28 Boulevard – A lakeside development in the heart of matured area in KL city. Without MRT and LRT within walking distance, what does this development offer? How about the downside?
LOCATION
Pandan Perdana is located at border of Cheras and Ampang, where the address carrying the postcode of 55300 Kuala Lumpur but under the jurisdiction of the Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya MPAJ. Most of the time, we always like to benchmark the location of a project by using KLCC & Pavilion as the yardstick where most of us think that this place is the centre of the gravity, in this case 28 Boulevard won’t be exceptional and the approximate displacement (direct measurememt) from 28 Boulevard to KLCC Shopping Centre is 5.7km and Pavilion is merely 4.8km. Is it near or far? This is subjective to individual and I will leave it to reader to decide.
Pandan Perdana is a very matured or some might label it as “old” and established area where has been existed more than over 20 years. Pandan Perdana is smacked right in between of other matured and established neighborhood town like Kampung Cheras Baru, Taman Kencana, Taman Cheras Indah, Pandan Indah ,Taman Bukit Ria and Taman Shamelin Perkasa. If you still remember about Shamelin Star which was published by PropCafe.Net much earlier, you can get more insight about Taman Shamelin Perkasa from the review of Shamelin Star. For this time, I will concentrate more about Pandan Perdana itself.
Others famous and matured town which are just a stone throw away from Pandan Perdana is Taman Maluri, Yulek, Pandan Jaya, Taman Kobena, Taman Pertama, Taman Maju Jaya, Taman Muda andTaman Putra. Yes, Cheras itself has more than 100 over taman taman!
Since 28 Boulevard is really near to so many matured established area, rest assured you don’t have to worry for basic need like food, school, grocery, bank, post office, market, hospital, clinic and you name it. All you need is your own transport!
28 Boulevard is located at Pandan Perdana, ex-site of Pandan Lake Club for those who are familiar with Pandan Perdana and to be exact the GPS coordinate for the site is 3.118521, 101.744570 . For those not familiar, need not worry, you are on the right path now, and just keep on reading.
ACTUAL SITE – 360 DEGREE
The Lake
There aren’t so many lakes around this area. The nearer lakes which known nearby are located at Bandar Sri Permaisuri and Taman Tasik Ampang Hilir.
New development beside lake is rather rare around this area, the most recent launch nearby 28 Boulevard is Shamelin Star SoHo Residence which was launched at least one year ago. As of now the Pandan Lake ain’t much activities going on around here, what can be noticed that the community use it for some jogging and fishing activity.
It is nice to see but maintaining such a lake it never been easy, if the lake is being ill treated, other problems such as unpleasant odor may arise or worse still, it might become an illegal dump site. As far we know, this lake will be open to the public and not exclusive to the 28 Boulevard owners.
Let’s check out the actual site and all angles that covers all direct neigbours. Yes, with it, you don’t need to go to the site!
ACCESSIBILITY
The accessibility is quite straight forward. Let’s talk about the main access and for the shortcut we will leave to the local dragon as there are plenty of alternative.
(*All distance is approximate with car as the transport mode)
Expressway :
1. MRR2 via Jalan Perdana 3/1 > Jalan Perdana 3/2 > MRR2 (1km)
2. MRR2 via Jln Perdana 3/1 > Jln Taman Perdana > Jln Indah > Jln Pandan Indah > MRR2 (2km)
3. Jln Cheras via Jln Perdana 3/1 > Jln Perdana Utama > Jln 4/91 > Jln 1/91 > Jln Cheras (2.4km)
4. Besraya Ext via Jln Perdana 3/1 > Jln Perdana Utama > Jalan 4/91 > Jalan 1/91 > Shamelin Int (2.0km)
All I can say, the traffic condition of all inner roads mentioned above before reaching the major expressway are bottle neck during the peak hour due to traffic lights, t-junctions, narrow road (Only 2-lanes especially Jalan Perdana 3/1, Jalan Perdana 3/2 & Jalan Perdana Utama). One cannot imagine what will it be with the additional 1920units of 28 Boulevard. I am not sure will it be more worse as current situation is already worst!
During the peak hour, the time needed to access the major expressway definitely take much longer despite the absolute value of distance is low. Then again, for those who stay there area might already get used to it but for those outsiders who considering living there, it is advisable to check the actual condition during peak hour.
