PROPCAFE 360 Degree View: South Brooks @Desa Parkcity By Perdana Parkcity

Desa Parkcity is welcoming another new neighborhood in 2021 – SOUTH BROOKS. Before it was vacant possessed, there were already many transactions completed, yes, without seeing the final product. Those sub-sales buyers who trusted the developer’s delivery certainly get their rewards, assuming and likely that they paid a lower price than after the property was officially delivered.

PROPCAFE has received many photos from PROPCAFE buddies and it is exactly as gorgeous as the pictures when we visited it. Let us run through this property here for you and this time we have managed to include more videos for readers to have better visualisation of South Brooks! Enjoy!

Facade of South Brooks

The building design is not outstanding but the architects bring its curve elements into South Brooks when you see the curvy edges and all common facilities and flooring are follow the same concept. The developer smartly painted the wall in a dark grey color to provide the impression of large windows and doors from far. This is to mitigate the beehive visual impact on the building due to a large number of units and windows. You see this common flaw in many developments in Malaysia.

South Brooks Facade – Tower 2 Side View

South Brooks Facade – Tower 1 Side View

South Brooks Facade – Tower 1 Side View from Play Ground

South Brooks Facade

South Brooks Facade – From Pavillion

South Brooks Facade – View from Drop Off Area

South Brooks Facade – View from the Garden

South Brooks Facade – View from the Road Outside The Project

South Brooks Facade From Ground Foor Garden

South Brooks Facade – View From West Park

South Brooks Facade – Tower 2 Besides Guardhouse

The perimeter of South Brooks

The perimeter with the combination of stones and mesh netting concept brings out the nature of the building and yet keeps some privacy to the residents. The passer-by still can enjoy the lush green and luxury of the South Brooks just like other buildings (One Central Parks and Westside Side series) in Desa Parkcity.

South Brook Perimeter Fence

Guardhouse and Entrance Arc

Residents and visitors will be greeted by a wide entrance with dual lanes for both incoming and outgoing traffic. The neat rectangular guardhouse is well equipped with a toilet for guards and fits the overall design of the entrance very well.  The arc of the guardhouse with skylight roofing is simple and elegant with superior material which will last long without much maintenance. You may see similar material used in other parts of Desa Parkcity, for example, Parkcity Medical Centre, it still looks good after many years. PROPCAFE have to say, this entrance arc is probably one of the nicest in Desa Parkcity high-rises, definitely better than One Centre Park’s which is much of a letdown given its much higher price tag.

South Brooks Entrance Arc

Entrance Arc – Inner View

Entrance Landscape

Rock Hills Backdrop

When you reach the guardhouse, you will notice the backdrop of rocky hills which is nicely retained by the developer to shade the noise from NKVE and form a nice view from the entrance. Certain low-floor units can enjoy this beautiful scene as well.

Rock Hills Toward Car Park Podium and Drop Off Area

Drop-off Area

The drop-off area comes with the fountain which serves as the roundabout for the passenger cars to drop off the residents. Again, it is wide and spacious which is in front and in the middle of Towers 1 and 2. You may notice there is a shaded pathway to link the car park podium to allow residents to cross over and reach the lobby. The fountain will always become the center of attention with the colorful lighting at night.

Drop Off Area in Betweeen Two Towers

Drop Off Area – Night Scene

Drop Off Area Near to Waiting Lounge

Drop Off Area Besides the Lobby

Fountain As The Aroundabout Near Drop Off Area

Lighting of Fountain

Shaaded Pathway from Car Podium to Lobby

The Grand Lobby and Lounge

South Brooks has an open-air grand lobby with a double volume ceiling. Well, we should say, two lobbies instead. The developer allocated a large horizontal waiting lounge for both towers. As it is accessible and connected, the whole area comes with resout setting and spacious. Well done!. If we want to nitpick, probably too many pillars here. Well, it is all to support the building so it is understood. Having said that, all pillars have the cladding done with lightings. Superb!

Waiting Lounge Toward Central Garden

Wide Walking Space in Lounge Area

Mezzanine Floor Waiting Lounge – Upper Floor. From Lounge Towards Tower 1 Lobby Entrance.

Tower 1 Lounge Area towards Car Par Podium

Tower 2 Lounge Scene towards Drop Off Area

Waiting Lounge

Tower 2 Lounge Area – Night Scene

Tower 2 Lounge Toward Central Garden

Waiting Lounge Outside Lift Lobby and Staircase For Mezzanine and 1st Floor Residents

Tower 1 Waiting Lounge Toward Drop Off Area

Lounge Heading To Garden

You can notice the lobbies are filled with many soft and “hard” pieces of furniture. The furniture is nicely custom-made which you can see the developer places it not only at the center of the lobby but also at the side of almost every pillar and available corners. The “hard” furniture is those using heavy-duty designed seats which mixed nicely with the other furniture. The nice benches are everywhere and the best is developer even utilize the multiple layering of the ground to put on the wooden panel as the additional seat areas for residents and visitors. Basically, you don’t have to worry about not having a seat at the waiting lounge at all for residents and visitors.

Combination of Soft and Stone Custom Made Furniture

Tower 2 Seatings

Seating areas at the Steps

Furniture At Pillar

Simple and Nice Benches at Open Space

Steps as Seating Area

Individual Piece of Bench at Pillar

Soft Furnishing At Lounge Tower 2

The blend of Garden, Lobby, and Building – Connection and Breeze

You don’t need us to explain the mesmerizing scene from the garden towards the lobby and building. It is home!

Connection between Green and Waiting Lounge – Nice Walk

Central Gardens, Brooks, and Siesta Pavillion

Desa Parkcity developer is never shy to showcase its specialty. We are talking proper design of landscape, gardens, and green. In South Brooks, you have Brooks and Pavillion too! From the lobby, you are directly connected and overlook the huge garden. The developer is very generous to allocate such a large parcel for residents to enjoy. The best place, for your kids and… furkids too.

Central Garden

Central Garden – Pathway to Tower 1

Curvy Walkway

Garden With Brooks

Interation Between Garden and Lounge. Parents can chill at the lounge while kids roam around the greeen.

Curvy Pathway for Nice Walk

Green, Trees, and Seats

Bench Again! Ya, you just wont miss all the benches in South Brooks

Pathway to Pavillion

Green, Green and Green

Lush Greenery

Landscape At Every Corner

Siesta Pavillion

The iconic Siesta Pavillion can be seen easily in South Brooks and it is not just for the kids but all residents who want to have a nice ambiance and outdoor yet private area to chill as the developer, again, included the long benches at the pavilion.

Siesta Pavillion

Siesta Pavillion, Landscape, & Benches

Plenty of Benches At The Pavillion

Private Pavillion For Your Private Moment

Landscape Surrounding Siesta Pavillion

Pavillion Towards Tower 2

Brooks in South Brooks

Next, is the brooks. With the name of South Brooks, you just cannot miss this. While is it is a bit smaller than we expected, this brooks could still be a joy for children. The memory of our old-time to place the paper boats and chase them from one end to another.

The Signature Brooks

Overlooking Brooks and Garden at Ground Floor

Tiny Creek. Perfect for Children … … Paper Boat?

Extended Waiting Area – Garden and Indoor Lounges

Both wings have an extended waiting area after the lift lobby. The developer put in the soft furnishing and also additional garden as the waiting or resting areas for residents and visitors. Two towers come with different themes and PROPCAFE definitely prefer the Tower 1 design with is more modern and cool. Tower 1 garden design is more conventional but more practical for group gatherings.

Extended wing photos

Tower 1 – Indoor and Outdoor Garden, Water Features, Playground, and Private Indoor Meeting Area

As we expected in our South Brooks Review 4 years back, Tower 1 has much more garden and green than Tower 2. So, congratulations to those who own the tower 1 low floor, especially the corner units, where you can enjoy more garden views, together with two playgrounds and a larger open sitting area with water features to cut down the noise from the road outside the perimeter and serve as a good place for parents to hang around while kids are having their fun out there. You don’t have to worry about the hygience as a nice washing basin is provided!

Tower 1 Side Garden Near Play Ground

Playground

Big Garden at the side Tower 1

Water Features and Gathering Points

Water Features

Benches and Washing Basin

Blending the green with playground

Landscape, Pathway, Playground

Extended Indoor Garden at Tower 1

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Meeting Rooms at Ground Floor

Working or Meeting Space At Ground Floor

Tower 2
 – Grapevine Trellis,
Indoor and Outdoor Garden and Lounges (Tower 2)

Grapevine Trellis is located at the side of Tower 2, which is beside the guardhouse. It is a nice private area for residents (benches again!) and it is absolute beauty at night!

Grapevine Trellis

Grapevine Trellis with ….Benches Again

Tower 2 owners do not need to be upset less outdoor garden, you have extra indoor semi-open waiting lounge or gathering spots with proper soft furnishing. It is the perfect place for an adult drinking sessions and small private group celebration activities.

Three Open Air Lounges At Tower 1

Pathway and Garden

Outdoor Garden

Walkway and Rock Hills

You can see both buildings have wheelchair-friendly facilities for residents to come out and enjoy the ground floor garden which is all linked with a proper pathway.

Wheelchair Friendly Pathway

Lift Entrance and Lobby

There are two lift lobbies for two different Towers. You may notice the entrance of the lobby is is having a mirrored ceiling which makes this part of the low ceiling looks visually higher.

Entrance of Lift Lobby

Side view of the Entrance of Lift Lobby

Mirror Ceiling to Expand Visual Height

The lift lobby is nicely designed with a fluted wall panel which makes the environment homier to residents. However, we felt the service lift is way too narrow and small for any movement of large items. The productivity of delivery and renovation will likely be affected.

Entrance Door to Lift Lobby

Lift Lobby Environment

Ambiance of Lift Lobby

Individual floor

Standard floor
 – It comes with 3 wings and a total of 12 units. Each wing comes with 4 units. Due to the access to the link bridge and facilities podium, the 8th floor has one unit less but it is the busiest floor due to the traffic in and out from the facility floor. Good luck and do expect wet flooring there as well. The three wings design also makes the floor rather dark.

