PROPCAFE seized the chance to peek the latest offering – The Clio 2 Residences in IOI Resort City recently, after we visited the IOI City Mall and witnessed its Phase 2 construction progress.
Thanks to the location of this project, the mall and integrated development township will always be the unique selling point. Wait a minute, mall factor is a very tricky subject nowadays and to tag with it under current climate can be a tough sell!
How do we digest this? No doubt, Malaysian loves to shop at mall! Over the last two decades, there are so many developers targeted this trend by offering residential properties near to or sitting at the mixed integrated development comes with mall component. Often, the properties are charged with premium. Nevertheless, it works tremendously well in early 2000-2010.
Unfortunately, property and economy are always about the basic figure of demand and supply. To date, Klang Valley itself has more than 150 malls and everyone know that not all are successful. It means, the property that you purchase could be affected if you punt on a wrong mall or mixed integrated development, the premium that you paid initially could be evaporated.
Would IOI City Mall pass the grade?
PROPCARE is obliged to talk about this mall first since it is one of the most critical factors for all potential buyers here.
PROPCAFE revisited this relatively new mall and formed few key observations that may surprise many non-southern Klang Valley folks! Yes, the mall is vibrant and successful! HOW COME and WHY?
What’s make IOI City Mall different from other 150 malls in Klang Valley?
IOI City Mall is built to serve as a Regional Mall in Southern Klang Valley. There is none in this part of Klang Valley (within 30mins driving distance) that offers more than 1.5mil sqft of Nett Lettable Area (NLA) with 377 shops. Tell you what, with the phase 2 (to be completed in 2021), the NLA will increase to 2.5mil sqft with additional 250 shops.
It will be at par with the combination of the famous Midvalley Mega Mall (1.82mil sqft) and The Gardens Mall (866k sqft)! It goes without saying, the extension plan will not Be here if there is high vacancy rate in the current mall. The mall now stands at 98% Occupancy Rate!
Sustainability Issue? Under-served Klang Valley Southern Corridor
The under-served Klang Valley Southern Corridor is huge. The township is sitting in between Puchong, Sri Kembangan, Cyberjaya and Kajang. By simply pick up the population count in Kajang – 957k (including Semenyih, Beranang etc), Bangi 178k (including Serdang & Sri Kembangan), Putrajaya 92k, Sepang 257k (including Cyberjaya, Dengkil etc), and Puchong – 400k, the total catchment is already easily hit 1.9mil. IOI Properties certainly knows its business and strikes it right to fill the gap here.
Tenant Mix – Beyond the Standard Mall
With the disruption of online shopping, many malls are relying on eateries to pull crowds. PROPCAFE does not see the mall can thrive further without more differentiation factors. Again, IOI City is simply spot on! The mall brings in more value proposition other than just entertainment, eateries and retails. Literally, the developer end game is to make the families stay here for your whole day if not weekend!
Other than the usual cinemas, grocers, hypermarket, departmental stores, and edutainment stores, how many malls come with a large indoor adventure park and Olympic-sized ice skating rink? Hearsay, there is some exciting “addition” of leisure components in Phase 2 as well. The information of top performance stores below also proved the sustainability, high footfall and business volume of this mall.
Township + Complete Integrated Mixed Development
A Mall will not become successful with just a fantastic mall itself, the 788 acres township has cover all elements including entertainment commercial, hotels (Le Meridien, Marriott, Palm Gardens), Office Towers (IOI City Tower & IOI Square Offices).
More so, it is surrounding with the gorgeous Palm Garden Golf Course/Club. Together with the universities and industrial activities nearby, it brings in very diverse crowds and shoppers, from day time workers, business persons, tourists, students, sport persons, residents, to visitors which is pretty complete.
In fact, family members can fulfill all their leisure needs all here which is no surprise for IOI Properties to name it as Resort City. Any other resort kind of township in your mind? Checked!
PROPCAFE can go on for another 10 pages but we better leave it to our next PROPCAFE Guide on the Choice of Township Development. Anyway, based on the above and what we have observed inside the mall during weekday and weekend, PROPCAFE can safely conclude the mall factor here is definitely a BIG PLUS with no execution risk.
For investors/owners, your mall premium attached to your properties here are still and will be pretty intact!
Let’s go straight to The Clio 2 Residences @ IOI Resort City
Although this property also named as “Clio” but Clio 2 is a totally separate project from the previous development The Clio Residences.
It is located at the rectangle land besides The Conezion and The Clio. It may looks far to walk 1.1km or 20mins to the current IOI City Mall, the completion of Phase 2 IOI City mall will make it to merely around 600-700m away (depends on which tower in Clio2) and less than 10mins walk.
Clio 2 is a freehold development of three service apartments with commercial title. Sitting at 4 acres rectangle land, the Clio 2 residences have a total of 550 residential units which translate to around 137 units per acre. It is still a very decent density ratio in today’s standard especially considering its price range.
The developer is currently selling the Block A that comes with 23 floors and 152 units. This is the least dense block (similar to Block C) in Clio 2 as Block B will be housing 246 units in 35 floors.
Maintenance fee is tentatively set at 0.35psf (including sinking fund).
The architect is smartly made the slanting arrangement for each block of the building on top of the facility deck to avoid both the dull conventional architectural design and the heat from direct west or east facing.
For those who do not like the Clio’s curvy fin shape facade, you may take a look at the Clio 2, which is a much clean, neat and evergreen concept. The large windows in each unit, easily 8ft height in living hall and bedrooms, make the facade looks more “glassy” and classy (see below).
The nonparallel units which splits into two wings allow majority of units to have the benefits of side windows just like the Semi-D concept in the sky, even with such small size offering.
