PROPCAFE™ Review : EkoCheras @ Cheras – An Introduction to Live◦Learn◦Love

Hi all and Happy New Year! Hope everyone is fine and thank you very much for your support to PROPCAFE™. Year 2017 had been a tough year for most us especially the property market in Malaysia but the good thing is you are not alone out there.

We do feel what you felt as we are also part of Malaysia community as well. Believe me believe you, we are just a commoner among you guys living day by day and work from 9 to 5 for the past few decades and if we managed to survive in one piece through the brutal year of 2017, we believe you are not exceptional and might even do better than you think you are capable of.

Don’t lose the faith, keep on moving and continue believing in what you do and with that – Let’s welcome 2018 together with PROPCAFE™’s opening article of year 2018 : EkoCheras – An Introduction to Live◦Learn◦Love.  but before that I just have to ask the most popular new year question : What is your new year’s resolution? 🙂 You will know my new year’s resolution by the time when you finish reading this.

It has been a while since the last entry of our write up on EkoCheras in 2013. For the past few years, there have been a number of new developments going on at Cheras area ( Cheras Kuala Lumpur and Cheras Selangor ) . Self-proclaiming themselves as the dragon of Cheras, so by now there must be a lot of dragons flying around Cheras .

Nope.. we are not surprised when we heard that  because if a dragon can be born in Afghanistan, it is possible to have another dragon in Malaysia too . But we all know that only time will tell everything and there will be only one dragon in our heart – the real dragon of Cheras.

Location – Home of the Sleeping Dragon

Before we go into more detail about the “location” of EkoCheras, allow me to warm up the engine a bit and let me start with some brief info about the location of this project to give you some image on the location of EkoCheras because we know Cheras is very big and just to be fair not all lands on Cheras is considered prime at least not by PROPCAFE™.

EkoCheras is a self-contained integrated mixed development, strategically located within about 9.1km of bustling Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) with travel time varies from about 20 mins to 45 min depending on the traffic condition (yeah we know how notorious the traffic of Jalan Cheras can be at some certain time of the day), and spanning across 12 acres of superb prime freehold land. The exact as per on Google Map

GPS Coordinates N 3˚ 5’ 36.06” E 101˚ 44’ 20.28” Google Maps https://goo.gl/maps/e4xN8GNhDyp

EkoCheras is one of the largest fully self-sustaining mixed development located next to Taman Mutiara Barat along Jalan Cheras ( right before the Jalan Cheras roundabout and diagonally opposite of  Leisure Mall Cheras) bearing a Kuala Lumpur postcode of 56000 and fall under part of the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur under local council of DBKL.

Do you know…

Part of the land of where EkoCheras is currently sitting was previously known as Cheras Auto City? For those who have no idea and to refresh your memory for those had forgotten how it looked like back in 2013, PROPCAFE™ (being a bit sentimental and having unusual habit of keeping photos of some particular development site prior construction)  has some photos of the site before it was demolished. Let’s see if you still able to recognize it.  

  

Accessibility – The Road Train Pedestrian (RTP) Network

Connectivity and Accessibility play an important role in property buying decision because this will determine the measure of “convenience” value of the property. Infrastructure solution – Efficiency and Convenience – where able to create more time (time saving) is considered as one of the highly value added factor to any property as well as quality of life.

Road Network – The Fuel Combustion

Let’s have a check on the accessibility of EkoCheras with our North – East – South – West (NESW) 4 – points check.

EkoCheras mainly can be accessed via few major roads

From North (From Kuala Lumpur City Center to Cheras / Kajang)

• Via Jalan Loke Yew – Jalan Cheras and make a U-turn with elevated ramp on you left after Petron – Caltex Jalan Cheras about 1km away from EkoCheras.

 From South (From Cheras / Kajang to Kuala Lumpur City Center)

• Lebuhraya Cheras – Kajang. It is straight forward direct entry to EkoCheras via Jalan Cheras. You won’t miss this iconic Cheras Twin Towers if you are coming from this direction.