Lift Lobby

Lift Lobby

Floor Direction 1

Floor Direction 2

Floor Direction 3

Railing – Airwell

Airwell

Mezzanine floor
 – This floor only has 4 units and is certainly the best in terms of privacy. Not just that, the mezzanine is bright as it get the sunlight from the lobby and have their own waiting lounge! Also, it has an extra open exit staircase (other than an emergency staircase) than other floors (see below). This staircase (only for the Mezzanine and 1st floor) allows residents to go down the lobby easily and collect their delivery without the need to wait for the lift. PROPCAFE likes it a lot as it is convenient and can save the lift waiting time. The extra waiting lounge on the mezzanine floor also comes with a fantastic view. Take a look at the photo and video below, you will realize these units are a GEM.

Overlook to Mezzanie Private Waiting Lounge

Seating Area Besides Mezzanine and First Floor Open Staircase

Lift Lobby

Mezzanie Floor Private Waiting Area

Bright and Airy

Lift Lobby Area

Corridor with Full Sunlight

Open Staircase to Ground Floor and 1st Floor

Staircase for Mezzanine and 1st Floor Residents

View from Staircase

Facility Floor

There is a linked bridge at 8th floor to connect residential block with facility podium. It means there is one unit less in 8th floor. The developer is even providing waiting area with benches at the entrance door! With the expectation that many may forget their access card or wait for someone else? PROPCAFE just think that developer just too addicted on the bench allocation in the building. So, so, so many! 🙂

Linked Bridge to Facility Podium

Waiting Area at the Linked Bridge Entrance Door

Facility Floor To Linked Bridge

Tropical Pocket Garden

Residents need to pass the 8th-floor units before they can access the link bridge to the facilities above the car park podium. First, you meet the tropical pocket garden. How many times i have mentioned it, so many benches, and this time, the shape of the benches are unique and cool! The same pocket garden also can be found in other parts of this floor as well (the side of the floor and besides Gym roo).

Tropical Pocket Garden – Unique Shape and Arrangement

Tropical Pocket Gardens – Located AT Both Sides of The Walkway

Shaded Pathway Towards Swimming Pool

Tropical Pocket Garden flow through the facilities flow towards link bridge

Tropical Pocket Gardens

Next to the garden, you can find two sunken garden benches. Serious, you don’t have to worry about crowds in South Brooks, you have all the private corners for your friends and family members to enjoy the outdoor chats and drinks.

Sunken Garden Bench

Multi-purpose Hall

The hall next to the pool and tropical pocket garden is well located as it can entertain guests both indoor or outdoor (garden & pool). It is not as big as we thought but it is furnished nicely with proper wall panel and design which is the favorite for residents so far as we were told many parties being organized last two months.

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Swimming and Wading Pool

PROPCAFE covered the TAORMINA and COPENHAGEN pool design in South Brooks Review a few years back. It comes out very nice and straight away, you will feel poolside to be more family-oriented compared to the standard rectangular swimming pool. Also because of this shape, the pool can be easily designed to extend it with any available space and provide many private corners for families to occupy. The design of different leveling, and pocket of sunken lounges make more varieties to this pool. Some say the odd shape pool is a bit “old fashion”, but PROPCAFE likes this sort of family resort-oriented theme, just like Desa ParkCity Adiva’s pool area.

Curvy Pocket Pools

Children Favourite Spot

Leveling and Curve

Pool View

Angle Toward South Brooks Residential Towers

Curvy Pathway. Flows to Wadding Pool

Lounge Pool Chairs and “Sprinkles”

Sunken Pool Chairs

Lounge Pool

Pool With Greenery View

Swimming Pool – Corner

DPC Properties View

Pool + OCP at the Back

Rock Hill As Backdrop

Another Area to Sit and Rest!

Leveling and Curve

Catering Areas and Playground

Three catering sites are spotted right beside the pool and what else, more benches. 🙂

Catering Corner

Playground

Light Boxes Spread Across the Landscapes

Sitting Area

Gym Room

The gym is facing the pool but the developer put in the landscape to make some privacy for the family and pool users. The gym is very well equipped and it is actually bigger than Parkcity Club’s gym.

Gym Entrance

Spacious Gym Room

Pool View

Gym Facilities

Yoga Room

Gym

Overlooking Poolside

Rooftop Garden

Lastly, we head to the rooftop garden which is located on the 40th floor, the top of each tower. The garden is rather small and splits into two parts. You can enjoy a 360-degree view of Desa Parkcity and also peep KLCC and PNB118 here. Unfortunately, no new year’s firework celebration, otherwise this will be the best place to enjoy it. Although it is just a small garden, you have to give credit to the developer for them to come out of the first condo in Desa Parkcity with a rooftop garden. Why waste the great city and Desa Parkcity aerial view? Good job!

Entrance of Rooftop Garden

Garden with Plenty of Benches

Look Out Zone

Aerial View

OCP Aerial View

DPC Aerial View

Car Park Podium

Lastly, let’s take a look South Brooks car park podium. PROPCAFE has to point out that the ramps are in the middle the building, it means residents to drive “round and round” to go up the floor. No a good news to those who are allocated their car park lots at higher floor. Well, this multipurpose storey car park podium is connected to two towers via its link bridge which is located at level 3 of podium and level 2 of residential block. The second floor of residential tower will be the highest traffic floor as residents need to take two lifts if their car park lots are not on the ground or third floor. It is part of the parcel of having a separate car park podium. The developer actually put in efforts to include some benches with artificial grass along way to make journey less stressful. If you ask any architects, they may point out to you that if the units are built on top and above of multiple car park podium, then you won’t get the same ambiance and may sacrify your gorgeous ground floor “connection” of lounge and beautiful gardens given the design and space constraint. We are pretty sure all residents will be more willing or prefer to have the current design as the current ground floor setting is just spectacular and impressive.

Car Park Podium

Linked Bridge At Level 3

2nd Floor of Residential Tower Open Space Before the Lift

Open Car Park for Visitors and Low Floor Car Park Podium Facing Units

Link Bridge At the Third Floor from Podium to Residential Building

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Bicycle parking racks are located behind the building and also inside the car park podium

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Unit Furnishing

PROPCAFE will not cover our buddy’s unit for privacy reasons. However, we have to say that the finishing is above average based on our experience on VPed units. We didn’t many issues with the tiling and wall. All laminated flooring and finishing are neat and tidy. The Aino kitchen cabinet also comes with a free-standing island.  The developer is also providing Teka hood and hob, American Standard sanitaryware, upgraded the instant water to storage boiler, quality sliding doors and windows, Daikin air conditioners in rooms and living hall, and good quality doors. The bathroom comes with full height mirror, marble top for basin area, rain shower head, shower screen, towel hanger, and recess wall. The developer is very detail to ensure it stands out from the rest, for example, the metal cover of compressor area from balcony, socket in bathroom, curtain box-up, small curb ramp to show area, right sizing of entrance foyer and so on. Well, the only complaint maybe is the choice of marble shade tiles. This is probably the first time the developer chose this design. Well, our advice is, to use marble shade tiles, first, it must come with at least 4-6 variations and it has to be in extra-large size to make it grand (minimum 2ft x 4ft tile).

What is our final verdict?

With the price tag of RM600-700psf four years back, the developer is “over-delivered” based on the average standard in Malaysia :). However, please keep it up and make Park Regent and Park Place to be next level! Well, the buyers must be very happy to get this sort of ambiance and quality of the product. It is a matter of time for the price to hit RM900-1000psf. In fact, it reflects in the “hot” sub-sales market here. Those who disposed of it recently below RM800psf will only have themselves to blame in two to three years’ time.

PROPCAFE is impressed with the efforts of the developer in this development. They have certainly had “meetings and meetings” to conceptualize the whole development, especially the large greenery, rooftop garden, facilities, and facilities are all sync perfectly. While chasing for beauty, they also considered many practical designs to ensure this is the place for all young and elderly. To be honest, we have just witnessed one of the buildings with the most seating areas in town! This place is so picturesque and you can basically keep shooting every corner of this building and common area. In short, the final product of South Brooks is way beyond PROPCAFE’s expectations, with the original price tag in mind and compares with other developments in Desa Parkcity (Westside Series, Breezeway, OCP etc). Fantastic works from Perdana Parkcity and its main contractor Crest Builder! Next, see you in Park Regent!

Compilation of Night Scene of South Brooks*

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*Source of Night Scene Photos: Credit to Developer or Project Team – Received from PROPCAFE Buddy

If you missed our previous detail coverage and review of South Brooks, you may check it here. Happy New Year! Let’s hope an ONG year for all property investors and home seekers!

PROPCAFE™ Review: South Brooks @ Desa Parkcity By Perdana Parkcity

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PROPCAFE 360 Degree View @ South Link Lifestyle Apartment By UOA

PROPCAFE is a fan of Bangsar South for a few obvious reasons. PROPCAFE likes its accessibility and city location, relatively new township with good infrastructures (yes DUKE 3 is coming), self-sustainable community with plenty of amenities, eateries, and entertainment, and full of professional job opportunities. We like what we see now, that’s why we cover it a lot! We guess this should be enough to solve the question marks from our followers. 😀

What’s new in Bangsar South 2021? It is the time for South Link! South Link has been vacant possessed since July 2021 and it has been well received in the rental market and even some secondary transactions. Based on our understanding, many owners obtained rental yield near to 6% and a few sub-sales transactions also hit RM960psf (fully renovated units and with tenancy). Well, if sub-sales buyers still can catch near to 4.8% rental yield, means there is really room to grow in this part of Kuala Lumpur. Are we seeing signs of recovery in the property market? In fact, we are not too sure, but selective areas may see the light at the end of the tunnel. The key is, choose the property wisely!