If one talk about upgrading by widening Jalan Perdana 3/1 & 3/2 and Jalan Perdana Utama, I am bit skeptical. My advice is better do not take it as a promise or factor in your buying decision but rather a bonus if it happens as the saying Hope for the best but prepare for the worst!
Train Station :
LRT : Maluri (2.6km), Pandan Jaya(2km), Pandan Indah (2.8km)
MRT : Maluri (2.6km) & Bukit Ria (3km)
Although there are few options of LRT or MRT train stations available but all are not walkable distance. So this is one of the disadvantage of this project as compared to those direct linked MRT/LRT projects.
SURROUNDING AMENITIES AND KEY COMPONENTS
OVERALL MASTERPLAN
A breath of fresh air to introduce such a stunning skyscraper in the rather low and mid class dotted area. It brings the phase “rich man in a poor world” a new meaning.
We can assume that the developer will follow closely the standard they’ve given to KLCC Marc Residences with nice lobby and innovative gardens and facilities. For its entry price, really there is nothing more than one can ask for.
What are the Offering?
1.Sit on a platform of 9 storey car park podium, with ground and 1st floor reserved for lobby (that comes with concierge services) and “premier restaurants and café “retail outlets (developer will control and lease it).
2.12/13 floors for duplex units and facilities area with pools, gyms (both outdoor and indoor) and hosts of other well thought off facilities that usually comes with a good grade condo.
3.To enhance the aesthetic look of this development, they also punctual each block with sky garden on 24th and 34th floor to give residents a well airy pocket of gardening outdoor spaces instead of travelling down to facilities floor for some outdoor space.
4.4 blocks of alternative SOHOs (outer most blocks) and Service Apartments (inner facing blocks) of 2 blocks each of 45 storey and this project will definitely commanding a magnificent view of the city skylight from Pandan Ampang area and beyond.
5.Buyers will have the choice of either KL city skyline view/facility view (north view) or Pandan Lake view/facility view (South view).
- Even SOHO unit will be given a carpark. Great! Two carpark, if we are not wrong, will be given to 3 bedroom units and additional carpark to even larger units.
What are the Extra Affords from Developer?
- Shuttle Service for Residents to nearest LRT (Pandan Jaya). Developer will contribute a vehicle for JMB to maintain.
- Retail component which will not be sold will provide more lakefront commercial activities which can be the focal point for Pandan Perdana residents. More lifestyle for Gen Y. Current mostly only aunties and uncles utilizing the lake environment.
- A fountain will be made in the middle of the lake to add more “Life” on it. Not sure the lighting though.
- Just Right Design is the appointed landscape architect which normally produces quality landscape design.
28 Boulevard’s Master Plan = the Game Changer for Pandan Perdana? Only time will tell.
What are the Potential Issues with this Master Plan?
- Facility view units also will be looking onto the opposite units. What’s the distance between these blocks, until now, only developer knows. Hope it won’t be like Regalia experience where high floor buyers were screaming after paying so much premium! Regalia low floor buyers with garden and pool view were surprisingly happy after VPed (see below).
- Phase 1, there is likely chance that KLCC won’t come to play and if lucky, your unit might get a glimpse of Pandan Lake, otherwise outer facing units will have to satisfy with the rooftop of lower cost apartments view mostly.
- Question should be asked if having both sohos and apartments in the same parcel is a good idea? Assuming all 4 blocks are having the same access entrance? Will the apartment residents feel uneasy for having many visitors accessing the building 24/7 and what sort of security that JMB can impose to better control these crowd?
- To add to this confusion, this development is having public access restaurants and cafes on ground and 1st floor. It will further deteriorate the privacy of residence apartment owners.
- Another issue is with the up keeping and maintenance of Pandan Lake. Since this lake is a public lake. 28 Boulevard is responsible to maintain the lake for first 5 years and return back to local council. Un-confirm source also revealed that Developer may build a multiple purpose hall and the collection of the usage goes to local council as exchange for the lake maintenance. Currently the lake is maintain reasonably well. According to developer which work with local council, the cost of maintain is relatively low. Well, only technical person can confirm it. As of now, it is still potential problem.
