Introduction

Malaysia is blessed country with abundant of natural resources such as oil, timber, tin and palm oil and without major natural disasters which hit our neighbor countries. Malaysia consists of multi ethnicity and being Malaysians we have been enjoying a peaceful for the past 40-50 years and reasonable degree of freedom in speech, our life value and lifestyle except certain sensitive issues.

One of the most under appreciate freedoms is the flexibility of the education system. Unlike many countries where most of the citizens are required to study the first 12 years in the single syllabus national school, in Malaysia we have many alternatives. Majority of Malaysian children will be schooled in the national schools which fully funded by Government. However we also have vernacular schools, mission schools and religious schools.

Meanwhile in 1970s and 80s few private schools namely Sri Inai, Sri Kuala Lumpur and Sri Cempaka had been set up to offer Malaysians further alternative where the perception of shortcomings (e.g. overcrowding) in national schools. Since the private schools are not funded by government, the fee is significantly higher and only wealthy Malaysians could afford enroll their children to these schools.

The education system was further liberalized during late 1990s where more private operated schools are awarded namely to Sri KDU and Sri Sedaya which considered pioneer of “smart school” concept in private sector. (Source click here). Since then, the industry has booming to meet demand from savvy, discerning and affluent parents which recognize the values and quality of education in private schools for their children.

For uninitiated readers, Paramount Corporation is the owner and operator of Sri KDU. Upon obtaining the license from Ministry of Education, the first Sri KDU smart school was built on 12acre land in Kota Damansara. For past 20 years Sri KDU@ Kota Damansara has remained as Paramount Corporation’s sole campus to maintain its reputation for academic excellence, personal development and focus on pastoral care (Source click here). In 2012, Sri KDU secured top position amongst Malaysians schools in the program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012, placing it amongst the top-ranked schools in the world of mathematics, science and reading (Source: Paramount Annual Report 2018).

Recently Paramount Property (subsidiary of Paramount Corporation) is launching Berkeley Uptown @ Berkeley with Sri KDU International School as the nucleus of the RM1.3B GDV development. Read on Propcafe^TM review to get to know more this new development.

Masterplan

The 33.12 acres freehold land which used to house former Fung Keong rubber shoe factory was purchased by Paramount Property for RM87psf in 2011. The land will be developed in 4 phases.

Two plots of land fronting Jalan Goh Hock Huat will be developed as office, retails and shop. Sri KDU international school will be built in adjacent to the commercial and residential plots. The biggest plot will be used to build 1671 units residences and serviced apartments spread over 11 blocks. The developer has generously allocated 7.65 acres as public space with 2 acres as green parks. Across Jalan Goh Hock Huat, the land where the currently sales gallery is sitting, plot 2 will be developed as future retail commercial.

Plot	Component	Details
Commercial – 7.69 acres	Office, Retails & Shops	Plot 1 1 block – 5 storeys offices 26 units – Double Storey Shops 1 block – 8 storeys boutique offices Plot 2 (TBC) 210K sqft retail spaces 280K sqft office spaces
Residential – 12.55 acres	Uptown Residences & Serviced Apartments	Uptown Residences (5.17 acres) 736 units in 6 blocks Serviced apartments (7.38 acres) 935 units in 5 blocks
Education – 5.23 acres	Sri KDU International School	Classrooms: 53 Laboratory: 15 Student Capacity: 1,500
Public – 7.65 acres	Public Amenities/ Others	Landscape, Parks (2acres)

In this Propcafe^TM Review we will be focused on Uptown Residences which is the first phase launch in Berkeley Uptown by Paramount Property.

Sri KDU International School’s construction already commenced and first intake is expected in January. 2021 (Source click here). The rest of the plots will be launched in due time.

Sri KDU International School in advance construction – gearing for first intake in Jan.2021

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Paramount Property has grand vision to infuse modern lifestyle and bring vibrancy in the old-world charm of Klang Town. With ready amenities and strategic location within Klang Town, Paramount Property plans to attract outsiders to Berkeley Uptown and call it as “home”.

