PROPCAFE Review : 16 Sierra @ Puchong South By IOI Properties

16 Sierra @ Puchong By IOI Properties

16 Again

How does it feel like to be 16 again? Yippie, I still have lots of hairs and skinny, should I confess my feeling to that special high school sweet heart.

Or should tell my geography teacher; it served me little purpose to know what mineral lies underneath our earth crust, what the big fuss in North America or Antarctica rather geography should cover property investment, location, location, location!

Fast forward to today, now, present, this is not about to become a property millionaires by 16, 16 sure hit pickup lines or 16 most eligible bachelors/bachelorettes.

PROPCAFE proudly presents you our comprehensive review on 16 Sierra Puchong South “16 Sierra” developed by IOI Properties Group Berhad “IOIP”.

16 Sierra, The ‘Play Learn Bond’ Township

Measure at 535 acre, stood 90m above sea level, 16 Sierra Puchong South is IOI Properties unique themed garden township development located strategically at Puchong South that offers elevated lifestyle living. It is flanked by 3 major expressway in Klang Valley, LDP, SKVE and MEX. While we have seen rapid development across Puchong, it is pretty obvious that southern part of Puchong will be the key growth area today.

Corporate Profile: The pple behind 16 Sierra Puchong South

Being in the business for more than 30 years since 1984, IOIP is a proven household name in property development sector.

These are the same people that crafted these successful townships such as Bandar Puteri Puchong, Bandar Puchong Jaya, Bandar Putra Kulai (Johor), Bandar Putra Segamat (Johor).

Financial Capabilities & Reputation

In early 2014, a major corporate exercise was undertaken by IOI Corporation Berhad “IOIC’ streamlining its property and plantation business, IOIP is now an independent separate entity and positioned as one of the largest property groups in the country in terms of land bank which amounts to approximately 10,000 acres.

After relisting into KLSE in 2014, the financial strength of IOI are at publicly available. IOIP is sufficiently capitalized and has impeccable earning records, safe to say, buying IOIP’s product is pretty assuring.  IOIP received various recognition from industry accolades, the group is the recipient of the coveted 2014 The Edge top 10 Malaysia Top Property Developers Award, BCI Asia 2015 Top Ten Developers Awards, Asia Pacific Property Awards for Highly Commended High Rise Landscaped Architecture for Skyz Residence.

 16 Sierra The Township Concept

We deep dived into concept and the components of 16 Sierra Township.

Picture this, 16 uniquely themed gardens, each component has its unique character, identity, these 16 elements blend perfectly in the all-round serene environment, inter-connected to each other to form the core of the township, and THIS IS 16 SIERRA, your GARDEN TOWNSHIP.

Analyzing the township masterplan

Before we go further into detail, analyzing and dissecting the masterplan, the most important criteria we have to consider is the – Ability to Deliver.

A township developer can have a masterplan as grand as we can possibly imagine, would be meaningless if it is unable implement it.

Backed by more than 30 years of property development experience, and what we have seen with our naked eyes and your eyes (in this review), IOIP delivers well for its envisioned garden themed township with premium finishing and workmanship.

The Essential Component of the 16 Sierra

Central Park

All work and without play will make you dull. Not only each precinct has their own thematic gardens, IOI has carved out 7 acre from the masterplan for Central Park for the enjoyment of residents.

The signature 7 acre Central Park forms the heart of the township. Apart from being the green lung in 16 Sierra Puchong South Township, it is worth to note that, there are a lot of thought processes being deployed into Central Park. There is amphitheatre suitable for outdoor performance with seating surrounding the theatre. The grand lawn is large enough for mini football and for more relaxing activities; you can walk around well shaded central park.  Its dome like design with free seating arrangement with jogging path is a perfect avenue for residents to have picnics, brisk exercise, jogging, private event, other leisure activities.

For those who want more outdoor active sport, there is a futsal court and 2 basketball courts where residents can book the court for usage.

The Amigo Club House

A successful township with will never be complete without a full-fledged facilities club house.

Launched in 2nd half of 2014, located strategically in the center of the 16 Sierra Township, The Amigo Club House is packed with comprehensive fun & leisure, sports, recreation facilities. From a fully equipped gym center overlooking a 40m swimming pool to a mini water theme park with water slides, kids pool, sauna.