Building
Façade

To recap, South Link comes with 1422 units of freehold apartments which have two blocks arranged as L-Shape buildings. The façade is a very typical UOA property without any surprises and for sure it is not the best-looking property. But it is a kind of evergreen design that you will not hate it either. Thanks to a number of units, it looks rather dense. However, as properties in Bangsar South are mostly built by UOA, you will get used to this sort of facade and design very quickly, and suddenly, dense or not, all look similar. 😛

South Link L Shape Facade

Although South Link is like an L-Shape building, it is in fact U-Shape! Thanks to the South View unit which is right beside South Link. If you add in Kommune Living (Hotel), the U can turn to be rectangle shape given that all buildings are relatively close to each other! This makes choosing the right-facing becomes critical if you want to avoid facing your opposite building and laundry at the balcony all the time.

Guardhouse

The small guardhouse is sitting right in front of the South Link signage as it is a commercial building with retail elements, you can see the setting is slightly different from a residential building.

Pedestrian Access Control

It is good that there is access control of pedestrian entry gate for residents which separate from the commercial car park and access.

Commercial Element

The commercial and retails are not opened it and therefore, we are unable to get in to see it. However, from far, you can kind of expect the retail design which will be similar to other UOA commercial and office blocks in Bangsar South. The latest commercial that will open up here is the Food City which is on the ground floor of South Link. By the way, the access of  South Link’s commercial is located separately from the residential side in terms of lobby access and car park area. The latest photos from PROPCAFE Buddies below showed that the commercial retail will be ready soon!

 Credit Source: PROPCAFE Buddy

 Credit Source: PROPCAFE Buddies

 Credit Source: PROPCAFE Buddies

 Credit Source: PROPCAFE Buddies

 Credit Source: PROPCAFE Buddies

 Credit Source: PROPCAFE BuddiesCredit source

 Credit Source: PROPCAFE Buddies

Commercial
 Photos
 –
 Credit Source: PROPCAFE
 Buddies
Commercials and Link Bridge

Along the way from commercial lots till the end, you will reach the road to Komune Living Hotel.  You may notice the link bridge from South Link to South View is ready. Too bad, it doesn’t serve any purposes until the link to KL Gateway mall is up. When? Only the two developers can answer it.

Drop-off Area

After you enter from the main gate, you will be greeted by the drop-off lobby. The wide drop-off area resembles the hotel design especially its huge and high ceiling lobby inside the building.

Waiting Lounge/Lobby

However, the lounge area is EMPTY. Literally empty except for the old water features with pots 😯 . It won’t cost a lot for a large property developer like UOA to furnish the lounge nicely. Perhaps it is their DNA, they just won’t spend their budget on this area which is against the trend nowadays as most of the developers will make it grand to attract the new generation buyers.  Take a look, the waiting lounge that doesn’t even come with even a bench. Shocking and what a waste! PROPCAFE really thinks that the developer seriously needs to “review” their budget allocation and include this as the key area to spend their money for their future projects.

The Good thing is, as the flooring and ceiling lighting are done properly, it is not difficult for JMB or MC to furnish it up nicely and level up the grade from B- to A- 🙂 . However, we have seen many properties “screwed up” because JMB and MC members think they are as good as ID professionals. So, advice to future JMB/MC members, the wiser choice would be to hire an ID company or furniture shop with an internal ID project team or makeover company. Good Luck!

High and Low Zone Lift and Lobby

Next, you will see residents are allocated two different lift lobbies, separated by high and low zone units. This is something that UOA has planned well to minimize the lift waiting time for residents, especially with the consideration of more than one thousand units here in South Link. The lift lobby design looks decent with a large mirror, wood grains, and stainless steel elements. However, it is a bit too “cold” and feels more toward the Grade A/B office lift lobby.

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As usual, UOA provides Hitachi lifts with a maximum passenger of 23 and a load of 1565kg. PROPCAFE has to say, the speed of the lift is satisfactory as it doesn’t take long to reach the top floor (52
nd
 floor) without any disturbs from low floor residents.

The mailroom is pretty standard which located on the ground floor.

Facility Floor

When we reached the lift lobby of the facility floor, we felt the lobby with a bit greyish and lighter color have made it a more residential environment than the ground floor.

Empty Space?!

Unfortunately, once you stepped out of the lobby, you see a typical UOA character in a common area. EMPTY spaces. Some of the spaces are actually positioned with some beautiful city scenes!

Again, JMB/MC has some immediate works to do when they take over the building from the developer. It is so ridiculous to waste these areas which can be easily put in more benches and designer outdoor furniture to make it the resting or even working spaces for residents. We would recommend developer or JMB pay a visit to recently VPed South Brooks in Desa Parkcity (PROPCAFE will share the 360-degree view soon). It has the most resting areas with benches, designer furniture ever in all properties that we have visited. Every single corner and pillar, you will see the furniture or seating area there. The developer does it for a reason, to accommodate the relatively high number of units which is necessary nowadays given work-from-home is going to be the norm in the future. South Link has all the space! It is all about how much you have in the sinking funds and how good the project team is to furnish it up for the residents. If it can be executed properly, it will certainly make a positive impact on its future valuation.

How About Green Allocation?

One effort that PROPCAFE noticed from UOA is they at least tried to add more green elements along the pathway at the facilities floor. The landscape is certainly not at the level of Seksan or other famous landscapers. Having said that, it is not too bad though it can blend better to connect it with other parts of the facility floor.

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Pool Area

There are adult and wading pools on this floor. Basic sun loungers and tables are provided. Nothing more and nothing less.

The infinity pool comes with reasonable size, unfortunately, there is no view to enjoy it unless you enjoy peeping on the South View’s pool or balconies there. At least, South Link’s facilities floor is much higher than South View’s so it still has a better view than the poor South View cousin. Well, residents of South Link can at least enjoy the pool with some internal green views.

Concrete Jungle View

This is the place where you can feel the concrete jungle scene (head up to the top of the building). Building by building, personally I quite like it but others may not.

Standard changing areas and Surau rooms.

Gym Room

The gym room is quite well equipped but we are not sure it is acceptable for the density of South Link.  Our bet is it should be adequate. Generally, facilities are always under-utilized in Malaysia except for holidays or buildings with many Airbnb operators.

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Individual Floor/ Corridor

The corridor is rather wide as most of the areas are having 10 feet wide. No fancy wall features but the developer cleverly comes out with a smart and less costly option to paint the wall with some simple designs. It makes the corridor less dull. Not a bad decision. The dark grey color tone (together with the lift lobby) in fact helps to make it a bit cozier to the floor.

Views from the building

Managed to peek from the corridor and which can help a bit of buyers to choose their units.

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To keep the privacy of our property buddies, we are not here to show the finishing of the units. Plenty of YouTubers have shared it, so please just google it. Our quick tour of the unit showed the developer’s finishing is above average. Not bad at all. This includes the kitchen cabinet, wall finishing, sliding door material, tiling, etc. But don’t expect European or Japanese brands of electronic items like the water heater, and hood & hob. Overall, buyers should be happy and have little to worry about the defect (we have seen much worse, trust us).

What do we think?

In short, this is the most compact building in Bangsar South but the developer managed to mitigate the density issue by having separate lift zones for low and high floor residents and to include more space in the building, from lobby, corridor, facilities area to car park lots. So, kudos to UOA to deliver it but the common issue on UOA properties is always the empty space and we think it is about time for UOA to hire a professional landscaper and allocate more budget to furnish the common and facilities areas. This is to follow the trend to WOW the new generation buyers or residents (tenants) to bring up the value of the property. PROPCAFE sees the commercial retail especially variety of eateries in food city and other community stores in commercial floors will continue to add more values and conveniences to residents. It is definitely a value buy in Bangsar South and with a new medical center in the plan, more jobs (i.e. more professional tenants) are coming! With more signs of own-stayers in Bangsar south and its superb location, it has everything to become one of the nice community living areas in town.

For those who missed our previous review on South Link, you can find it here:

PROPCAFE™ Review: SouthLink @ Bangsar South by UOA

Bangsar South Review:

PROPCAFE™ Review: Bangsar South @ Kuala Lumpur

The latest property in Bangsar South – Laurel Residences:

PROPCAFE Review: Laurel Residence @ Bangsar South By UOA

Happy Property Hunting! Merry X’mas and Happy New Year!

Note To SL Owners: If developer/JMB/MC managed to furnish up the space in the future, please send us the updated photos, so we can update and share them with all prospective buyers and tenants here.

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PROPCAFE™ 360 Degree View : The Fennels @ Sentul East

Recently PROCAFE went to check out “special promotion units in The Fennels by Sentul Raya (Now a full subsidiary of YTL Land). Just to recap as reported in TheEdge 23.July.2013, The first phase consists of two blocks of 38 storeys with 458 units and four penthouses and priced from RM658,000 to RM1.06 million are fully sold out at first day of public preview on. (Click the link
here
). It was even reported in social media that some of these early buyers started to queue in Starhill the night before. Some even leave behind bags, slippers to “chop” the queue.

Due to the overwhelming demand, subsequently 4 months later the 3
rd
 block was launched (click the link
here
). With the frenzying queue and hype, the Fennels managed a healthy take up of 80% status. Nevertheless within property observer circle, questions starts to circle around as YTL always have ability to fully sold their projects such as Midfields, Reed and Dale in Sungai Besi and The Capers at Sentul East.

With the launch of The Fennels final block on July.2017, the outlook was pretty clear, the property market frenzy was truly over. Even YTL Land was losing its midas touch. PROPCAFE received SMS about this final launch where 20% rebate offered to the 10 dual keys. The PSF for these dual keys are much cheaper than first 3 blocks.

Recently PROPCAFE mailbox again was bombarded with SMS from agent where high floor 3 bedrooms, 2 carparks and free first two years maintenance fee was offered from RM7XXK nett price. Apparently agents are assisting YTL Land to clear the leftovers unit since the VP.

Out of curiosity, PROPCAFE went to check out the development. Read on to know our thoughts on the real product.

Façade

Zig Zag Glassy Facade cladded with Fin

The Fennels Facade

Fennels with horizontal and vertical fin

Close up of the fin

The façade is quite similar with The Capers @ Sentul East VP-ed earlier. However after the refreshing The Capers decorating the KL Skyline, the facade of The Fennels seems “duplicating” The
Capers
.