Uptown Residences

Uptown Residences consists of 6 blocks residential in total. Block A, B & C are 30-32 storeys and Block D, E & F are the low rise 7 storeys attached to the carpark. Uptown Residences is commercial land with residential Schedule H development where the targeted completion is 48 months from date of SPA.

The first impression Propcafe^TM has during the sales gallery visit is no frill design throughout Uptown Residences. From façade, facilities, orientation, design and unit layout. The design is no frill, however well serving its intent and purpose.

The façade is contemporary and taking into account the demographic are consists of older generation in Klang Town, Propcafe^TM thinks it is a “safe” façade approach by Paramount Property. J A contemporary façade and concept also allow developer to speed up construction, repetitive process for better workmanship and more importantly cost control which allow Paramount Property to price Uptown Residences competitively even against other development in Klang. We shall cover more of this next…

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Three tiers security is offered from guardhouse, lobby/lift and unit itself. What Propcafe^TM like the guardhouse design that allow the car holding during the peak. Visitors could park the cars on reserved space while register themselves with the guard.

No frills drop off area is provided for block A, B & C. No fancy double volume lobby or waiting lounge which the intention to keep the design simple and maintenance cost low. (For example to change a light bulb and leaking ceiling at double volume is significantly more expensive, furniture maintenance/ cleaning, additional guards to station at lobby etc.). All these are “features nice to have” however it added to the maintenance cost.

Also no fancy rooftop garden or sky facilities where facilities are on Level 8^th and garden on ground with low rise block overlooking it. The idea is unnecessary maintenance cost for landscaping, cleaning and patronizing guards.

Unit Layout

The Uptown Residences is the first component launched in Berkeley Uptown. There are 736 units spread in 6 blocks in RM366millions GDV Uptown Residences with 1, 2, 3 and 4+1 bedrooms layout configuration.

Block	Type	Lift	Built Up, SQFT	Unit Type	No of units	Carparks
A & B	A	3 + 1 (114 units/ lift)	859	2 bedrooms 2 bathrooms	190	2 – 3
	B		1,093	3 bedrooms 2 bathrooms	184	2 – 3
	C		551	1 bedroom 1 bathroom	80	1
C	A	2 + 1 (80 units/lift)	859	2 bedrooms 2 bathrooms	135	2 – 3
	B		1,093	3 bedrooms 2 bathrooms	75	2 -3
	C		551	1 bedroom 1 bathroom	30	1
D	D	2 +1 (14 units/ lift)	1572	4 + 1 bedrooms 3 bathrooms	14	4
E & F	D		1,572	4 + 1 bedrooms 3 bathrooms	14	4
E & F	E		1,588	4 + 1 bedrooms 3 bathrooms	14	4
				Total Units	736

The blocks are positioned in L shape configuration with block A, B and C sits on top of the carparks and the low rise D, E and F sits adjacent to the carparks. All the units avoid direct east or west sun facing. With this L shape position, it avoid any of the units overlooking into each other.

Uptown Residences: Residential block positioning

The owners of these low rise blocks is enjoying overlooking green space, especially from the corridor.

Low Rise Blocks overlooking the green space

The beauty of these limited edition units comes with whopping 4 carparks which located just outside your unit. If your house located on the 4h floor, you will drive and park your cars right next to your house. No more lugging around heavy groceries or dread the trip to the car/home to pick the forgotten document or running errand.

Unit type D & E are directly attached to the carpark block allowing direct access

There are 5 units layout where the largest unit layout D & E are exclusively located in low rise block D, E and F. The rest of the layouts are located in high rise block A, B and C.

In general all the layouts are efficient with space utilization. Bedrooms are adequate for Queen Sized bed and window facing outside for natural sunlight and ventilation. Bedrooms with window that facing the air well will be dark and feel dingy. Furthermore the bedrooms will have lack of privacy due to ongoing traffic at the common corridor.