We observed quality & up market grade fittings and materials used in making of the club house, from the gym equipment, water faucets, to give the club users some premium lifestyle experience.

This exclusive club house open to to 16 Sierra property owners only. 16 Sierra owners are eligible to join the club house with nominal monthly membership fees of RM 120 per month, the fees are inclusive spouse and 2 children.

The FOOD!

And yes, we tried the Italian Restaurant at the Amigo Club House, run by a native Italian, we urge you to try them too. Last check, PROPCAFE editors managed to ‘clean them up’ effortlessly, leaving no excesses! Keen to know more about the Amigo’s Restaurant, do visit here.

Current Infrastructure & amenities

Being a township development, it must be well planned and one of the most unique features are the amenities and infrastructure that form part of the township. Some of the famous township such as USJ, SJ, Bandar Utama and more recent such as Bandar Puteri Puchong, Setia Alam/Setia Eco Park all of them sharing the same DNA where the townships offer “one stop” for all the needs of the residents. Whether it is education, shops and retails, offices, commercial and recreation, a township should offer most of necessities.

Backed with years of experience in developing township such as Bandar Puchong Jaya and Bandar Puteri in Puchong and Bandar Putera/Puteri in Klang, 16 Sierra Puchong South is surrounded with plenty of amenities and infrastructures.

Launched in 2010, 16 Sierra is on growth trajectory where the branding is getting recognition particularly in Klang Valley’s southern region and many of the planned amenities are coming to fruition.  Going to VP soon, the commercial precinct of 16 Sierra Puchong South, Sierra Zentro will be VP-ed soon.

Prominently visible along SKVE, the modern 3 to 4 storey dark grey shoplots invite curiosity among the motorists who drive along SKVE. This only can bode well and invite more crowds in the near future. There will a second phase for Sierra 10, so for commercial shoplot investors, do follow up closely with IOIP.

While waiting for the Sierra 10 to be bustling with commercial activities, the residents currently can get their needs from D Alpinia shoplot that just located outside of the 16 Sierra, just before the LDP interchange.

The beige colour building behind Sierra 10 is the Rafflesia International and Private School which just start operation with its first batch in September 2013.

International School is not bread and butter of mass population and only appeal to certain group of society. However for these groups, they are no longer limited to Alice Smith which located in Seri Kembangan or Taylor International School in Bandar Bukit Puchong, This will offer more choices for parents that chose to send their children to international school in this part of Klang Valley.

For those looking for Chinese school, SJK (C) Bukit Serdang in Seri Kembangan or SJK (C) Sin Ming in between Taman Tasik Prima and Bandar Bukit Puchong will serve the need of those who looking for Chinese education.

This is the attraction of township which not easily rivalled by smaller scale developments or boutique development where most of the amenities and infrastructure are not within their control where they rely on other developers to chip in the fund and resources to build the amenities and infrastructure.

The nearest sizable mall is IOI City Mall (ICM) which is a breeze driving distance via SKVE and approximately 8km away. Part of 320acre IOI Resort City, Cost about RM1.5billion and built on 33.5acre of land, ICM has approximately 1.45m NLA with 350 specialty shops ranging from restaurants, cinema and ice skating rink that will serve the need of the patronage. Among other key attraction includes the hugely popular indoor theme park District 21. Across the mall is the modern public Hospital Serdang.

Accessibility and highway network

When we first visit the township, we missed the LDP interchange and need to pay toll at Puchong South Toll and made an U-Turn at Bandar Bukit Puchong. Again, we need to pay a toll at Puchong South Toll before arrived the sales gallery. Back in our mind, the incident gave a bad impression until the salesperson explained the main access is via SKVE and not via LDP.

Once you get to grasp the highway network, the access via SKVE is simply breeze that and will bring you escape all the traffic that associated with notorious jammed LDP. Driving towards Kajang, it will bring you to IOI City Mall, Besraya and North-South Highway. If you need to go back to 16 Sierra or heading south, just make the turns at the diamond interchange at SKVE.

By using the same diamond interchange you can go to LDP to head towards Puchong, Sunway and Petaling Jaya. On the opposite direction, you will be on Cyberjaya-Putrajaya Expressway not only to Cyberjaya and Putrajaya but via Lingkaran Putrajaya to MEX which bring you to the heart of KLCC and Bukit Bintang.