Entrance Statement

Similar to The Capers, The Fennels is utilising rustic and rusted effect for the entrance statement

Guardhouse

The Fennels Guardhouse

The Guardhouse with infinity swimming pool as background

Well thought from the developer is the visitor carparks infront of the guardhouse which act as holding bays. In case of congestion during visitor’s registration which may overflow to main road, the guard will direct the visitors to park the cars at the holding bays.

Ground Garden and Pick Up And Drop Off Area

The beautifully landscaped 0.5acre garden next to visitor carpark

Drop Off and pick up Area with “Aquarium” lift bring visitor to facilities deck

Water Feature next to the Drop Off and Pick Up Area

What PROPCAFE like is the dedicated lift to facilities deck. The visitors do not need to use the resident lift which enhance the security particularly when a resident is having party on the facilities deck.

Car Park

Bright and all signs and arrow are clear

Lobby Lifts

The lift lobby wall cladded with wood panel

The lift

Sky Deck

A tree planted at sky deck

Bedrooms overlooking sky deck

Multi purpose Hall

Communal space at sky deck

Given the amount of space on the sky deck, PROPCAFE couldn’t help but notice the sky deck is quite bare. Other than “communal space”, the developer could fill the space with amenities, soft furniture, water feature or even a children playground.

Facilities Deck

Lounge and Chilling Area

Open space overlooking The Capers

Infinity Pool Overlooking Sentul

The Changing Room

The Lounge overlooking Water Feature

Management Office

The Garden At Facilities Deck. Great for go together

Children Playground surrounded by the Garden

Minimalism Landscape

Gym

Another Infinity Pool

Another angle of the lounge

In PROPCAFE’s opinion the the facilities deck is the most impressive of The Fennels. Two olympic length infinity pools, 5 star management office,   chilling lounge, decent gym size for 900 plus units and pockets of space for residents.

View

Titiwangsa Range View from Sky Deck

Some Units on last block will have KLCC View

One of the blocks will have one side facing KL city skyline. However there is no wow factor as the view is partially blocked by The Capers.

Foyer, Foyer and Foyers!

Longish Foyer

Dual Keys Foyer

Another angle of Dual Keys Foyer. Imagine how much built ups going to the space!

Nice size Foyer

Unit Selection is very important as it will determine how much monies spent on the unproductive space such as large foyer. For example for dual keys despite the built up is >1500sqft, the foyer is easily 200-300sqft taking up the valuable space (and money as well).

The Unit!

PROPCAFE visited the 3 bedrooms, 1186sqft type layout.

Living, Dining, Dry Kitchen Area

Balcony Across The Unit

The wet kitchen is dark and crampy

The Living with Full Height and Width Balcony

Open concept bathroom. For those who cannot accept such design (or may frequently forgot to close the bedroom will need to install a blind or cover it with sticker.

On the left side you will notice the wall is not full to the edge. It is covered with glass, similarly to The Capers due to ZigZag facade.

Corridor leading to bedrooms

The master bedroom with full glass bathroom

Modern and well appointed master bathroom sink

Grohe brand water tap

Grohe bran shower

Grohe Brand

Bedrooms will have access to balcony

Well thought design. The sliding door when slided open it is flushed with the frame.

From wall to wall and floor to height sliding door

This unit comes with decent 3 bedrooms and each bedroom is ensuite. However the main concern is the living, dining and pantry area which is quite small.

Not all are rosy….

the dusty and rusty railing along the corridor

The lift button already got rusted

This is the access door leading to facilities deck. Looks like a loading bay area

The wall in uneven. Developer has smartly using darker color to cover the uneven wall

Uneven wall

Conclusion

The Fennels is the 5th residential by YTL Land in Sentul East/West (Prior launches were Tamarind, Maple, Saffron, The Capers). YTL Land also developed LakeFields and Midfields at Sungai Besi and LakeEdge at Puchong. Despite YTL background as  contractor, they are not pretty well known in providing great workmanship and finishes.

PROPCAFE always hear the owners complaint and “mumbling” about the workmanship. Probably owners have been making money purchasing YTL’s projects and most of them just close one eye on the workmanship. However this is no longer the case especially with The Fennels where the leftover units are even cheaper than during the launching.

PROPCAFE applauses YTL effort to gentrify and rebrand Sentul however iconic façade is not the only factor to pull in new residents. The unit layout, price point are equally important as well.

Just for example the longish balcony, humongous foyer, cramped wet kitchen, glassy bathroom probably not most of the residents are looking to.

Tell us what you think of  The Fennels in the comments box below!

Till then, Happy Hunting from PROPCAFE!

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PROPCAFE™ 360 Degree View : Utropolis Glenmarie by Paramount Property – A Walk-through of Utropolis Marketplace and Utropolis Suites

PROPCAFE Review : Utropolis Glenmarie by Paramount Property was written back then in Oct 2015 and I still remember at that point of writing Utropolis Glenmarie was still at the earlier stage of construction. In this post, I won’t repeat much about Utropolis Glenmarie but if you want to know more about Utropolis Glenmarie, you can always refer to our previous article
PROPCAFE REVIEW : Paramount Utropolis Glenmarie.

Utropolis Glenmarie

PROPCAFE REVIEW : Utropolis Glenmarie was merely based on the information gathered from our research from internet, papers and words from various reliable parties. Everything was still on conceptual and our wild imagination except for the actual show units of phase 2. Nothing concrete and yet physical can be seen nor touched for the entire master plan of Utropolis Glenmarie. Yup as cruel as that for most of the new launch projects, most of us made our decision based on unlike buying a completed project where you can see the final product before you dig your pocket out and made the sum payment and signing on the final dot. This is one of the so called “disadvantage” on buying under construction properties but on the other hindsight you gain on a lower entry price on most of the occasion if not all.

Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie Location

Utropolis Glenmarie is the brainchild from Paramount Property and one of its kind project development concept where you live, learn, work and play at the same place. Taking one step behind from this Utropolis Glenmarie , looking with wide angle lense to understand the
two main key elements
 injected like a steroid into the main body of Utropolis Glenmarie to really make it work as  “Utropolis” (a word derived from the combination of University and Metropolis) – The
KDU University College Campus
 and
Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie
.

SOHO @ Utropolis Glenmarie

Not often that we hear Paramount Property involving themselves in commercial retails management, at least not that I am aware of because the first perception I had for Paramount Property– they build homes, more to “
people’s developer”
 kind of builder, the first time I get to know about Paramount Property was their project at Shah Alam – Kemuning Utama where they built beautiful landed homes that come without compromising quality as per mentioned in the article
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2016/12/23/be-vigilant-know-your-rights-house-buyers-told
/  .

Below is the snippet from interview with Mr. Beh Chun Chong, CEO Paramount Property

The People’s Developer

For Paramount Property, Beh said the quality of the finished product was very important.This is why Paramount Property wants to go beyond the industry’s stringent quality standards, set by the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB).

Beh said as “the people’s developer”, Paramount Property catered to all market segments, emphasising on practical designs, quality workmanship and environmental sustainability.

We focus on coming up with practical designs so that our properties can always meet the evolving needs of home and business owners.Our supervisors are highly trained and the workers have various certifications and qualifications,” he said, adding that this ensured the quality of the finish product.” – Source from
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2016/12/23/be-vigilant-know-your-rights-house-buyers-told/

Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie

There are two main objectives of this PROPCAFE 360 DEGREE VIEW : Utropolis Glenmarie :-

A
 Walk-Through
 of the completed Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie and the actual unit of phase 1 apartment – Utropolis Suites.

As a “
reference”
for those who cannot imagine how *
Utropolis Batu Kawan Penang
 is going to look like when it is completed.

*
Utropolis Batu Kawan Penang
 launched on 15
th
 Nov 2016 is the second Utropolis project series where Paramount Property replicating  the entire DNA of Utropolis Glenmarie into
Utropolis Batu Kawan Penang.

Utropolis Batu Kawan Penang

Here is a short video clip by PROPCAFE to let you feel the actual Utropolis Glenmarie by Paramount Property and we hope you will like it. 🙂

Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie

Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie

Spanning across 120,000 sq ft (GLA 200,000 square feet, NLA 120,000 sq ft) ,
Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie
 consist of two levels (Ground Floor and Upper Ground Floor) located below Utropolis Glenmarie Phase 2 which consist of SOHO (Tower 1 and 2) and Serviced Apartment (Tower C and D)

Utropolis Glenmarie Masterplan

Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie  Ground Floor Layout

Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie Upper Ground Layout

At the time of my visit during the end of November 2016, most of the retailers at Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie have started their business operation while left a few of other retail units are still undergoing renovation. Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie mainly consists of F&B outlets and the prominent main anchor tenant is Sam Groceria occupying 27,387 sq ft on the ground floor of Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie .

During the lunch hour, to my surprise that Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie can get rather quite busy for its location. From my observation, the lunch crowd consists of students and staff from KDU University Campus as well as working crowd from the surrounding light industrial area.

Utropolis Marketpace Glenmarie is connected and can be conveniently accessed from KDU University with Covered Walkway

At first glance, Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie is to cater the basic daily needs to the people who work, study and live nearby Utropolis Glenmarie. It is definitely not a shopping haven like One Utama or Sunway Pyramid. Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie is more like a place to hang out and chill over coffee, get your lunch fixed and your daily errands done. Nothing fancy but suffice and yet enough to complete Utropolis Glenmarie just like how Tom Cruise said to
Renée Zellweger

“You complete me”
 in the movie
Jerry Maguire
, enough said.

My brunch ( Coffee and Waffle ) at Vibes Café & Bistro Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie

From bread to newspaper from MyNews.Com, fresh sandwiches from Subway, vegetables and fruits from Sam Groceria, banking with Maybank and RHB, getting your stomach filled with the Japanese Sushi  or the fusion waffles , loading yourself with caffeine from Vibes Bistro Café, fulfilling the desire of your sweet tooth with the Ais Kacang with softserve from NALA’s Dessert House while waiting for your dirty laundry to be done, shedding off few kilos at the 24 hours Level Up Fitness Express gym after all the yummy food , getting your tooth fixed after too much sweet and dessert at Klinik Pergigian Ooi and Khor or feeling sick when the exams is near?  Need not to worry, there is Poliklinik Shaik inside Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie to keep you alive at least.