All layouts will come with yard which is very important space for laundry. Selective layout (Type A, D and E) will have storeroom where you can keep away those unsightly and unused items away. An interesting note for type A, sliding door is provided at the yard area, slide open will allows outdoor activities or fresh air. In Propcafe^TM opinion, additional sliding door feature allows the yard + balcony combo is a brilliant idea, allowing space flexibility usage as well as cost (purchase price and maintenance fee saving).

Propcafe^TM was impressed despite compact size and 10 feet ceiling height of the layout, Paramount Property has managed to squeeze in some feature such as walk in wardrobe space for Type B, D and E) for master bedroom. For type D and E, the developer not only manages to fit in 4 bedrooms, they also design the layout with wet kitchen for the Asian style cooking and a maid room as well.

For type D and E if you do not need the maid and the storage area space, you have the flexibility to demolish the wall, allowing a more generous space for dry and wet kitchen.

Paramount Property tag is The People’s Developer™ and they do not forget to deliver affordable housing to less privileged. Priced at RM270K, the one bedroom type C is suitable for single or couple which are looking to purchase first home or just start a family.

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Showroom

There are two show units which is showing type A 859sqft and type D 1572 sqft. Enjoy some of the curated shots!

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Show unit type A 859sqft

Yard

Wet kitchen

Storeroom

Masterbedroom

Dining and Living Area

Living Area

Dining Area

Corridor leading to the bedrooms

Bathroom

Balcony

2nd Bedroom

Show unit type D 1572 sqft

Facilities

In Propcafe^TM opinion, the facilities offered in Uptown Residences are pretty standard such as BBQ Area, Jacuzzi, swimming pools, fitness station, gymnasium, children playground, multipurpose hall located on Level 8. The Cafeteria is located on the ground floor.

After being in Property Industry for more than a decade with accumulated experience of more than 100 years between us, Propcafe^TM realize that fancy facilities can be a double edge swords. The feel good feeling will be gone within first few months and cost to maintain, repair only will be escalating over the time. For most condos, MC will just shut down the facilities and leave it unrepaired in order to keep the cost under the control. Paramount Property has proposed RM0.30psf maintenance fee which worked to quite affordable. For two bedrooms Type A, the maintenance fee worked to be less than RM260 per month which is quite affordable.

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The scale model of the facilities deck as per below

The residents will enjoy the view overlooking the landscaped podium deck and free form pool (top pic) and garden, children playground (bottom pic) depends on your preference!

Pricing

Consciously taking into consideration the current market sentiment, location and concept of the whole development, the price PSF starts from a low RM465psf for type E and even for the smallest type C, the starting price is still below RM500psf. Comparison with few developments in Klang as per table below.

Development	Developer	Built Ups, sqft	PSF, RM	Year Launched
Berkeley Uptown	Paramount	551 – 1588	RM415-515	2019
Setia City Residences	SPSetia	858 – 1221	>RM620psf	2016
The Lead Residences	WCT	855 – 1317	RM450-600	2014
Gravit8 – Nordica and Adria	Mitraland	600-1000	RM500-550	2016

Interestingly, Berkeley Uptown is priced cheaper than The Lead Residences which was launched almost 4 years ago. When Berkeley Uptown is completed in 2023, The Lead Residences will be almost a 6 years old property.

Berkeley Uptown is eligible under the government’s initiative to promote home ownership under HOC 2019.

Under HOC 2019, purchasers are entitled of the following benefit which bring a lot of saving! This never be a better time to purchase property in Malaysia!

A minimum of 10% discount
The stamp duty exemption on Instruments of Transfer and Instruments on Securing Loans
Free Legal fee on SPA and Loan

Paramount Property is also giving out free first 2 years maintenance fee to all purchasers. For more information about HOC 2019, click the youtube link for HOC here.

Conclusion

Local demographic profile and property market sentiment is taken into consideration for Uptown Residences, it has ticked many list…. For example for RM420psf or absolute price RM635K, purchasers are able to get 4 bedrooms, 4 carparks which is a rarity in Klang Valley with maintenance fee around RM450 per month.

Berkeley Uptown ticks some of the points..