve been a little pre-occupied recently…

Lee notes the patching work / workmanship issues in the 3rd photo.

For the original review of Hijauan Residence, read here.

Michael Dell of Dell Computers - 33,000sq.ft. castle in Austin, Texas, 20-acre compund.

Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison has $100 million home, a 23-acre, 10-building Japanese-inspired imperial villa in Woodside, California. Also has $200 million snapping up a dozen commercial and residential properties in the ritzy beachside enclave of Malibu, Calif.

Bill Gates? 66,000sq.ft. in Medina, Washington.

George Lucas.

Sean Penn.

Donald Trump.

You can see their billion-dollar homes here.

Yep, it’s now April and its tax time. February and March breezed past us, and we’re wrapping up the reviews for both month together, since for most of February we were away on other assignments, plus a two week Chinese New Year break. In total we had 5 reviews in the period and as usual, the reviews page is updated.

The 5 projects reviewed in the last 2 months were:
184.Meranti Condominium, Taman Raintree, Batu Caves
183.Casa Idaman Condominium
182.PT19 Residency, Puchong
181.Hijauan Saujana
180.Amaya Saujana, Petaling Jaya

Last week we ran a poll entitled ‘Service Apartments Above Shopping Malls’ to gather feedback from the readers.

The results of the polls are as follows:

401 votes were collected.

10% of the voters thought it was a great idea, and would consider buying or staying.

22% quite liked the idea, but would consider other factors before buying such units.

42% were neutral on the matter.

11% were quite skeptical about it.

while 15% did not like the concept at all, and would not consider it.
(you can see the results here)

All in all just below half of the respondents took the ‘on the fence’ view, which is the neutral view. Slightly more people were more positive on the concept (10 + 22 = 32%) compared to the negative opinion (11 +15 = 26%).

But that aside, the concept is really booming in Klang Valley, with no less than another 5 such projects planned to be launched this year, mainly concentrated in the suburbs with high population density.

Perhaps we will finally see the end to some of the issues regarding the approval of hillside projects in the Klang Valley. Currently in the news are some ‘hot’ for projects that have come under vocal protest from surrounding residents. Some of these were highlighted in the press recently:

Development projects approved by the DBKL, which disregard the rules in the Kuala Lumpur Structure Plan 2020 and the Federal Territory (Planning) Act 1982.

Case 1 - Federal Hill

2.1ha (6.2 acres) of land at Lot 55 Plot A, Section 70, Jalan Travers. This prime land belonging to the federal government has been categorised “institutional” use, which basically means that it is land for the police to build their quarters and offices and not for commercial use.

Despite the fact that the DBKL will be holding an objection hearing with residents on April 4, the residents are questioning the relevance of the hearing when construction on the site has already started. By right there should not be any form of construction before the objection hearing.

Case 2 - Bukit Gasing

15.4ha (38 acres) of privately owned land on the KL side of Bukit Gasing, which does not come under the green belt area.

The residents also said that the DBKL had not acted in accordance with the principle of Local Agenda 21, requiring partnership between the DBKL and the public.

The residents have since gone to court to compel the DBKL to hold an objection hearing.

Case 3 - Jalan Gallagher in Taman Duta

In 2005, the developers submitted an application to the DBKL to build 13 blocks of five-storey apartments with a total of 188 units at Jalan Gallagher.

The new development will increase the density in the area by 750% from 10 people per 0.4ha to 84 - that is in violation of the laws.

(source)

The above 3 are under DBKL’s jurisdiction, and another two high profile projects under MPAJ are in Bukit Antarabangsa, which have recently drawn comments from the new MB of Selangor:

State Executive Councillor Ronnie (Liu)… said the developers of both the projects were not allowed to carry on with development until further notice.

Liu said the state was wary of carrying out hillside development especially at Bukit Antarabangsa which was under constant threat of landslide.

(source)

It looks like it won’t be as easy for developers to get hillside projects approved anymore, which is a good thing considering the diminishing green lungs in city and in view of the landslides that has happened recently. Well, at least for the next 4 years…

You’ve seen the concept before, a serviced apartment (or condominium), built on top of a shopping mall. Usually, they’re found in the city centre or dense commercial areas, to take advantage of the convenience of services and retail outlets ‘at your doorstep’.