 From East – West

• Middle Ring Road 2 – Exit to Jalan Cheras roundabout ( Tesco Extra Jalan Cheras ) and bound to Cheras / Kajang via Jalan Cheras and make a U-turn with elevated ramp on you left after Petron – Caltex Jalan Cheras which is about 1km away from EkoCheras.

• It is worthwhile to take note that a direct access to Middle Ring Road 2  via the elevated U-turn at MRR2  bound to Jalan Ampang / Ulu Kelang / Gombak to skip the Jalan Cheras roundabout constructed by Ekovest to further ease the flow of traffic at Jalan Cheras had been completed and officially opened to public on 22nd Dec 2017

• East – West Link (Lebuhraya Hubungan Timur barat) – Jalan Cheras

Ingress and Egress of EkoCheras

The resident of EkoCheras and the visitor of EkoCheras Mall will share the common Ingress and Egress of EkoCheras. There will be separate unique entrances for the residents of EkoCheras however during the peak hour, the traffic to enter or to exit from EkoCheras still pose a majpr concern to the residents’ of EkoCheras. The Ingress and Egress are located at each end of EkoCheras (Office Tower and Tower E) along Jalan Cheras and one at the middle of EkoCheras at Jalan Mutiara Barat as per illustrated below.

 

In this write up, we won’t touch on the access via Jalan Mutiara Barat because it involving more to housing road network but for those who are familiar with this area knowing the access via Jalan Mutiara Barat will be important in the near future (as the “backdoor” of EkoCheras) as an alternative to avoid some part of the heavily congested Jalan Cheras. We will leave this to you to explore it yourself.

 

Train Network – Hop On Hop Off

MRT Station Taman Mutiara SBK25

MRT Station Taman Mutiara SBK25  – KVMRT Line 1 Sungai Buloh – Kajang

One of the main factor which makes EkoCheras project itself unique would be that EkoCheras is one of the integrated mix development along Jalan Cheras where is directly linked to the MRT station. When we say “directly linked” it really means directly linked – from the moment you step out from your door to the entrance of the MRT station – comes with proper covered walkway and not those types where you need cross the river or climb the mountain type of “direct link”. The closest project development (carrying Kuala Lumpur address postcode along Jalan Cheras) having similarity to EkoCheras is Sunway Velocity in term of directly linked to MRT station.

The nearest MRT Station linked to EkoCheras is MRT Station Taman Mutiara SBK25 and it is directly connected to the first floor of EkoCheras Mall corridor area via an elevated covered walkway. The length of of the covered elevated walkway is about 200m length and 18-20ft wide come with almost 70% covered with side glass panels on both side of the walkway. The elevated pedestrian linked bridge will be good enough to shield you from our Malaysia’s weather.

One of the advantages of EkoCheras being linked to the MRT Station Taman Mutiara that not many aware of is being located not far away from the LRT Line Interchange. The nearest Interchange to Ampang LRT Line would be the MRT Station Taman Maluri which is only 3 stations away or about 11mins from station to station and this will further enhance the connectivity to other train networks.

For those who are looking to head off to KLCC or Bukit Bintang, now you can avoid the nightmares of traffic congestion as well as locating for car park in the heart of Kuala Lumpur City Centre. EkoCheras is merely just 6 stations away to MRT Station Bukit Bintang with an approximate of 18mins travelling time from station to station.

For those who are looking to go the KLIA or KLIA2 airport, probably you can opt to hop on the MRT and exit at MRT Station Muzium Negara ( 9 stations from MRT Taman Mutiara or about 26min from station to station) and take KLIA Express from KL Sentral. Please bear in mind that from MRT Station Muzium Negara platform, it will be quite a distance of walking to the KLIA Express platform. Do plan your time ahead!

