CHERAS is experiencing a housing boom particularly around the Sungai Long and the Taman Len Sen and Taman Connaught areas.
Developers are zooming in not only on the traditional medium-cost housing in the midst of old housing estates, but on high-end homes featuring gated communities.
Over the past several months there had been a spate of new launches, most of them in the vicinity of Taman Segar and Taman Connaught. There have also been launches in Cheras Perdana and Taman Tun Hussein Onn.
Further down at Sungai Long (near Kajang), the Lion Group’s 800-acre Bandar Mahkota Cheras is transforming this part of Cheras into a modern neighbourhood.
Its Mahkota Walk commercial centre will be handed over to buyers soon. Checks showed that all the shops there had been sold. Some offices priced from RM55,900 for a 674-sq ft third floor unit are still available.
The township (next to Bandar Sungai Long where the Emerald Park is coming on-stream) is currently offering 20ft x 65ft two-storey terrace houses priced from RM288,900 (for 1,942 sq ft built-up area) and from RM341,900 (2,373 sq ft built-up area).
Purchasers are offered 100% financing, 10% rebate on the purchase price and no first 10% down payment among other incentives.
The Tanming Group, which has several projects in Cheras has also positioned itself as a major long-term player there with parcels of prime development land in Sungai Long.
In the past, Cheras was synonymous with the lower to middle-income housing where developers built mostly terrace houses.
The Li Foong Group changed that image when it built a crop of high-rise condominiums on a hillock called Venice Hill (also near Plaza Phoenix). Sunrise Bhd also had a small terrace housing project there in the early 1990s.
Despite the many woes like crimes and congestion, people still choose to live in Cheras because of its improved infrastructure, convenience, many amenities and simply a place where they and their parents grew up.
The housing boom has also drawn Mah Sing Group that has acquired a 9.9-acre freehold land in Cheras for a high-end project comprising 56 semi-detached houses and garden bungalows in a gated community and 20 shop offices.
Meanwhile, with Cheras folks upgrading, there is a demand for high-end homes in a gated community.
Bayu Aman is one of the latest high-end projects to cater to this niche market. The developer Total Heights Sdn Bhd is building seven three-storey bungalows with built-ups of 4,560 sq ft each near the Cheras Leisure Mall. They are priced from RM1.58mil to RM1.88mil. Two have been sold.
There is also RM250mil Kipark Cheras (near Plaza Phoenix and Taman Len Sen) by the KIP group. The 53-acre freehold project with 24-hour security services comprises 692 units of bungalows, semi-detached houses, link houses, shop offices, low-cost apartments and condominiums.
The developer Desa Kipcity Sdn Bhd is selling 137 units of 2½-storey and three-storey link houses priced from RM428,800 and 96 units of 2, 2½ and 3-storey semi-detached houses priced from RM880,000. The 21 units of two-storey bungalows are priced from RM1.5 mil each.
KIP Group marketing manager Sim Weng Keet said the official launch would be held in April once the two show houses were completed.
''The market is very localised with many house buyers being up-graders from Cheras. Improvement in infrastructure has helped to boost housing demand in the area,'' he said. This housing estate will have better access with the proposed roads connecting to the Cheras Highway and the Middle Ring Road 2 being built.
Purchasers also like a good concept as evident in IJM Properties Sdn Bhd’s Bukit Manda’rina where all the non-bumiputra units of courtyard terraces priced from RM428,800 had been sold since its launch last April.
Besides the 59 units of courtyard terraces, the 66-acre leasehold boutique development will also have apartments, semi-detached homes, bungalows and condominiums.
Lum Chang is also joining the fray with a proposed high-end gated and guarded development called Twin Palms in Sungai Long while UDA Land (Central) Sdn Bhd also launched its Arca bungalows in Bandar Tun Hussein Onn last August.
Other upcoming projects include:
Cheras Court: Phase 2 of this 528-unit five-storey medium-cost apartments are priced from RM96,500 to RM110,000 for a three-bedroom and two-bathroom 850 sq ft unit. It is a low-density project with lifts.
The freehold project near Plaza Phoenix has toll free access via Jalan Cheras. The developer is Golden City Properties Sdn Bhd.
Vista Harmoni condominium: This 300-unit freehold project in Taman Bukit Cheras is being developed by Cygal Properties Sdn Bhd and can be reached either via the Connaught Highway/East-West Link or from Jalan Cheras by entering Jalan 1/144A after passing inside Plaza Phoenix.
Purchasers of the first 30 units were offered ''rewards'' worth more than RM20,000 during a recent festive promotion. Buyers could choose either Package A (one free 42-inch plasma TV set, two free air-conditioning units) or Package B (free kitchen cabinet, free wardrobes to all bedrooms, and two free air-conditioning units. Both packages also come with free legal and disbursement fees for the sale and purchase agreement.
The price is from RM198,080 to RM612,636.
Vista Harmoni terraces: Cygal Properties is also building 45 double-storey terrace houses in Taman Bukit Cheras. The 22ft x 89ft freehold houses are priced from RM405,880 to RM580,668.
Vista Hatamas: Located inside Taman Cuepacs, the 210 units of three blocks of eight-storey leasehold apartments are priced from only RM100,000.
The developer Jiwa Mewah Sdn Bhd claims that the price is around RM117.65 per sq ft, which is lower than that of similar apartments in Cheras Hartamas and Taman Bukit Segar.
Source : The Star 27/03/2006 |
