Introduction

Bordered on north by Old Klang Road and south by KESAS, Taman OUG is an old township developed by Overseas Union Garden Sdn Bhd (OUGSB) in 1960s. Taman OUG is predominantly occupied by linked houses, semi-detached and bungalows. In summary, Taman OUG is pretty much a mature neighborhood. Taman OUG was initially a joint venture between the founding family and Singapore’s United Overseas Bank in 1960s —hence the name Taman OUG, or Overseas Union Garden.

In 2012, WCT has acquired 23ha of freehold land which located in between Taman Yarl/ OUG and KESAS to be developed as W City @ OUG. The land was acquired for RM450million (RM180psf).

From the developer’s website

W City OUG @ Kuala Lumpur is a sprawling 63 acres of Connected Community Development located in Taman OUG, Kuala Lumpur. The first mixed use development in KL South comprising a residential, mixed commercial, retail and public space components, W City OUG @ Kuala Lumpur is poised to be the next exciting, vibrant epicenter of entertainment, wellness, enrichment, specialty and F&B.

W City OUG @ Kuala Lumpur is designed with an emphasis on walkability and seamless connectivity, enabling ease of pedestrian movements safely and conveniently, within and across the development.

The landscape in Taman OUG is expected to change further. Plaza OUG, a well known landmark not just amongst residents around this area such as Taman OUG, Taman Yarl, Happy Garden etc, but also amongst frequent travelers along Old Klang Road. Used to house the first Yaohan in Malaysia, currently Plaza OUG is anchored by Parkson. However this is set to change with redevelopment expected to take place towards end of 2021. All tenants already given notice and the last tenant is expected to leave by before end of the year, giving way for demolishment and redevelopment. Propcafe^TM will revisit this shortly.

Another landmark which regulars will not miss is the small hill opposite Plaza OUG, at junction between Jalan Gembira and Jalan Awan Besar. It’s been left untouched for past 30 odd years and the hill has turned to undergrowth. Till early of last year, some land clearing and construction work were seen on the hilly site. 

Photo from google street

 

It was known soon, OUGSB the original developer of Taman OUG is currently developing the site as Legasi OUG. Read on for Propcafe^TM Review.

Location and Accessibility

Located at the mature Taman OUG, Legasi OUG is easily accessible via NPE and KESAS highway via Old Klang Road and Jalan Awan Besar  to main spots such as KL, Bangsar, Sunway, Puchong, Kuchai Lama, Midvalley etc. The beauty of the Taman OUG there are  always multiple options to everywhere, depending on the traffic and peak/non peak hours. For example if you are heading to KL direction, you may use the following

1. OUG =>OKR=> Jalan Syed Putra =>Jalan Kuching=> Jalan Sultan Ismail
2. OUG=> NPE=> Jalan Bangsar =>Jalan Kuching => Jalan Sultan Ismail
3. OUG=> Jalan Awan Besar  =>KESAS  =>  SMART tunnel/ MEX/ KL-Seremban Highway

Just to name as there are multiple combination that travelers can use. Similar if one plans to go to Sunway, travelers may opt via NPE or KESAS, depending on the traffic condition.

However as the guardhouse is located off Jalan Gembira and no plan for dedicated traffic light and turning right, you need to drive further down Jalan Gembira, make an U-turn to reach the guardhouse. Slight inconvenience but not a deal breaker.

Masterplan and facade

Located on 3.46acres of elevated freehold land, Legasi OUG consists of 442 units which split evenly into 33-storey block A and B. At the time of Propcafe^TM visit last year, the developer was launching block B.

The buildings are arranged in V, to follow the shape of the land with the buildings are mirror image of each other. The swimming pool is located in between the blocks.

You either love or hate the façade. In Propcafe^TM review of The Birch, you will noticed that the developer has mixed clay brick element to the façade which is quite refreshing and given that Jalan Ipoh and Kasipillay is quite old settlement, the clay brick element is not really out of touch and in fact blending in quite well with the neighborhood.

 

However, OUGSB has brought this concept to another level. Literally almost all the cavities such as aircon ledge, carpark, yards and roofs are covered with the clay bricks. Bricks also feature heavily on the car ramp. lobby, visitor parking etc. 

One thing that Propcafe^TM like is the long car ramp from main road to the guardhouse and to the lobby and carpark entrance. The guardhouse also set further back from the main road. This will serve as retention bays and allowing visitors, contractors to enter the compound without overflowing and disrupting the traffic on main road. There are also temporary carpark bays infront of the guardhouse, pretty useful if need a quick meet up with residents without the need to go in as well as blocking the traffic.

There is dedicated pedestrian walkway from lobby to the guardhouse for residents. Given the slope, developer has smartly design the walkway flat with staircase near the guardhouse.

Unit Layout

There  are 8 units per floor with total 221 units in each block sharing 3+1 lifts. The service lift can be double up as passenger lift. The unit to lift ratio is fairly low density around 55units/lift, one of the lowest Propcafe^TM ever seen in new launches. Lift utilization is one of the most important and under rated factor living in strata title which ignored by owners and prospect purchasers. Obviously lift utilization also depends on factor such as capacity and speed but with more lifts the load can spread out evenly and the waiting time can be minimize greatly. Also in case of lift breakdown, there are sufficient redundancy to serve the residents.