We would like to share the above table just in case if you are curious how long it takes from MRT Station Taman Mutiara to another MRT Stations. The tabulated data above will roughly giving you an idea of the time of traveling via MRT SBK Line from MRT Station Taman Mutiara alternatively you able to check online via the myrapid journey planner

For obvious reason TODe – Transit Oriented Development will lift up the quality of life in term of time saving (Value of Convenience) by enhancing our mobility. As we also understand, transportation by train network has its own limitation as compared to other mode of transportation but what we are trying to say is not necessary that you ( those who live in EkoCheras ) MUST travel using the train but you will have an alternative mode of transport ( and we think it is a privilege) as compared to others who don’t have it. You might never know when you need it and when the day comes, it will be pretty handy for those who have it. 🙂

Pedestrian Network – Burn the Calories

Ever since the announcement of MRT project by the government, we have seen or heard lot of marketing and sales pitch from certain groups of people trying to associate their property development with the MRT as an USP – Unique Selling Point.

Come to think of it we feel some of them been trying too hard to the extent most if not have overlooked the meaning of true blue linked MRT property development and the importance of the Pedestrian Network Infrastructure. Ask yourself the question how many projects out there which are really connected to the MRT station with a proper pedestrian walkway?

Please don’t get us wrong here, we are not saying that those property developments which do not have a proper dedicated pedestrian walkway connected to the MRT station is something bad, it is that just we feel it is incomplete and could be better if developers do put some deep consideration on how to improve the human connectivity to the MRT station to fully leverage the benefit of the train network in Malaysia.

We know it is not an easy task especially when it involves several parties but it is worth a thought for the future. A well planned pedestrian network will further unlock the hidden potential of any development not only limited to the development boundary itself but to the seamless boundary of its surrounding amenities, infrastructures and commercial network.

 

EkoCheras is not just about the 12 acre project development itself. It is more than that and why? The elevated direct link bridge funded by Ekovest connecting to the MRT Station Taman Mutiara is the “key” here.

Although the main reason Ekovest building the elevated link bridge is to connect to the MRT Station but in real, we see this golden key plays a far more important role – to open up the pedestrian network access by tapping on the current existing pedestrian network at this area where indirectly connecting EkoCheras seamlessly to :-

1. Taman Mutiara Timur (PROPCAFE™ received unconfirmed news that over this side there are few plots of commercial land to be developed in the near future 😉 )

 

2. Leisure Mall

3. Commercial area of Taman Segar ( Detailed in next section )
   

4. The newly built DBKL Taman Segar Multi Storey Car Park which located beside Leisure Mall.

Now with the newly constructed elevated *link bridge to Leisure Mall (*under construction), one can cross over to Leisure Mall from MRT Station or EkoCheras and vice versa safely and comfortably regardless rain or shine.

The furthest cover walkway of the pedestrian network ends nearby beside the newly constructed DBKL Taman Segar Multi Storey Parking with a mini food court on the ground floor.

The 360 degree pedestrian network linking from EkoCheras ( at Taman Mutiara Barat) to the MRT station, Taman Mutiara Timur, Taman Segar and Leisure Mall Cheras is one of the most comprehensive proper pedestrian networks and almost all are fully covered and elevated on top of the busy Jalan Cheras to make sure the safety of pedestrian.

Now with the access to the current existing pedestrian network, EkoCheras will have both of the worlds – The New World and the Old World blending together right from the moment you step out from your door step.

Walkability – The Litmus Test

We really hope that the VR technology will be more advance to the state where able to bring PROPCAFE™’s reader personally with me every time to experience the ‘live” moment during the site visit study; till then we will have to resort to the most primitive tools and method – a simple tool watch, a non-fancy mobile phone and my pair of tiny legs.

Started the walking simulation journey from end to end of EkoCheras ( EkoCheras Tower E to Office Suites Tower A Entrance of Link Bridge to MRT Station) ; the distance from end to end of EkoCheras is about 350m and the walking time is around 5-8 minutes or longer subjects to any “unintended distraction incidents” . This piece of information would be useful for the future shoppers of EkoCheras Mall as well as the residents of EkoCheras who live in Tower E.