- Shuttle service costs, scheduling and arrangement. JMB needs to be on top of it to arrange it and maintenance cost will be borne by residents. 1900 units and given no MRT and LRT within walking distance, we will expect the demand for this service to be high. Good luck, JMB. Currently, Sky Residence by SP Setia is currently doing it smoothly. Perhaps more study to be done?
Land Status and Completion Date
Leasehold with commercial title. Lease is expected to expire on March 2100 that gives owners approximately 81 years lease upon completion. Developer guarantee to renew lease upon completion?
The project has 5 years approved building period and with no DIBS (i.e. pay interest for 4-5 years!), it’s a long way to wait for income generation strategy. Good thing is, no RPGT after 5 years. Also, if you expect the slowdown on property segment will be happening soon in next two years, then to have 5 years completion may not be a bad approach to avoid the bottom of the property cycle.
Density
With 1920 units sit on 11.07 acres (average 173units/acre), it is considered a high density project by any numbers, given that the 11.07 acres also consisted of 80% of the Pandan Lake area. We don’t know how KLites will treat the usage of SOHOs at this stage (solely for residential or office usage), however suffice to say that the high density is not usual for a residential project in this part of the world.
Unit Configuration
SOHO Block – 20 units per floor, 4 lifts and 2 fire escape staircases
Service Apartment – 10 units per floor, 4 lifts and 2 fire escape staircases
The plus point here is that the developer carefully segregate the SOHO residents and the apartment residents in different block therefore the usage of such units wont crash. However due to the extreme small size of the majority SOHOs, one would wonder what can a person do as business for such restricted space except for own stay purpose. However, when we get clarification from authorised agent, the SOHO block will be used as residential block with DMC to “NOT” allow it to use as offices unlike the other SOHO. Only buyer will know whether it is true when one sign the DMC later.
Is it sufficient to just four lifts for SoHo block (no issues for SA block)? To resolve this, developer is using bigger capacity high speed lift. Well, time will tell whether it workable.
Carpark Podium
We have not carefully studied the allocation of car park podium and we assume that the management will provide dedicated car park flooring for public, sohos and apartments with restricted key card accesses for each class of residents and public alike. With 9 storey car park podium, once can imagine getting to your car park spacing can be a challenge, day in day out….(kepala pening lah if you are the unlucky 11th floor parking space). Of course, developer will be providing car lift for higher floor car park owners. Again, do you want or like to wait for lift? Maintenance with cost again for JMB to manage.
Maintenance Fee
It is crucial to have sufficient maintenance budget to run this development. Estimated rm0.30 psf with average, let’s say, 600sf for 1900 units will give you a total fee of rm340k under 100% collection. We need maintenance expert’s help on this to ease the worries from buyers. Crude calculation seems like it is workable, thanks to its density.
LAYOUT ANALYSIS
EXISTING APARTMENT AND CONDOMINIUM – LOCATION-PRICE-RENTAL
Apple to Apple Price Comparison?* No. Then How?
Pricing: 28 Boulevard almost 100% Premium vs Existing Apartment/Condo in term of Psf.
Judgment Call:
(a) Is the “high end” selling point justifies its premium price? Security/ Façade/ Facilities/ Environment/ Master Plan/ Finishing/ Brand Name etc.
(b) Gen Y willingness to pay the selling price plus 30-40% appreciation in 5 years’ time? Especially “Local”Gen Y? Local 2nd or 3nd Generation to move out from current landed property but near to parent?
(c) If yes, Why? Higher End Classy Feel, More lifestyle/facilities with lakeside environment and retail component?
(d) Affordability in term of absolute amount? If yes, how many Gen Y willing to compromise space?
(e) Other than Local Gen Y, how about Gen Y nearby? Who? Cheras spillovers due to high price property – MRT effect?
If you have all the NO NO NO on the above question then answer is NO!
If you think in 5 years’ time, it is possible to get some Yes above, then you may proceed
*Nearest Comparison – Shamelin Star – Soho Residence (RM530psf – RM650psf)
SURROUNDING NEIGHBOURHOOD
When we talk about project, we always talk about what are the nearby key components nearby which have direct or indirect influence on the project itself. Basically the picture above sums it all. One thing I need to highlight here is although there are quite substantial key components nearby 28 Boulevard regardless is under construction or current existing but NONE of them are within “walkable” distance based on our definition except the
Pandan Perdana Commercial area where is about 0.5km away. Then again whether is it safe to walk is another story.