Sam’s Groceria at Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie

The two-storey Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie currently hosting 19 tenants, 1 Food Park ( 9 tenants) on the upper ground floor, Utropolis Caravan and 1 co-working space . Parking at Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie should not be any problem since they have ample of parking space with totals 797 parking bays available as of now.

Below is the
current tenants list
 (as of November 2016) :

Food & Beverages :

Caliburger

Halia Restaurant

Vine Café

Aroi Thai

Oiso

Vibes Café & Bistro

Subway

Little Fat Duck

Texas Chicken

NALA’s Dessert House

 Texas Chicken

 Halia Restaurant

 Oiso

 Vibes Cafe & Bistro

 Little Fat Duck

 10. NALA’s Dessert House

 CaliBurger

 Vine Cafe

 Subway

Food Park :

D’Kunyit

Munchbox

W’s Hainam Corner

Ipoh Road Drinks and Beverages

Sushi Q

Savoury Kitchen

Kebab Turki

Waffle and Toast ( *I love Waffle)

Health & Fitness : Level Up Fitness Express

Services :

RHB Bank

Maybank

com

Delta Laundry and Dry Cleaning

Ooi & Khor Dental Surgery

Poliklinik Shaik

Co-Lab

Supermarket : Sam’s Groceria

 Level Up Fitness Express

 Maybank

 4. Delta Laundry and Dry Cleaning

 RHB Bank

 3. myNEWS.com

 6. Poliklinik Shaik

 5. Ooi & Khor Dental Surgery

Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie Outside and Inside

Utropolis Caravan

Food Park @ Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie

Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie Food Park

One of the highlight of Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie that worth to mention here is the Food Park of Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie which is located on the Upper Ground Floor of Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie. Basically Food Park at Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie is a food court. At the beginning, I was clueless why Paramount Property named it as “Food Park” but from the ID and theme, my wild guess was that it could be a food court in the park. So I dug further and my guess was correct.

Entrance of Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie Food Park

Interior of Utropolis Marketplace Food Park. I am quite fascinated by their lighting and table stand made of the recyled drums

Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie Food Park was conceptualized and built by Paramount Property, redefining the food court setting with a cool and contemporary communal dining space that showcases a variety of food vendors and artisan foods – all under one roof.

As the name suggests, Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie Food Park has an outdoor park concept, complete with gardens and caravans, as well as stationary bicycles that are mobile charging stations where you can work out while eating perhaps. The creative team behind Marketplace Food Park has specially “planted”
real plants*
 because of their ability to thrive indoors with limited sunlight, thereby enhancing the experience of outdoor dining.

“
Heteropanax

Fragrans
 make tall trees which are nearly 12 meters tall, the trees are tolerant of all light conditions including shade. The plant in a black square pot is a very striking combination that looks like a bonsai with a fully developed trunk which is otherwise quite soft. A great looking planter that can enhance the aesthetics of any place.”

Heteropanax Fragrans the Real Plant inside Food Park

Stationary bicycles that are mobile charging stations

What is unique about Marketplace Food Park is the furniture, which is made from a mixture of Malaysian hardwoods – such as 200-year-old chengal, balau and meranti – upcycled from a 77-year-old factory that Paramount Property has bought over. Every piece has been ingeniously designed and crafted by the Paramount Property team.

 Munchbox

 Ipoh Road Drinks and Beverages

 Ipoh Road Drinks and Beverages

 D’Kunyit

 Inside Food Park

 This is just funny 🙂

Utropolis Suites @ Utropolis Glenmarie ( Apartment Phase 1 – Tower A & B) – Sold Out

I consider myself being lucky for given the chance to visit and see the actual product of
Utropolis Suites
 @ Utropolis Glenmarie (Apartment Phase 1 – Tower A & B) which VP-ed in Dec 2015 (Just for your info that the final phase of Utropolis Glenmarie is expected to be laucnhed around in Q1 2017) . For that, I would like to thank my friend for spending time showing me around. I am blessed to have you as my friend, truly  I am  🙂 .

A short product briefing about Utropolis Suites @ Utropolis Glenmarie ( Apartment Phase 1 – Tower A & B) to refresh our mind before we are going in for a walk .

Master Plan of Phase 1 – Utropolis Suites @ Utropolis Glenmarie

Floor Layout Plan of Phase 1 – Utropolis Suites @ Utropolis Glenmarie

Floor Layout & Specification of Phase 1 – Utropolis Suites @ Utropolis Glenmarie

Product & Pricing Summary of Phase 1 – Utropolis Suites @ Utropolis Glenmarie

Room Rental Rate of Phase 1 – Utropolis Suites @ Utropolis Glenmarie

From the source : https://hostelhunting.com a single room rental rate ranges from RM650 onwardsFor those who are looking for a room at Phase 1 – Utropolis Suites @ Utropolis Glenmarie , perhaps can try out
https://hostelhunting.com
 , a young local tech start up where helping students to find a hostel. How I wished there were such a tech- convenience available back when I was a college student so that I could had saved lot of hassles trying to find myself a decent room. Especially for people like me who liked to do things last minute , so that I wouldn’t had ended up bunking with a pet  😐 for a month.

Let’s the tour begin and follow me over here please. I will let the pictures do most of the talking.

Entrance and Lobby of Utropolis Suites @ Utropolis Glenmarie

 Guard House Entrance

 Main Entrance Foyer

 Visitors Car Park

 Lobby

 Tower B Security Entrance Before Entering Lift Area

Lobby and Lift Area of Utropolis Suites

 Lift Area After Security Tower Entrance

 Lobby at Entrance Before Entering Tower

Common Corridor Walkway of Utropolis Suites

 Louver

 Lift Area at Residential Floor

 Walkway

 Louver on each side

The black strip vertical louver along the common walkway is to prevent people from outside easily peeping inside the unit thus enhancing privacy of the people living inside.

Inside of Utropolis Suites Unit Type A 1066 sq ft 3 Bedroom 2 Bathroom

Sorry for the dark pictures, because the unit does not come with lighting. The unit I managed to get a peek was Type A 1066 sq ft 3 Bedroom 2 Bathroom . PROPCAFE always very particular about ceiling height and without much hesitation, my first question was “What is the ceiling height?” And the answer for that is
3.4m (floor to floor height).
 The unit is also partially furnished with
kitchen cabinet with solid top
,
Electrolux electric cooking hob and hood
,
Electrolux refrigerator,
 Electrolux Washing Machine , Electrolux Dryer

and
Electrolux Water Heater
. I have to say Paramount Property is quite generous by giving Electrolux brand appliances to the owners of Utropolis Suites . Although Electrolux is not on the same league as Gaggenau, Sub-Zero, Wolf, Miele, Viking, La Cornue and Thermador but Electrolux is not inferior either in term of brand or price as compared other brands in the market.

Main Entrance and Living Hall of Utropolis Suites

The living hall , dining hall and also the kitchen flooring is using 2 x 2 ft tiles.

Dining Hall Utropolis Suites

Living Hall Utropolis Suites

Sliding Glass Door and View from outside of the Balcony

 Balcony

 View from Balcony

 Louver covering compressor of air conditioners

Living Hall Sliding Glass Door

I personally think that the living hall sliding glass door is rather small. It would have a better and larger unobstructed view if the living hall sliding glass doors were to be full length sliding glass door from end to  end of the living hall instead of separating it into several panels with different sizes. Well it is just my personal preference; somehow I prefer a clean view than many lines obstructing my view. Most likely this is negligible when the curtain is up.

Kitchen & Bathroom

The bathroom does come with a half panel glass shower screen and mirror. This should save some of your shopping time for shower screen and mirror.

 Kitchen

 Bathroom

 Electric Cooker Hob and Hood

 Water Heater

 Basin and WC

Yard Area of Utropolis Suites

Utropolis Suites Yard

 Air Conditioning Out Door Units at Yard

 Washing Machine & Dryer

We know well that our country Malaysia is blessed with tropical weather and most of us taking the advantage of it when come to drying our clothes. The common issue faced by most of the high rise residential building in Malaysia where the entire building eventually becomes the “flag bearers” eventually – flagging off their laundry at balcony 😛 .  Paramount is thoughtful when it comes to this by providing yard area which can come quite handy in this scenario.  In addition, Paramount Property provides the units with Electrolux Washing Machine and Dryer located in the yard just in case if you need further drying service knowing the yard area can be quite a shady area occasionally. Although it does not really guarantee that nobody will hang their laundry at the balcony but at least Paramount Property did tried their best in providing the solution so that owners wouldn’t have an excuses for it.

I noticed that the compressors of the air conditioners are located in the yard and partially hidden by the louver. There are some developers will provide ledge area for the outdoor compressor located outside of the unit instead of the yard. I can see the amount of effort that Paramount Property putting in to make building looks more neat and clean from outside.  No doubt, at first glance most of you would have thought that this will cause the yard a bit warm when the outdoor units are located in the yard but when looking from another perspective, in term of practicality and Eco friendly and also from actual true experience shared by others, there are people who will use this to their advantage as an alternative source of drying their laundry. It could be for various reasons for example to save the electricity bill (to save the Earth) by reducing the usage of electrical dryer or worrying that the direct sunlight or extensive drying time in dryer will cause damage to their clothes. I am pretty sure some of you have come across situation where drying clothes or shoes in the kitchen especially nearby the refrigerator. Other than that, the outdoor compressors at the yard are hanging high on top of the wall instead of sitting on the floor thus creating more usable area.

Bedroom of Utropolis Suites

 Master Bedroom

 Bedroom 3

 Bedroom 2

Type A comes with 3 bedrooms and all rooms come with windows as well as laminated flooring.