From the entrance of the link bridge located on the first floor of EkoCheras Mall corridor area  to the MRT station platform is about 200m with walking time <  5 minutes (actually it is less than 2 mins but to be fair some people walk very slow) .

With the latest add-on link bridge which gives you direct access to Leisure Mall Cheras from the MRT Station (under construction at this point of writing) is about 60m and probably additional of 1 – 2 mins of walking time.

In summary, the distance from EkoCheras  :

To MRT Station Taman Mutiara range from *200m to 550m ( *2 – 13 mins) depending on where is your starting point and

To Leisure Mall and the Taman Segar Commercial area would be around *300m to 650m ( *5 – 16 mins) .

Most if not all the pedestrian walking path here is either inside the buildings or covered with a roof on top so I reckon that you are pretty safe from any strong UV rays coming from the Sun or the rage of the God Zeus but then again it is not 100% waterproof  you especially during typhoon season!

If you still recall that we mentioned earlier (in the Road Network) that you need to make a U-Turn by using the elevated ramp to EkoCheras (if you are coming from Kuala Lumpur City Center heading to Cheras / Kajang) via Jalan Cheras since EkoCheras is located on the West of Jalan Cheras ( on the side of Taman Mutiara Barat ) . I have one good and one bad news.

Let’s start with the good news first. Alternatively you (for those who is driving and visiting) might want to consider parking your car at the Leisure Mall Cheras or the DBKL Multi Storey Car Park Taman Segar and fully utilizing the pedestrian network to cross over to EkoCheras. The distance from the DBKL Multi Storey Car Park to EkoCheras is about 550m and we reckon it is kind lot of walking and not disabled-friendly.

Lastly, the bad news is for those who need to drive to EkoCheras; the elevated U-Turn ramp (which is about 1km away from EkoCheras) after the Petron-Caltex Petrol kiosk is the nearest possible way by mean of driving if you were to come from the North direction.

I guess I had done enough of walking despite my soaring legs from cycling and running event I had back to back over the weekends. After few hours of the walking I guess I have to stop here and move on to the next chapter. How I wished someone will show me some appreciation by buying me a cup of coffee or perhaps a foot massage. Car, train or legs? We will leave it to you. 

Surrounding Amenities – Live ◦ Learn ◦ Love

When we are talking about location analysis, recently we adopt and apply a simple concept of – to Live ◦ Learn ◦ Love . (It is not necessary for you to follow ) Why Live ◦ Learn ◦ Love … ? 🙂

Basically we will look at the strength of 3 basic core amenities surrounding nearby the development which must be easily accessible by the transportation network which we mentioned earlier:-

1. Live ◦ Matured Commercial Area / Township – For basic daily living where you sleep, eat, work and play so you need facilities like banking, post office, clinics, salon, grocery, restaurant and etc conveniently available.
   
2. Learn ◦ Education Hub – For your children (Next generation).
3. Love ◦ Medical Center – For yourself, parents or grandparents ( Older generation ).

4. *Pasar Malam / Night Market –  Just joking :). But for those who are fans of “Pasar Malam” ( Night Market) will be a bonus
   

Joke aside, we won’t be go in to so details but let’s have a look on what we have here nearby within 5km travel distance by car.

 

EkoCheras Surrouding Amenities – Commercial Area and Medical Hub

Do you know?

Within 2km radius of EkoCheras, there is One Malaysia cemetery where Muslim, Chinese and Indian Cemetary located side by side – Cheras Muslim Cemetery, Cheras Hindu Cemetery and Cheras Christian Cemetery which already been there for more than 100 years! ( since 1900) . We are truly blessed to live in such harmony multiracial country.

There is another cemetery called Sungai Besi Kwong Tung cemetary at  SW of EkoCheras along MRR2.

You must be wondering why we emphasize so much on the importance of the pedestrian network of EkoCheras. Part of the reason is for a new development in an isolated area to be sustainable for long run; it needs to be backed by an existing lifeline support from the surrounding matured township or commercial area.