They usually come with a commercial title, and are sized smaller or studio units to target the young, urban and mobile crowd.

So the question is, how do you feel about the concept of Service Apartments Above Shopping Malls?

Do you think it’s a great concept that will bring better than average returns to the investor? Are you looking to buy one of them yourself?

Or do you think it’s a concept that does not suit you at all?

Have your say and vote. Please only vote once, and tell all your friends to come here and vote, too. This poll will run for one week until 31 March 2008.

(You don’t have to register to vote, just click ’skip’ to see the interim results)

We’ve reviewed many of such projects, here is a list of some of them to jog your memory:
The Axis Residences, Pandan Indah
Beverly Tower @ Plaza Medan Putra
The CapSquare Residences, KL (Capital Square)
Impian Meridian, USJ1
K Residence, Jalan Ampang
Kuchai Avenue, Kuala Lumpur
Pavilion Residences, Bukit Bintang
Pelangi Damansara Sentral, Damansara

Gone are the days when Batu Caves was a place far off from the city, best known for the landmark temple and Thaipusam festival. These days, thanks in part to the expanding KL city edges, and the MRR2, Batu Caves is a hub of business and residential activity. It has sort of become that much nearer to Gombak/Melawati on one side, and Selayang / Kepong on the other side, and it has always been seen as an extension to the Jalan Ipoh area.

Many developers have been active here in recent years, and one of them being Sunway. The rapid development is evident as you drive along the elevated stretches of the MRR2, and you can see the new areas are slowly encroaching to form a part of the older, more established areas that once defined Batu Caves.

Impiana Land and Development have launched a mixed development in the area, and Meranti condominium is the first launch from that project. This forms part of their Taman Raintree, and there are some landed units planned in the mix, too. Altogether there are three blocks of condominiums in the project, the other two are named Penaga and Semarak, and are not launched yet.

The location is actually quite attractive for those looking to stay in this area. The actual site is just beside the limestone hills of Batu Caves, just a few minutes off the main road of MRR2. The developers are banking on the completion of a proposed new KTM station here, plus a proposed dedicated flyover connecting to the highway, as part of their marketing plan. The salespeople are expecting the KTM station to be completed in 2009 before the completion of condo. If the infrastructure is successfully completed by KTM on time, it will be a definite boost to the not only the project, but the surrounding areas as well.

Being the first block of units to be open for sale to the public, the units are designed and priced to cater for a wider market appeal. There are 18 floors of units, with 216 units in total. Units either face Batu Caves, or face the faraway Genting Highlands. There three unit types - Type A1 at 926sq.ft. (60 units), Type A at 1,098sq.ft. (84 units) and the largest Type B which is 1,227sq.ft. (with 72 units).

All units come with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, and with a small balcony. They are the ’semi-D’ design, each unit shares a party wall with one other unit. For the largest Type B, the party wall is quite short, and there is slightly more privacy afforded to the living room.

The facilities provided are standard, like swimming pool, security, shops, sauna and steam bath, etc.

Units start from onwards RM145,000, which is about the same as some of the other condominiums offered around this area. With the right unit, you can get a nice ‘green’ view that would not be obstructed. The price is below RM150k, and is definitely accessible to a wider market, especially first time buyers looking to stay in this area.

There is a growing property scene in the Jalan Ipoh area, especially for condos, in the last 2 or 3 years. Previously, the areas surrounding Jalan Ipoh are mainly matured landed homes townships, serving as a fringe area for the city.

Obivously a luxury condo won’t do well in this area, even if it is a low density development. What should work well would be an affordable mid rise one, which gives the residents a choice to buy one here for their children or for investment, not far from where they stay.

CP Group launched their Casa Idaman recently, with exactly the above criteria in mind to make it an attractive prospect. They have priced it at RM190psf onwards, this is far more affordable that other established places like Mont’Kiara and Hartamas. On the location, I think you can’t escape the fact that this is Jalan Ipoh. Surrounding the condo are schools and matured landed development, an army camp, and lots quite aged commercial area. But we were quite pleased with Casa Idaman on the whole.