Finally the Lingkaran Putrajaya will be linked with ELITE highway that bring you to KLIA on southbound and USJ/ Putra Heights on Northbound.

Demographic, occupation rate and job opportunities

We were informed 70% of the residents are Chinese with the balance are spread among Indian, Malays and others such as expatriates. Almost 80% of the completed residential are occupied and this only can bode well with the township and community. The high occupancy illustrates to certain degree lesser speculation and most of the buyers are genuine home stayers.

Job opportunities in this area seem to concentrated on the small and medium industries where sporadic of industries parks are located in Puchong. In South part, most of the civil servants work in Putrajaya and IT workers are in Cyberjaya. For most of the white collar related works, the residents most likely will commute to PJCC, Sunway, PJ and KL.

Catalyst and Future Infrastructure

It is important for any growing area, catalyst for future growth and infrastructure are very critical to ensure sustainable development and living. Catalyst will ensure that there is “story” for future capital appreciation.

Even among property aficionados, there are arguments North VS South, Semenyih VS Rawang, KL City VS Suburban etc for which property to buy. If you follow Ho Chin Soon, he advocates to follow the infrastructure.

The mother of all infrastructure project, expected to cost both Singapore and Malaysia government RM40b to build, the HSR KL-SG will provide massive catalyst and reduce the traveling time to 1.5hours, city centre to city centre. Even though the final station located in Bandar Malaysia, there is another station that located in Putrajaya Sentral. Located just approximately 9km or 11 minutes drive away, in Putrajaya Sentral is easily accessible from 16 Sierra via Putrajaya-Cyberjaya Expressway. This is boon for the residents in southern Klang Valley especially IF they are regular to Singapore.

In our opinion, the biggest catalyst of all the infrastructure projects currently is the KVMRT2 (Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya Line). Currently the public feedback for KVMRT2 just started and however it is proposed one future station is S33 that smacked right in the middle of 16 Sierra. It is much debated the pros and cons of the public transport where on negative side, it bring in more crowds and congestion, noise and dust for the property along the line however in the same time enhance the value of property within the close proximity of the station due to improvement of accessibility and network. MRT also act like a bridge that bring the location closer and therefore time saved in travel. KVMRT2 is expected to have station in important area such as Bandar Malaysia, Putrajaya Sentral, Tun Razak Exchange etc and this is boon for the stations along the line.

According to the promoter website, “the proposed Lebuhraya Serdang-Kinrara-Putrajaya (SKIP) is an intra-urban expressway completing the “Missing Links” to the planned and existing highway/expressway networks within the Greater Kuala Lumpur. Integrating with the proposed Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (KIDEX) at Kinrara, the SKIP-KIDEX expressway will complement the intra-urban expressway network to service the travel desire route between the North and North-Eastern sector (i.e. Damansara and Ampang) and the South-Eastern sector (such as Serdang, Kinrara, Putrajaya/Cyberjaya and KLIA areas)”.

However at this junction of time due to protest by the residents affected by the alignment specifically in PJ, the project has been on hold and there seems no specific timeline that this project will take off again. For the alignment of the SKIP refer to the website http://www.p-perdana.com/images/map-skip-expressway.jpg

Interestingly, the SKIP will have a link to the future MEX interchange in Seri Kembangan that currently is under construction. If SKIP is materialised, it will be good news for 16 Sierra residents as they do not need to use Jalan Putra Permai nor Lingkaran Putrajaya to use MEX.

Probably taking hint from the success of Bandar Puteri, the primest piece of land is reserved for the RIO City the main commercial precinct of 16 Sierra Puchong South. At this junction of writing, there is no master plan for RIO City however residents should expect similar concept with IOI RIO City in Bandar Puteri.

There are future primary & secondary schools as part of the masterplan however at the time of this blog is written, there is no plan when and what are the type of schools will be built.