A quick glance (less than 1 hour of inspection), in general I think the Paramount Property had done quite a fairly good job in term of quality and finishing. There were no obvious major defects can be found during the visit. I think we had looked enough inside the unit and now it is about time to visit Utropolis Suites common facilities area and let see what the actual facilities are offered by Paramount Property

Facilities Floor ( Level 2)

Facilities at Level 2 ( Just for Reference .This is outdated and does not reflect the actual latest condition)

Swimming Pool at Utropolis Suites

Utropolis Suites Façade Viewing From the Pool

 Utropolis Suites Facade

 Utropolis Suites Facade

 Utropolis Suites Facade

 Utropolis Suites Facade

Landscape at Common Area of Utropolis

Utropolis Suites Reading Area and Playground

 Playground

 Reading Area

 Outdoor Gym

Utropolis Suites Indoor Gymnasium

 Gymnasium 1

 Gymnasium 3

 Gymnasium 2

Panaroma View from Roof Top of Utropolis Suites

It  is almost coming to the end of the write up, I have to say that Paramount Property did deliver their promises in their execution of Utropolis Glenmarie concept as per their masterplan; integrating their  infamous education hub together with a chic place to live and play where convenience is just at an arm throw away.  After seeing the actual completed Utropolis Glenmarie, Utropolis Glenmarie is indeed a seamless self-content University Metropolis  where the KDU University Campus, Utropolis Marketplace Glenmarie and the living space of their apartments complementing on each other to make the entire concept sustainable in long run.

KDU University Campus Library

Honestly, I can already starts to feel that Utropolis Glenmarie makes learning and studying so much fun this day. I hope this write up able to give you an insight of what Utropolis Glenmarie is all about  and as a yardstick for those who are still wondering how Utropolis Batu Kawan is going to look like when it is completed.

Thank you for reading until here and I think you are awesome today and every day

-The End-

Dewakan
 – And because you are awesome, I would highly recommend you Dewakan , one of my favorite restaurant hidden within inside of KDU University campus at Utropolis Glenamarie, prior that I advise you to make your reservation.

Dewakan Restaurant @ Utropolis Glenmarie

 Dewakan Restaurant @ Utropolis Glenmarie

 Dewakan Restaurant @ Utropolis Glenmarie

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PROPCAFE – A Day to Remember

You cannot connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future!
Steve Job

Since PROPCAFE started the journey 7 years ago, we never stopped to learn every single part of PROPERTY. PROPCAFE commenced this platform because of the passion and until today it never changed a bit. This has driven us to continue and think about what PROPCAFE can contribute more to  property industry, players and enthusiats.

Two days ago, on 16 January 2019, a significant milestone has been achieved. Yes, PROPCAFE community is now officially expended to have more than 10,000 property “kakis”
(10,000 FB Likes, & 10,381 Followers)
. It is amazing to see so many of you who share the same “hunger” and “desire” to know and learn more about property market. Without you all with us over last 7 years,  PROPCAFE will never reach this meaningful day.

It never easy to run on this pretty lonely path. PROPCAFE struggled along the way with slow recognition but we insisted not to pay for marketing or FB sponsor to boost the subscription and gain exponential followers. We believe our works will reach many of you not because of Facebook’s powerful paid sponsor tool, but words of mouth and recommendation from followers, which needs quality works to win the heart and gain the respects from the readers. Thankfully, with a steady organic growth, PROPCAFE has managed to at least get it here at 10k mark. Rest assured that it is just an another start for us, not to worry a single bit that we will regress or stop listening to all the suggestions and criticism. PROPCAFE is a Property Community, we are in the same Property Family!

Looking back the dots, PROPCAFE is happy to say that we have published more than
230 articles (246 to be exact)
 todate which attracted
3.1mil page view (1.7mil unique page view)
 from more than
1mil visitors
 over the world. Many thanks to the
1,600 comments
 in the articles, PROPCAFE is ever motivated to produce better quality and detail property review/video.

PROPCAFE does think BIG but we will move in a right momentum to ensure there is no deviation from the initial goal set by us during our humble start back then.  We apologise that PROPCAFE cannot fulfill many of your requests about disclosing the identity of PROPCAFE founders and providing additional advisory service, in fact we are no body and just a bunch of property crazy! Therefore, there is no distance between us and we will always learn from each others in this wonderful property platform.

Last but not least, no matter how we end or what we do in future, PROPCAFE will never forget the support from you all! Let’s inject more positivity into property market and have a good year ahead! Malaysia Property, We Believe!

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PROPCAFE Buyer Diary : Top 10 Reasons To Buy Hampton Damansara @ Country Height Damansara

PROPCAFE Buyer Diary
 is the new column for whoever interested to share experience or reasons on the property that they just booked or bought! So, put in at least 10 reasons and submit it to us now!

There were so many messages flowed into our mailbox after the news on Hampton Damansara published in PROPCAFE Facebook last weekend. Let’s us summarise the reasons why Buyers BBB this project. Well, although it is from buyers’ perspective which likely to be biased, it is no harm to listen and understand more on their views! You can share your concerns too in the comment for healthy discussion. Bear in mind, no project is perfect and everyone makes their decision with their different reasons and requirements. 🙂

1. What’s make me starts to look at this project?

Location x 3. Freehold Petaling Jaya with limited new launches! Opps it is KL address! Where else to find?

2. What is so good about this location?

Forest as my neighbour and exclusive address at Country Height Damansara! Only highrise here. Sick of the areas surrounded with many buildings. It is near to all amenities in Petaling jaya (Ikea, One Utama, Curve, Paradigm Mall, Best Eateries etc) yet it is secluded with green and UBER Rich community.

3. What are the other unique selling points of this project (product itself)?

Very, very!

Very generous 70,000sf facilities. You have indoor golf and Aqua Gym! What else? Very grand lobby and lifts etc which are Mayland’s DNA.

Very efficient layout especially the 924sf unit with 2+1 bedrooms. Two large rooms with an extra room that can fit queen bed! What else you want for less than 1ksf? Check this out in the show unit!

4. What do you like the most in the show units?

Big luxury bathroom with island bathtub to match this luxury address! High ceiling (10.5ft) and good quality material (e.g. Grohe bathroom faucet and accessories, bathtub, branded electronics items etc) and tiles/flooring.

5. What can you expect when you receive the key?

You will absolutely love it. The unit comes with  airconds, water heater/boiler, fridge, washer cum dryer, full height kitchen cabinet with hob and hood, built-in oven, plaster ceiling, wardrobe for master bedroom, shower screens etc. Please get a list from sales personnel!

6. What is the potential of this project?

Potential on the ROI. If Empire City mall can be completed, this part of Petaling Jaya will fly. Also, if the developer really make another block as Service Suites managed by hospitality company, it will reduce the supplies and improve the values of this property. Those like hotel services (room services and cleaning etc), bingo!

7. Who are the competitors? What about the price?

Highrise in Mutiara Damansara, Desa Parkcity, TTDI. But if you look at the price like Reflection or Mutiara Damansara or TTDI’s Segaris, Ascencia etc, it has moved above RM800psf. For Desa ParkCity, other than the inferior location (like its Westside series), the rest of the highrise like Breezeway, Northshore, and One Central Park all have moved above RM800psf, not to say majority are bigger size units. In 3-4 years time, many of the condos could be aged and pricing may move to next level. No one has the crystal ball but the pricing of Phase 1 Hampton Damansara from nett RM7xxpsf (sub RM700k) is clearly below its competitors now. Someone asked me about Damansara Perdana properties like Metropolitan Squares, well, it is not in the same level of playing fields with Hampton Damansara or competitors mentioned above. It is in different segment.

8. How about the reputation of Mayland?

I personally bought Mayland’s product before. Yes, it wasn’t a great experience when it was VPed but I have no problem on making money from it. Good news is, this Hampton Damansara will be the first project under Mayland to follow Singapore Conquas standard. Also, Hampton Damansara project is managed by the new management team from ex-Sunrise, from marketing, sales to general manager. There is hope to see the change in Mayland’s product delivery.

9. What else can you look forward in this part of Petaling Jaya?

Infrastructure upgrade in term of access to Empire City and the new Damansara Specialist Hospital besides it. MRT and DASH highway will bring more traffic and make this area to be the main focal point in Petaling Jaya. NEW PETALING JAYA in the making!

10. PROPCAFE
 does not cover every project in town! So our interest to know more about this project should make you pay attention to it! Lol 😬😝

Other than the 10 good reasons above, I noticed there are some “imperfection” in this project. 😉

a. It is right besides LDP toll plaza, the non-forest facing units i.e. LDP facing may need to consider the noise issue. However, developer will put in double glaze windows/sliding doors to mitigate it. Well, to compare with other developments beside major highway, this should be better as it is right beside the toll plaza and you cannot speed there!

b. Current access is not perfect but it can only be better with the on-going upgrading works on infrastructure there. Unfortunately, there is no MRT station besides the development. Hey! With Uber or short distance drive to MRT near the Curve there, it is not the end of world!

c. Only One carpark for 924 sf unit, not great but developer has put in the plan of shuttle service to MRT/Malls/Schools nearby. With Uber/Grab, you just need few minutes wait! If not, rent it!

Great location and nice & luxury product without premium price tag (as of now! Phase1 released units). No perfect property, only decision. And mine is, to put it into my portfolio as I always like Country Height Damansara address.

—   The End of MY Buy Buy Buy Diary  —

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PROPCAFE™ Buyer Diary : Why Queue To Buy 3rdNvenue Neu Suites @ Embassy Row Ampang?

PROPCAFE witnessed a BBB mood last Sunday at Pullman Hotel and received many private messages to ask about this project, Phase 1 of 3rdNvenue – Neu Suites. With many projects are on our piplines, PROPCAFE will not do a detail review on this project. Maybe next phase? However, one of our followers, Benjamin, managed to get a unit and he is happy to share the information of the project and key reasons that help him to make his decision and queue for whole morning!

Let’s PROPCAFE shows
some key facts about this project

Project: 3rdNvenue

Developer: Titijaya Land and China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC)

Land size (3rdNvenue): 6.06 acres

Total Block and Total Units: 4 Blocks (1 SOVO and 3 Service Apartment) and estimate around 2400 units

Density: 396 units per acres. PROPCAFE Density Rating: Very High (Note: Low: <60; Avg: 60-99; High: 100-149; Very High>150 for High Rise Project). Of course, there are many more factors to be considered. For example, unit size and total number of bedrooms etc, which are not available at the moment for this entire project. Mitigation factor like number lifts to disperse crowds, common areas allocation, access flow etc.