There are two similar blocks with 304 units each, the two blocks going up to 14 levels, and with two levels of parking on the ground. There are only three types of units available, at 1,007sq.ft., 1,062sq.ft. and 1,181sq.ft. There are no duplex units, and no penthouses either. Type A, the largest unit type, has 4 bedrooms, while the other two types have 3 rooms. The design of the units are quite traditional, and all units come with balconies. From what we understand, the units either face KLCC or Batu Caves.

Aside from the main building tower, there is an annexe for common facilities, like the pool, gym and shops.

The maintenance fee is set at 15sen psf, and they are offering 2 covered parking bays with every unit. Please check with the sales personnel for the latest info.

We like this place. For us, Jalan Ipoh is a great place to stay, mainly for its proximity to KL (only 6km to KLCC) and it is a haven for local food. While the traffic maybe a problem at peak hours, it no worse than any other areas of the city. This is an affordable condo with commendable facilities that is an exciting addition to the area. Some buyers may be concerned with the power cables nearby.

The developer is a subsidiary of the CP Group, a well-established player that has been around for a while. Their flagship is the C P Tower in Section 16, PJ. Currently they are also working on the RM2bil Queensbay project in Penang.

When you think pre-fab homes, you think of low cost homes built on the fly to save cost and time. But this one defies convention.

In Tomoyuki Sakaguchi’s night photos of suburban Tokyo, familiar landscapes of densely arranged middle-class prefab homes, tightly parked cars, small gardens and anonymous street corners are somehow rendered strangely unfamiliar under the artificial glow of street lights.

Click here to see the interesting photos.

In case you’re wondering, the ‘PT’ in the refers to the lot number given by the Land Office, or Pejabat Tanah (hence the prefix PT). PT19 Residency is a bungalow project located in Bandar Bukit Puchong, right next to the just completed Heron Residency. This phase, by the same developer as the condo, was initially envisioned as a very limited bungalow launch to complement the mid-rise Heron. As we recall during our visit to Heron’s launch in 1995, there was shown only to be 6 units.

While in the interim years, they seem to have acquired more land and have expanded the number of bungalows to first 30, and now they’ve scaled down to 24 numbers only. According to the developers, they have basically provided more garden space to each unit to make to more exclusive, in a manner of speaking.

But enough of the history. Although located beside the older phase of Bandar Bukit Puchong, it is not part of Bukit Hitam’s development. It is beside the LDP, almost to the toll leading to Cyberjaya / Seri Kembangan. Most of the surrounding area here is made of kampung, interspersed by some new linkhouse developments that have come up in recent years.

The 24 units are arranged on two sides of single road, on a very narrow strip of land that looks like about 50m to us. There is a sole entrance and exit, and at the other end there is a small landscaped park. On first impression, the homes look small. This is derived mainly that the footprint is limited to an almost square plot of 45’ x 50’, which only about half of normal plot size for bungalows. Working with the zero lot boundary concept, each unit has 10’ garden space at one side of the house only, and at the back of the house. But the ground floor doesn’t occupy entire footprint, about half of it is used for the driveway, and a small patio to make the garden space larger.

This concept lends a strange effect on the front of the house – the wall of the house (i.e. the dining room) is very close to the road, separated by the drainage reserve and green area. Assuming that the road reserve here is 50’, the distance is still quite near, and that is also no fencing of any kind to act as a sound or safety barrier. But anyway.

For two and a half storey (we’re taking the ground floor to be half a storey), the build-up is 3,529sq.ft.(3,588sq.ft. for some units). This means a rather small living and dining at the ground floor. The first and second floor are almost similar, all in all there are 4 + 1 rooms. First floor has a family area, the second floor has a reading area with a large balcony.

We didn’t really fancy the façade design, with the heavy-handed use of the small glass window. But small footprint presents the biggest problem for us. For us, its not entirely comfortable living so close to the open road, gated homes or not. Working with this limitations, one has to ask whether a small square bungalow which looks more suited to Singapore or Hong Kong was the best development option here. The other concern we have is the ventilation of these units, with such close quarters build. Plus, the strip of bungalows is walled by two condominiums on two sides, blocking natural airflow.

Price starts from about RM650k to RM1.2million.