Since on the side of where EkoCheras is located, EkoCheras is surrounded mainly by residential housing area – Taman Mutiara Barat, Taman Tayton View and Taman Bukit Hijau with very limited nearby vibrant commercial components available others than merely just a few rows of shops, car sales gallery, furniture store and two petrol kiosks . On the contrary, across the road of Jalan Cheras is where all the daily vibrant activities happening from dawn till dusk – the Leisure Mall Cheras and Taman Segar Cheras commercial area.

Although Taman Segar Cheras commercial area is located just opposite of EkoCheras, it is so near and yet so far for those who drive due to the heavy traffic of Jalan Cheras and congestion surrounding Taman Segar Cheras commercial area.

During the peak hours, you might find it is a challenge to drive in and out of the Taman Segar Cheras Commercial area; not to mention you will face a hard time locating a car park. It will be quite frustrating for those who are lack of patience and enduring the pain from the traffic might be unbearable to certain people.

Thus sometimes we think for those who like to save the hassle and avoid caught in the traffic; walking over via the pedestrian network might be faster and wiser especially during Pasar Malam ( Night Market ) on every Friday! And believe me believe you will be very thankful that you did not drive! It is such a nightmare.

Since Taman Segar Cheras commercial area is the nearest matured commercial area where can be easily accessible by the road as well as the pedestrian network from EkoCheras, let’s focus this area on next chapter.

 

Taman Segar Cheras – Living Art of Cheras

Taman Segar Cheras Commercial Area also known as the Little Heart ♥ of Cheras – because of the commercial vibrancy effect from Leisure Mall Cheras and wide range choice of service providers. For those who are not familiar, Leisure Mall Cheras and Taman Segar Cheras commercial area is one of the most vibrant commercial area at this part of Cheras.

Taman Segar Cheras commercial area have been around for over decades and until today it still remain one of the most noticeable landmark of Cheras. Due to its location, Taman Segar Cheras commercial area was spared from the ravages of the economy crisis and was able to develop earlier than other commercial area of Cheras. As a results, Taman Segar Cheras commercial area nurture a greater diversity of both amenities and services and have been a cradle to a higher diversity of business nature.

This area is matured and seasoned, the commercial shops at this area looks worn out and tired but do not underestimate this “old ginger”. It has its own uniqueness and beauty in its own way that Leisure Mall Cheras and Taman Segar Cheras commercial area had survived few financial crises and despite that it has only become stronger, more solid and remains one of the hot spot of Cheras.

It is also noticeable that the leasehold shop-lots especially on the ground floor is hardly left vacant for more than a month and not only that, you could hardly see any listing for sale or rent on the internet of the shop-lots where easily valued from RM2.2M – RM3.0M.

Somehow this place remind me of the aging area of Mong Kok at Hong Kong

You might want to argue or question why Taman Segar Cheras commercial area when EkoCheras Mall which has about 1 million square feet of retail space right at tip of your nose for those who live in EkoCheras? Well you see… you probably want to ask yourself the questions how often you visit a shopping mall or do you see yourself visit shopping mall every day?

Even if you do visit shopping mall everyday sooner or later you will start to realise ( or perhaps not realising ) that it is burning your pocket at a faster rate than you expected and even if your wallet is very thick, you will start get a little bored with it.

Having say so, alternatively Taman Segar Cheras commercial area which is just a walking distance away from EkoCheras might able to serve you some refreshment when you need it or at least it will give your wallet some room to breathe especially when it comes to food.

Taman Segar Cheras is a favourite F&B spot among the Cheras people here (Warning – Locating a car park during lunch and dinner hour will be a major issues here). You will be spoilt by plenty of nice and reasonably priced Malay, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Western cuisine restaurants at this area from day to night. One of my favourite is the ice cream from Inside Scoop after a satisfying meal of Nasi Lemak from Poppo Kanteen.