Development phases, development ratios and composition

Launch	Precinct	Type	Model	Type	Land Size (typ)	Units	Price
1 (2010)	Sierra 8	Residential	Adenia & Areca	2S Link	22X75	251	From RM448K
2 (2010)	Sierra 1	Residential	Odora	Townhouse	24X73	446	From RM400K
3 (2011)	Sierra 2	Residential	Lyden	3S SMD	44X80	35	From RM1.9m
3 (2011)	Sierra 2	Residential	Lyden	2 & 3S Link	22X75/80	228	From RM800k
4 (2012)	Sierra 9	Residential	Akira	3S SMD	45X85	122	From RM2.2m
5 (2013)	Sierra 10	Commercial	Zentro 1	Shoplots	24X85	99	From RM1.9m
6 (2013)	La Thea	Residential	La Thea	Condo	787-1205	526	From RM470K
7 (2014 & 5)	Sierra 6	Residential	Sierra 6	2&3S Super LInk	27X73	113(3S) & 104 (2S)	From Rm1.1m
8 (2014)	Sierra 12	Residential	N’ Dira	Townhouses	27X73	336	From RM750K

La Thea

The first condominium launched in 2013 and close to completion, La Thea is 2 blocks (with 24 and 20 storeys) condominium with total 526 units. Located on leasehold residential land, La Thea has 3 typical layouts as follow

Type	Size (sqft)	Configuration	Units/floor
A1	787	2 bedrooms	4
B1	970	3 bedrooms	6
C1	1205	3 bedrooms	2

Each floor comprises of 12 units/floor and each tower is sharing 3+1 lifts. The pricing starts from RM470K or approximately RM600psf. Each unit comes with at least 2 carparks.

For more information, kindly contact your friendly IOIP Sales & Marketing personnel.

Future launches

More choices for home owners

16 Sierra has balance approximately 40% unlaunched phases both residential and commercial, for those looking for a place call home in future, the following will give you some idea on what is up and coming launches in 16 Sierra in future.

Long term value appreciation

For shrewd property investors, more upcoming launches translate to price push opportunities.

Unlaunched residential phases

No	Type of property	Phase name	Planned launch timing
1	3S Superlink 2S Superlink	Sierra 11	4th Quarter 2015 1st Quarter 2016
2	2-Storey Linked House	Sierra 3	TBC
3	Future Developments	Sierra 5
4	Future Developments	Sierra 7
5	Condo/Serviced-Apartments	Sierra 13
6	Condo/Serviced-Apartments	Sierra 15
7	Future Development	Sierra 16

Commercial development a critical success factor for a sustainable township

It is interesting to see there sizable commercial development at the located at fringe of LDP, planned 50acre commercial development in Sierra 10 and Rio City. These will complement well for a maturing township in time to come.

Unlaunched commercial phase

No	Type of property	Phase name	Planned launch timing
1	Mixed Developments	Sierra 10 (II)	TBC

Commercial development placement a sustainable township in the making

We have seen how other IOIP hugely successful commercial developments thrive.

1. Bandar Puteri, accessible by LDP, commercial development is placed nearer LDP, deeper in followed by residential development.
2. Bandar Puchong Jaya, accessible by LDP, commercial development is placed nearer to access of the highway, deeper in followed by residential development.

In 16 Sierra, we see this proven township development planning formula being applied; Sierra Zentro and RIO City will be the future catalyst for 16 Sierra township.

A sustainable township needs to be supported with good commercial activities; we think 16 Sierra is heading the right track.

Conclusion

An integrated township development in the making

16 Sierra is a township development that has good existing public infrastructures. It is surrounded by various amenities, reputable international school, primary & secondary school, hospital, hypermarkets and being relatively near to the regional mall IOI City Mall, Putrajaya.

Surround with greens and each precinct has its distinctive green lung.

16 Sierra embeds lifestyle element into the township with resident only exclusive club house, Amigo Club House.

The township will also have a hugely important infrastructure that is being planned by the federal government, a MRT stop for MRT Line 2, SSP Line right in the heart of 16 Sierra.

Notwithstanding that, upcoming commercial developments at Rio City and SKIP highway, extension to MEX these are the future catalyst one should not ignore.

All these will contribute the making of the only green, self-sustainable, transport orientated integrated, life styled township – 16 Sierra.

Let numbers talk

Savvy property owners of 16 Sierra would have already reaped some handsome rewards for entrusting their faith on IOIP back in 2010. Todate, we saw 100% capital appreciation for the earlier landed phases.

Healthy capital gain one of the many benefits of a successful township.

The Verdict

What we have identified above does it qualify 16 Sierra Puchong South to be potentially a successful township?

We let you be the judge!