Type	Size, sqft	Configuration	Units/floor	Facing
A	1050	3 bedrooms + 2 bathrooms	2	Pool/landscape view
B	1135	3 bedrooms + 2 bathrooms	2	OUG/ landscape/ KL
C	1390	3 + 1bedrooms + 3+1 bathrooms	2	OUG/ landscape/ KL
D	1750	3 + 1+1 bedrooms + 3+1 bathrooms	1	OUG/ KL
E	1770	3 + 1+1 bedrooms + 3+1 bathrooms	1 (block A)	KL & Pool
F	2230	4 + 1+1 bedrooms + 4+1 bathrooms	1 (block B)	OUG & Pool

In general there are 4 facings and depends on which block and type you are choosing, you will either get pool, landscape, OUG and KL view. Do note that the landscape view will also face the HTC that located approximately 100ft away from the edge of Legasi OUG.

Depends on the unit selection, each unit will be entitled of at least 2 carparks to the maximum of 4 carparks. For example, type A will be allocated 2 carparks and type D will be allocated 3 carparks.

The unit sizes is pretty generous with feature such as yard, implying the target market is family and own stayers rather than investors. In fact during the pitch from developer representative, they barely referring to price benchmark, rental yield expected in this development vis-à-vis neighboring development.

Some of the unique feature that Propcafe^TM noticed as follow

• Wide layout to the depth space, allowing more natural sunlight into living and dining area
• Sufficient space for dry kitchen and island even for type A
• Wide corridor leading to bedrooms for built in cabinet space. Very thoughtful feature especially for space limited condo and usually corridor leading to bedrooms is a “dead” space
• Deep ledge to cut the glaring from sun
• All bedrooms are sizable to place queen size bed
• All bedrooms are facing outside ie none are facing airwell internal corridors.
• No airwell design
• All units are either semi-detached or bungalow concept (Maximum of just one joining wall between units)
• Type B can be converted to Dual Keys
• Wing design for Type E and F with L shape balcony for 270deg view.
• All bathrooms are naturally ventilated with own window

Propcafe^TM particularly like the wide living and dining especially with balcony is fully opened, like bringing outdoor living inside. Propcafe^TM truly believe a good layout design will enhance the quality of living which too many developers nowaday take it for granted (due to many reasons).

Facilities

The facilities in Legasi OUG is pretty basic with Pool , BBQ area, Garden/ landscaped area, Gym, multi purpose hall, children playground and half basketball court.

Surprisingly, EV charging station also Included in the development.

Facilities always a double edge swords. While modern facilities sounds fancy on paper, as own stayers we have to ask question how frequent we are using the facilities. Also the knowledge and cost to maintain the facilities in long run. There are challenges involved and there are no right or wrong answer.

Show units

Developer has provided two show units where one show unit is showcasing fully ID unit. For most of the prospect buyers, they need visualization what can be done with the space and layout

And interesting, developer also provided empty unit to illustrate what prospect buyers expected to receive

If readers observe the units especially the yard, the red clay brick is used to cover the cavity. It can be quite prominent not just from outside but inside as well. The clay brick promotes better natural ventilation, heat dissipation and privacy however in the same time there’s long term maintenance associated with the design. For example, these hollow spots are perfect spot for birds, pests, spider web to build their nest and web. It will be extremely difficult for anyone to upkeep the maintenance on this.

Price and cost

The maintenance fee inclusive sinking fund is expected around RM0.35psf. For type A, the fee is added to RM367.50. The psf between different view, facing and size can differs greatly. Obviously the lowest absolute amount is type A however pool facing will have premium over the landscape view. The landscape view will also be facing HTC. However if prospect buyers is looking for value, larger units such as type D and E can provide much better. Not only the PSF is much lower than their smaller cousins, these units also come with at least 3 carparks. These units also not facing the HTC. In general, for smaller units, owners are expected to pay RM600psf+ onwards.

Legasi OUG is eligible for Home Ownership Campaign (HOC) 2020. Under the campaign, the home buyers are entitled of the following.

1. Stamp duty exemption on the instruments of transfer and loan agreement for the purchase of residential homes priced between RM300,000 to RM2.5 million (subject to at least 10% discount provided by the developer).
2. The exemption on the instrument of transfer is limited to the first RM1 million of the property price, while full stamp duty exemption is given on loan agreement effective for Sales and Purchase Agreements (SPA) signed between 1st June 2020 to 31st May 2021. 

If will be your 3rd property, do note that The 70% margin of financing limit that was applicable for 3rd residential property valued at RM 600,000 and above will be uplifted, subject to internal risk management and assessment of the respective financial institutions.

Catalyst

Plaza OUG is set to be by end of 2021 with most tenants are moving out soon. The plaza OUG is to make way for a new 3-storey shopping mall with hotel and serviced residence sited on top of it. The hotel will have 204 rooms and the serviced residence will have 219 units. On completion, the building will be 51-storey tall. (Source: propsquare.my) 

Further from Taman OUG across KESAS highway, less than 4km away Pavilion Bukit Jalil with NLA of more than 2millions is one of the largest regional malls in Klang Valley expected to be opened toward last quarter of 2021.

All the redevelopment and completed modern malls will provide further amenities and conveniences to the residents.

To watch the latest Pavilion Bukit Jalil, click the link here

Conclusion

Propcafe^TM like the density and residential freehold title land, a rarity where most developers maximize profit by converting land to commercial to build more units. Developer approach to build a development that catered for family is well applause and obviously the location is excellent but debatable as the site located at the junction, which can be issue for fengshui believer. And finally Propcafe^TM like the fact developer is pretty generous with carpark allocation.

You can either love or hate the façade with the excessive red clay brick treatment. The HTC is too near to the site for comfort of most prospect buyers especially this is considered as medium to high end development where most prospect are discerning buyers. Therefore unit selection is very critical here. the launch timing maybe not the best as most are still quite hesitating with big ticket purchase

Happy Hunting!