For foodie you might want to try some here -> 10 Must Visit Restaurants in Taman Segar Cheras

There are some services that you won’t get from the shopping mall and shopping mall does not run 24 hours. Shopping mall is not everything, there is always something missing about shopping mall especially when it comes to Malaysian’s culture for our customary daily need especially for those who live and rooted in Cheras and talking about Malaysian’s culture, you definitely won’t be able to find Pasar Malam (Night Market) in a shopping mall at least!

For those who live in EkoCheras can easily visit and enjoy Taman Segar Cheras Pasar Malam / Night Market on every Friday from 5.30pm to 12 midnight and the best part is you don’t have to worry about parking 🙂 and talking about it now I really craving for a bowl of steamy tau foo fah (soy bean pudding) !

At Taman Segar Cheras commercial area you can get your entire daily fixed here ranges from banking services (Maybank & Hong Leong Bank) to post office, bakery (TK Bakery), clinics, dental clinics, car repair and accessories workshop, electrical home appliances shop, IT gadget store, SPA and massage parlours, tuition centers, pet shops, veterinary hospital, dance academy, convenient marts , grocery shop, ice cream store (Inside Scoop), stationary store, bicycle shop (PedalSpot), mamak stall, food stalls, Ramly burger stall, tuition center , local coffee shop (kopitiam), economy mixed rice restaurant, hawker food stalls, Malaysian’s favourite Pasar Malam and many more where those smaller scale business model that can’t afford the retail rental at shopping mall but plays an influential part in the daily life of Cheras people – Taman Segar Cheras completes EkoCheras and vice versa.

In other words, Taman Segar Cheras is the opposite world of EkoCheras and if Taman Segar Cheras would be the “yin”, EkoCheras would be “yang” where they balance out each other.

Day and Night of Taman Segar Cheras Commercial Area

Some photos of the real surrounding of the Taman Segar Cheras. You will know how “lively” and vibrant of this area by just looking at the traffic and the double parking issue! While picture is still picture, best if you could spend an hour or two to pay a visit there personally by yourself.

Day

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Night

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Almost the End – A local dragon or an earth worm?

Although I really hate this feeling, I guess we are almost coming to the end of the article and soon have to say good bye. I know there are lot of other area yet to cover but this article merely is just an introduction of EkoCheras from the macro view in different perspective.

By now… reading until here I am pretty sure some of you start to have a lot of questions in your mind for eg. the development progress, pricing, completion date, the mall, flash flood and other issues that yet remained unanswered but I would not want to drag this article too long ( it is already too long) otherwise you will start yawning. Shall we leave it for another time? Please bear with us for a bit more and thank you for your patience.

For all the questions if not all; will be mostly answered in my next write up where will focusing more details (micro perspective) about the entire overall development itself. Please do subscribe to us via e-mail and follow us on our facebook page so that you won’t miss out the next write up about EkoCheras.

Nevertheless before I pen off – all in all EkoCheras is located at one of the most supreme location of Cheras and connected seamlessly with all the Road – Train – Pedestrian (RTP) networks. With the RTP network checklist ticked and the synergy between the exciting new world brought by EkoCheras development with the matured and stable old world of Taman Segar commercial area – EkoCheras is one of the very rare breed indeed.

We would like to remind readers again that there is no perfect development, even for EkoCheras will have its own weaknesses. The value of any property development most of the time is tangible but we should not deny the existence of intangible value within.

The question of EkoCheras will it be the local dragon or the local earth worm? Will it be your place to Live ◦ Learn ◦ Love? I will leave to you but before making any conclusion, please at least wait for our next write up – PROPCAFE™ Review : EkoCheras @ Cheras – The Overall Development Plan

As for the closing for this article, I would like to share my new year’s resolutions which is just a simple quote where indirectly inspiring and giving me the idea for this write up; reminding myself everyday – to Live simply, to Love generously and to Learn constantly . Thank you and hope to see you again!

– the Intern –