All in all, this 28 Boulevard is center of everything but near to nothing! So talk about convenience, it depends on how you define it. One thing for sure you definitely need other mode of transport other than your walking!
Pandan Perdana Commercial( Approximate 0.5km)
Since the Pandan Perdana Commercial area is the nearest to 28 Boulevard, let’s zoom into it together
Don’t expect the commercial here like Solaris kind of modern facade shop or anything fancy like Publika. This area is an “old” area and most of the Cheras commercial more or less look the same.
All I can say is, the commercial here provides quite decent basic daily needs despite the exhausted look of the shop houses. Alternatively if you are looking something slightly better you can opt for the local community mall One Shamelin (To be honest, it is better you lower down your expectation on this one ) and Segi Fresh for
slighty larger scale grocery store (nothing like Tesco though)
Pandan Perdana Residential
PRICING
Soho
Studio price starts with RM270k which the lowest 13th floor unit that nearest to MRR2 side. Good unit 3,4,5 all priced around rm28xk up and KL City Centre view’s units are most expensive which are near to rm28xk up. Every floor price increment is around RM2k. So, do math if you are trying to figure out the higher floor pricing.
Service Apartment
Price varies due to the size. Type B/B1/B2/B3 (678sf to 775sf) is around RM640psf up. The value buy seems like the type C (958sf) which starts from RM570psf up. The rest are the bigger units i.e. type C2 (1184sf) an D (1367sf) which are about rm540psf up. Increment price per floor is also around rm2k to 3k.
Package? Yes, currently, the developer is giving 20%+3%+3%+3% discount i.e. 29% discount. The 3% mentioned will be in stages according to billing schedule. Just to remind you that the pricing we stated above already NETT. As Temasek is indirect JV partner, they will not allow the developer to bend the rule, therefore, your SPA price will be the NETT price! That’s the big turnoff for investors! And someone in fact raise a good question. Then WHY bother to give 20% discount? The listing price (before discount) shown in the sales office is actually the price for subsales in future! LOL.
DEVELOPER
Beverly Group
People behind the signature luxury Marc Residence located at KLCC.
Beverly Group is regional real estate player, collaborated with CapitaLand Group (a Singapore Government-linked Company), ING Real Estate Management (part of ING Group from Holland) and Lai Sun Group (a listed company in Hong Kong).
Having said that, Beverly Group has only completed ONE project in Klang Valley (which is Marc Residence). Internal source mentioned that several land deals are now on the way and we should see more projects coming into KL soon. Anyway, we would like to focus more their foreign partner, Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd (Mapletree). Mapletree is private investment holding company established in Singapore, specialising in real estate activities with own or leased property. In this project, Mapletree acts as an investment JV partner.
Mapletree was established in year 2000. The paid up share capital including preference share capital is approx. S$3.1B. The company is wholly owned by Fullerton Management Pte Ltd., which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd, a Singapore Government sovereign fund. Mapletree is a significant retail and commercial property developer in Singapore. Mapletree also owns Mapletree Commercial Trust Management Ltd. and manages Mapletree Commercial Trust (MCT). MCT is a Singapore-focused real estate investment trust (“REIT”) established with the principal investment objective of investing on a long-term basis, directly or indirectly, in a diversified portfolio of income-producing real estate used primarily for office and/or retail purposes, whether wholly or partially, as well as real estate-related assets. MCT was listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (“SGX-ST”) on 27 April 2011
As at 2014, MCT’s portfolio comprised four properties located in Singapore, namely:
• VivoCity,
• Bank of America Merrill Lynch HarbourFront
• PSA Building, an established integrated development with a 40 storey office block and a three-storey retail centre
• Mapletree Anson, in Singapore’s Central Business District.
http://www.28boulevard.com.my/
<Shamelin Star SoHo Residence @ Taman Shamelin Review Part 1>
<Shamelin Star SoHo Residence @ Taman Shamelin Review Part 2>
<Shamelin Star SoHo Residence @ Taman Shamelin Review Part 3>