Phase 1: Neu Suites.

Type: SOVO (Technically, this is under office title)

Unit Per Floor: 30 (Wow!)

Total Unit: 1110 Units

Unit Size: 430sf – 601sf

Price: Nett from RM300k up (RM700psf up). Informal: RM680psf up

Location

The project is located at Jalan Napah (off Jalan Ampang). Easier to be recognised as opposite Great Eastern Mall at Jalan Ampang. LRT Jelatek is 800m away (10mins walk). It has great advantage of exiting to Akleh without hassle compares to other nearby competitors (see photo below).

To KLCC: 3.9km and estimated 8mins drive (of course, Jalan Ampang is never easy to be in “off-peak” condition. Prepare more time for your travel!).

PROPCAFE Site Visit

Amenities

You don’t have to be expert to know that Ampang has everything you needs!

Amenities Photo – Source: Benjamin’s agent. Thanks.

What is going on now in Ampang?

Ampang is famous of its TRAFFIC JAM. The good news is, DBKL recognised that and the road widening works are in progress.

Source: Benjamin’s Agent

Scaled Model

Façade wise, nothing to shout about

Master Plan of 3rdNevue

Source: Benjamin’s Agent

Floor Plan of Neu Suites

Source: Benjamin’s Agent

Type of Layout

Source: Benjamin’s Agent

Source: Lowyat Forum: Jonathan. Thanks!

Summary of Competitor Information

NOVO
: 421 Units, 682sf-865sf, 1.15acres, Freehold, Gross RM1600psf

3 Towers
: 510 Units, 399sf-2045sf, 2.86acres, Freehold, Gross RM920psf, Nett 750psf

Picasso Residence
: 472 Units, 1,013sf-2480sf, Leasehold, Gross RM1145psf, Nett 900psf

Datum Jelatek
: 708 units, 550sf-1645sf, Leasehold, Gross RM1200psf, Nett RM1150psf

Astoria
: 1012 units, 560sf-1506sf, Leasehold, Gross RM1170psf, Nett RM980psf

Arte +:
 1163 units, 500sf-989sf, Leasehold, Gross RM870psf, Nett RM700psf

M City
: 546 units, 506sf-2523sf, Freehold, Gross RM1400psf

Artistic illustration on Common Area

Source:
 Titijaya Land’s Commercial Video

See more on the facilities in the video below by Titijaya Land. You may feel excited!

PROPCAFE always advocate to do detail homework before any purchase. Benjamin certainly did it and PROPCAFE happy to provide platform for buyer to express their views which may not be the right answer for every readers but it would surely help by listen the story from the buy side while reading about the pessimistic view from source. There is no right or wrong as the result may only be known in many years down to the road. We can always learn from each other!

Below are all the responses from Benjamin! Thanks a lot for the contribution!

Most Important Factor To Buy For This Project

Benjamin: Price! With less than RM300k, what are the projects in downtown KL can you buy? Especially only 4km to KLCC and Ampang is nice place to stay. So near to city and yet it has the environment for ownstay! The lowest PSF is about RM680psf according to my agent i.e. from around RM290k. I did not verify though on the sales chart.

Density concern of this project?

Benjamin: Yes, this tower already has 1100+ units. But, it is small unit so the no. of residents will be much lesser than other projects that comes with larger size layout. To me, it is just like 400 units 1200sf size building. I can accept that.

Still, it has two other blocks that would make up 2400 units. How about 110 units per lift usage in this block?

Benjamin: Yes, but the land is more than 6 acres which consider big in KL city. 400 small units per acre. Well, I am not expert but if treat it as one couple per unit, that means  400 couples per acres only. Haha. Sorry for my bad analogy. Seriously, you see all other projects that comes with 3 rooms and more than 1k units are launching everywhere! Lift wise, yes it seems not enough. I hope the developer will arrange the lift for high and low zone so the traffic can be controlled.

Many projects are on-going over this part of Ampang. Wouldn’t you worry?

Benjamin: Agreed. But how many are selling at RM300k? 3 Towers and Arte maybe priced similarly for their studio or one bedroom units but hey, mine is two bedrooms! And lower price than them! I can rent out much cheaper than them and location wise is better and near to KLCC compares to them.

Why this location?

Benjamin: Nearer to KLCC compare to the rest like 3Towers, Elements, MCity, Astoria, Arte, Novo etc. This site can go straight to Akleh and avoid the jam of Jalan Ampang and Jelatek there. You can see the ramp from Jelatek to Desa Pandan is ongoing which eventually link to DUKE 3. Ampang especially this side still consider expats favourite. I don’t mind second or third grade expats as my tenant if I decided to rent it out.

Jalan Ampang is famous for traffic jam

Benjamin: Yes, it also means many traffics there which always good for properties. See the DBKL road widening plan which already started near Great Eastern Mall. I am positive on this from DBKL plan and the start of MRT.

Neu Suites is SOVO i.e. office suites. Don’t you concern?

Benjamin: Last time, yes. But not now. I used to stay in SOVO unit and the building turned out to be just like residential project as almost 90pc of owners used it as residential. Unless majority are not using it as residential then JMB maybe under pressure. If not, no one will stop (maybe DBKL will come but let’s worry later. Malaysia Boleh!). With toilet available and piping is there for your pantry or small kitchen. No issue to me.

No carpark. Is it acceptable to you?

Benjamin: rm53k for a carpark is way too much, so I am not buying. KL city centre property is getting common not to have carpark lot. It will be available for rent in future.

Some investors were not so happy on Titijaya Land. What say you?

Benjamin: This project will be JV between Titijaya Land and CREC from China. Do you how big is CREC? Lol. Hope more financial backing from CREC will improve the delivery. I knew the history of Titijaya. Prepared worst but hope the best!

What is your game plan?

Benjamin: Hope by that time, I don’t have to stay there (and have a bigger size property). So, it is aim to rent! Target 2nd or 3rd tier expat or local couple! Nurses, maybe? Lol. If not, I can still do Airbnb since it is so close to city and many amentities like restaurants, pubs, shops nearby.

How you join the dot of your plan and expected rental there?

Benjamin: I hope to get RM1200-1500 per month. If you search iproperty with below RM1500 rent, you don’t get many choices in this part of Ampang. It means although many buildings but still lack of units for this range.

The layouts are not so practical.

Benjamin: Agreed. The earlier A1 dual key unit is just ridiculous. Two bedrooms and two toilets in 430sf. Lol. They changed the layout last minute during the launch. The new layout of A1 (see above) still no space for pantry, dining or sofa. I am not a believer of dual key concept for small size property especially the second room. Rent just a room without pantry?? Come on. I took A2 unit as it can still squeeze in small pantry, kitchen and sofa although it is still very challenging to do it. At least, it is possible. Worst case, I will just take down the wall to make it one bedroom apartment. Haha!

But A2 units means your unit will face the PPR flats and future development on the land infront which likely will be affordable housing.

Benjamin: Yup, no perfect unit as A2 units all face that north orientation. A1 units will be looking to the another service apartment (very close!) and no great view either. Actually, type B 601sf has a better view which will not be blocked by the opposite tower (next launch). But the pricing is above RM410k, therefore, out from my target unit.

Minimum facilities. Low or High floor? Any comment?

Benjamin: No. Many thought SOVO has limited facilities. Please take a look on their latest video, it has roof top facilities, pool, game rooms etc. The lobby is grand too. With the price RM300k, come on!

LRT station is 800m away! Far to walk?

Benjamin: Correct. It is up to individual whether they can walk this far everyday. Lol. At least, it is there! To me, i focus more on conveniences on amenities and i am grabcar frequent user anyway.

Exit plan? Expected selling price?

Benjamin: I will hold for awhile unless Airbnb operators desperate to give me good offer. :). I will take it if they offer me 40pc of my purchase price. Or min. RM100k gross profit.

Quick summary, why Neu Suites?

Benjamin: 5 years time, I doubt we can see any new properties in this location can offer rm300k from developer. REAL Ampang location, investment friendly as SOVO means LTV85 is possible for me (I have two joint name properties with my sibling), i.e.5pc outflow after rebates, this rental demand (below RM1500) has not many supplies in this part of Ampang, Airbnb as back up so I won’t “die”. I love REAL KL CITY LIVING LIFESTYLE!

Any BBB stories from you? Please share with us! There is nothing better than learning from each other and PROPCAFE (bunch of property crazy) was unofficially formed many years back because of this!

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PROPCAFE™ Diary: Capping of Plot Ratio. Does it matter? – Part 1

Recently PROPCAFE read with interest that DBKL wishes to cap the plot ratio of new developments in KL.

Currently, there are development projects in the capital city that have been given plot ratio of more than what is permitted under KLCP2020.

Developers or investors in the past had been willing to pay premium price for tracts in the city centre expecting that the high plot ratio would enable them to make up for it.

Hence, a lower plot ratio will not be good news as less units are allowed to build on the same plot of land which will in turn affect the profitability of the development projects.

Under the current circumstance, developers will either have to scale down their projects or to re-submit their plans to seek approval for higher plot ratio. –  theedgemarkets

For the full article, readers can click the link
DBKL caps plot ratio

It had baffled PROPCAFE the basis of plot ratio given to developers for past few years. Where certain new developments has significant higher plot ratio versus the existing development.

For a start we need to understand what is a plot ratio. A plot ratio is a built up area of a development approved over an area of piece of land. Typically plot ratio used on commercial zone land which covers Serviced Apartment, Offices and SOHOs. For example if a plot ratio of 4 approved on a 1 acre of land, it means 174K sqft is allowed to be built.

Typically local council will allow higher plot ratio to be built on City Centre on the basis of better infrastructure and connectivity, primary purpose for office which require lesser common area and obviously more expensive land. However for past decade it has became common even for residential to be built on commercial due to higher demand and flexibility to build more units (and area) on commercial land. In fact many of the residential title land are converted to commercial land.

However PROPCAFE observed that plot ratio approved by DBKL for commercial office and serviced apartment has increased significantly for past few years. In general a plot ratio of 4 is general rule of thumb.

For example
Rica Sentul
 that launched two years was approved with Plot Ratio of 4 which is a “standard” commercial land’s plot ratio. However development like M Vertica in Cheras by Mahsing was approved with plot ratio of 10 with 3600 units on 11.25 acres of land.

Despite the mind boggling ratio and units, developer is only required to build single dedicated flyover ingress from Jalan Cheras to M Vertical. To put as perspective, Sky Suites @ KLCC by Monoland is approved with plot ratio of 10 and TRX Exchange is approved with plot ratio of 14. Do not get us wrong. We were merely pointing out the inconsistencies of the plot ratio award.

Why a plot ratio matter? Well for serviced component, it will determine your life quality as resident. There are more units packed on same piece of land. there will be more residents sharing the common area, roads  etc. How crowded is the swimming pool and gym?

Are the lift sufficient especially peak morning and evening? Can the infrastructure support drastic increase of population? How about privacy and exclusivity? How about the carparks? How about the wear and tear of common area?

As investors, you will have more competitors either for subsale and tenant. the digestion period will be longer where vacant units may take longer time to be absorbed by market as tenant and buyers have more choices.

Developers and local council need to strive a balance plot ratio which will local infrastructure can accommodate and provide healthy lifestyle to residents. To be fair, a low plot ratio is also not a good thing as residents will need to fork out high maintenance fee to manage and maintain the common area.

The next time you check out a new development, make sure you also ask about the plot ratio and compare it around.

PROPCAFE will share more with the next article of 10 things that you need to know about the impact of plot ratio to your property! Stay tuned!!!

Happy hunting!

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PROPCAFE™ Guide: DBKL Caps Plot Ratio for Development in KL! 10 Things You Need To Know About The Impact of Plot Ratio To Your Property! – Part 2

For anyone who are tracking the property developments in KL last few years would have realised on the shocking high density developments spread across Klang Valley. Many of these approved projects are totally deviated from the rightful plot ratio. All thanks to the lenient and unthoughtful practices of previous government.

The higher plot ratio which gives the avenue for developer to provide high density product, by right, should translate to lower property price tag. However, is it sustainable in long run? Is the property livable?

Thank god that it is now back to right track as the plot ratio plays a big part to improve the living standard of citizen. Those projects with 3-4k units should not be there in the first place and ownstayers and investors must know the implication of plot ratio to their properties. PROPCAFE is here to share why you need to worry about it.

1. High plot ratio means high density i.e more units will be built within the parcel. Bad! Number of unit per acre will shoot up for sure! Beehives and Concrete jungle!

2. Expect high ratio of lift sharing ratio. Wait x 3 for your turn!

3. High number of human traffic at common area like facilities. Crowds!

4. High usage of facilities means maintenance costs will go up. The common area will run down faster! Headache to maintain!

5. More units equate to more competitors for investors to rent or sell the units. Imagine few thousands units. OMG. Not to say 70pc (likely nowadays), even 50pc investors will make you crazy. Throw price x 3! Buy cheap (due to high density) and sell cheaper! Aiyo!

6. Tenant quality will go down the hill due to the competition and desperate buyers. It may make your dream home evaporate! Scare in the lift or at home??

7. If only one guardhouse, make sure your guards are efficient! The visitors registration and queue to get in and out will be nightmare. Queue x 3!

8. Malaysian loves car. Surely visitors carpark will be full with cars if developer does not give enough to buyers and designated visitors carpark bays. Parking dilemma to your visitors!

9. The development will affect the surrounding access roads if it is not sufficient to cater the traffic. Stuck and jam. See your home but so near yet so far!

10. Imagine it is influx with airbnb operators. 1000-2000 airbnb wannabe out of 3000 units there will make the property as a tourism attraction 🙈. Imagine the lobby, lifts, swimming pool, gym etc. Lugguge bags and items moving in and out!

You may now see the impact of the consequences due the high plot ratio. Don’t play play! Next time, when you go to sales gallery please ask about the plot ration and watch out the density before you put your hard earn money there!

You may read the Plot Ratio news and Part 1 below.

https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/dbkl-caps-plot-ratio-developments-capital-city

PROPCAFE™ Diary: Capping of Plot Ratio. Does it matter? – Part 1

Happy Reading and Ciao!

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PROPCAFE™ Guide : Home is the Value

We seldom speak about property philosophy not because we do not want to, because we don’t know much about it, we admit. This is not the only main reason we don’t talk; most of them when they talk, they think they know everything.

Recently we hear something on the topic of property value and the scariest thing to hear is not about what they know but the thought of they think they know it all. Since today is weekend, my fellow friends and investors, let’s have a small talk here. In your mind , what is property value to you?

What factors determine property value? First of all, lets talk about residential property under schedule H for example serviced apartment, landed property, condominium because we believe this is what commonly owned by most of us.
Why do you think a residential property value increases? We just talk on the most fundamental and basic here. We all know land scarcity, location, amenities, connectivity and etc. Let’s put all those complicated, fancy, hi-tech, bombastic things aside.

The main reason we asked this because someone told me rental yield is one of the factor which deciding or influencing the property value. If a residential property gives you a high rental yield, the property value will appreciate. What do you think?

Technically, is not wrong in the above statement. However at this juncture, we would like to ponder a bit deeper because we think many people actually got confused.

It is empirical that the residential property value will determine the rental value and not necessary the rental value will determine the property value. We can’t solely use rental yield as the factor in determine the residential property value unlike commercial property like shoplots, warehouse or factory.

Recently we hear a lot of new fancy concept to apply the commercial property concept into residential property in order to obtain high rental yield like sublet the rooms by transforming or optimizing the unit layout to maximum number of rooms in order for better capital appreciation in the future. Well, if you own a commercial building or warehouse or a hotel or any single building for commercial purpose, then this is something logically should be done. However if you doing this to your residential property especially strata property like high-rise, in long run it will hurt you more as owner and other owners who share the same building or same walls with you.

There is always an exceptional to everything, for example residential-hotel combination property. But this kind of property normally had been well planned beforehand, (please take note : is BEFORE and not AFTER) to blend the concept effectively to increase the property value for instance the matter of welfare, privacy and exclusivity of the owners, residents are being protected and more often if not managed by a well-known 5-stars hotel operator. So let’s not complicate our discussion and back to our original discussion since this type of property is not our focus at this moment.

Bringing commercial value appreciation strategy into a residential property will only disrupt the harmony and appreciation of the residential property value. Someone told me, the tech disrupt the world in a good way for the future, however we would like to remind, no matter how the world changes or advance with tech, the core value of Home has been remaining for thousand years although the definition evolves with time

Home value is timeless, although the definition of Home changes with time.

Other than location, community and people living in and out of the building itself is equally important for a healthy capital appreciation. A balance and harmony relationship, community, quality of tenant and residents, and effective and responsible JMB plays an important role as well. Those are the intangible quality and asset of a good residential property.

There is a reason why we don’t call hostel, dormitory or hotel as Home, because these places lack of quality mentioned above. They are merely strangers living under the same roof.

Home is Home. Home is the Value.

And I can proudly telling you all I am going Home now, my Home is waiting for me
 Just like the song “Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver

Good night.

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PROPCAFE™ Diary: Are Eko Cheras Residential Towers ready for vacant possession in February?

PROPCAFE has been talking about Eko Cheras Residential units since couple of years ago. Last weekend, by seeing the readiness of lobby and dropoff area, it seems like the vacant possession is not too far away!

The round/oval fountain which sits in the middle of private dropoff area between Tower J and H is there to see!

Residential Drop Off Area

Oval Fountain

Apparently both Towers have its own small guardhouse near the ramp down to the residential carpark area. The raw “unfinished” ceiling with the modern and simple lightings are surprisingly matched!

Modern Lighting with Raw Ceiling Design. What say you?

Guardhouse near to the entrance of carpark zone

Good width of carpark ramp spotted!

Ramp to and from the residential carpark zone

The entrance of residential lobby is ready!

Entrance Signage of Tower J

Toward Entrance of Tower J

Tower H Entrance Signage

Entrance door with access card. Yup, before the letter box area. Opps, disappointment from airbnb operators?

Entrance door to small residential lobby

The waiting area is rather small. Ok, noted that different tower still has its own entrance and lobby. One thing the developer must do is to furnish it and make it a small lounge. Calling developer……

Unfurnished Waiting Area

The lift lobby is IMPRESSIVE! Only if you can take raw food, ha. Seriously the basket raw industry look is so IN! OMG, one of the best! But some will say one of the worst! So, let’s wait for the extreme feedback! Ha…….

Holy cow! This is so….cool!?

Two side of lift lobby with total of six lifts

Wow, what else to say?

Lastly, let’s zoom into the lift itself. Oh my, yes, the steel frame is rusted, even the floor indicator on top! It will be the most instagramable residential block in town!

Rusty Lift! Design at its best!

PROPCAFE loves the raw design idea and efforts from developer, but not all will appreciate it. For sure, Eko Cheras Residential will be stuck in between Love it or Hate it situation. Ha. Sometimes, it just need to be unique in this challenging time to gain the support of niche segment, someone who appreciate art and design.

You have to give credit to Ekovest. Most of the  time, residential component in an integrated development will not get large dropoff area with fountain and its residential entrance of lobby will either stuck at the side or back of the development unnoticed (good for privacy but hard to find sometimes). The separate lobby and carpark entrance for each tower also a plus point to spread out the crowds and cut down the lift waiting time.

You have yet to see all! Stay tuned, PROPCAFE will bring you a full PROPCAFE 360 Degree View on Residential Tower soon! Leave your message here and share your thought about the concept above!

Till then, Happy Hunting! And Gong Xi Fa Chai!

Eko Cheras Mall

Unlike PROPCAFE Review, PROPCAFE Diary is the new series from PROPCAFE to have a quick sharing of property related topics that comes with a short write-up to update our followers on the latest property info in town!

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