Guardhouse, Drop-offs and Car Park Design – Clever
The guardhouse will be well equipped with CCTV surveillance and long range proximity card reader at barrier gate. When PROPCAFE tried to capture the scaled model of guardhouse and drop-off area, we realised there is another drop-off point near the Block C. It is at the lower ground level due to the slope of the site.
Although the two drop-off areas are at the same street level, the second drop-off is at different level i.e. Ground and Lower Ground Level of Car Park.
The architect utilised the slope of the site to ease the stress of drivers and reduce the needs to go through many ramps inside the carpark. This idea has extended to its carpark design which you can see (below) that there are many entries and exits points for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd floor of the carpark podium.
It means that those who allocated for the carpark from LG to 3rd floor can choose its own entry (exit) point to park their car (leave the carpark) without going through the ramp insides the carpark area, except those at the level 4 that need to go through 3rd floor.
Well done to the developer. It is indeed very thoughtful, not just cut down the time and stress for the residents but also help to diverse the traffic during the peak period.
Other than the guardhouse, the Clio 2 residences also incorporates CCTV Surveillance and access card at the lift lobby, lift (floor access), and given the digital lock as the last defense of security.
Facility – Just about right!
IOI Properties is seasoned enough to understand not to over-do the facilities. But, the Clio 2 residences is certainly not short of facilities, the developer know the needs of families, millennial, and couples by spreading the facilities over two floors with a total of 59ksf.
These include Lap Pool, Wading Pool, Jacuzzi, Gym (Indoor & Outdoor), Playground, BBQ area, Multipurpose Hall, and Theatrette. The developer also carefully crafted some facilities for individual who like to have own quiet space like Reading Lab, Exploratory Lab, Playground, Green Terrace, and Hang Out Deck. Check out the facility layout below.
For those of you who like small quiet area outside your unit, you may choose the floor that comes with extra Sky Garden Decks feature (see below). Mark the floors below!
Floor Plan – Semi-D Setting
There are two passenger lifts and one service lift in Clio 2 Residences. Each floor only comes with 8 units and the design shows a Semi-D set-up to have minimal wall sharing with each neighbour.
The plus point is there are two separate wings and each wing only accommodates 4 units. This floor plan is very commendable as it cuts down the traffic and nuisance to maintain the privacy of each unit. With the exception of the smallest unit type D, all other types are end lot.
Layout – Horizontal and Panoramic View
All units are 3 bedrooms, so it is your choice to pick the smaller or bigger size in Clio 2. Let’s see how these units are designed to cater 3 bedrooms layout.
Type D – 829sf 3 – Bedrooms C& 2 Bathrooms
This is the smallest unit but because of the horizontal layout with the rooms tuck at both end, the combination of living (good 12ft width), dining and open kitchen in the middle may make it more spacious visually.
The small size does not affect the en-suite master and second bedroom. Both bedrooms have ample natural lights and space for all the furniture fitting and setting.
The third room is rather small, not surprise given the size of less than 900sf, but it still manage to have a window without compromising the importance of sunlight. Second bathroom size is consider big to 800sf type of apartment (see show unit to confirm it :)).
Lastly, it comes with a very handy yard to cater drying activities. It is amazing to see how efficient the apartment can be even at the size of 829sf. Kudos to developer.
Type C1/C2 – 902sf/969sf – 3 Bedrooms & 2 Bathrooms
Similar to Type D, the layout is very efficient. The difference is all three bedroom in this unit are wider, less rectangle layout, and more windows which is a big plus for sunlight and furniture arrangement.
The horizontal layout will still make a good spacious view in the unit (living area with 13ft width). However, due to the kitchen’s location which at the opposite end (instead of linking at the side of dining), it may reduce the visual width and space of the unit.
Just imagine you are standing at the middle of the unit, you will realise what we just pointed above. Yes, you won’t see the kitchen at your back. Not a big deal though. It is just matter of choice between better bedroom layout or visual space in common area in the unit.
Type B2/B1 – 947sf/1,023sf – 3 Bedrooms & 2 Bathrooms
This is a typical 3 bedroom unit with all bedrooms at one end with longer corridor and a standard setting of rectangle living (13ft width), dining, and kitchen (ending at the bottom part the rectangle), this layout may affect visual space of the unit unlike the horizontal layout mentioned earlier.
Of course, the advantage of this type is the equal size bedrooms (three of them!) that comes with proper ventilation and natural sunlight. Those who will utilise kitchen more often will certainly prefer this longer and wider kitchen setting (11.7ft).
Type A – 1,216sf – 3 Bedrooms & 3 Bathrooms
This is the best layout in Clio 2. PROPCAFE loves the horizontal layout with side by side living and dining area. This will give you a full panoramic view from the long stretch of windows in the common area (21ft width). So, the placement of furniture for both living and dining can be very flexible.
The squarish area of living, dining and kitchen will enhance interactive points between family members and guests. This layout will allow kitchen lover to include a grand island and plenty of cabinet space from the long kitchen (14ft).
It is noted that no wet kitchen in this layout, however, it can be easily added it besides the yard area (5.5×5.3ft). By just top up the price for 300sf space, you get this great horizontal layout with three bedroom and three spacious bathrooms. Nothing to complain!
Quality Assurance?
Since IOI Properties started to adopt Quality Assessment System in Construction (“QLASSIC”) on its projects, we can consistently verify the workmanship of its construction works and projects.
Based on the information, we noticed the efforts from IOI Properties as they have consistently achieved above the score of 80 over last few years (see table below). With the latest completed project – Pavilion Residences and N’Dira scored the highest of 84 and 85 respectively, it showed IOI Properties is serious about improving its workmanship. It is definitely a good news for the buyers of The Clio 2 Residences.
How about the pricing?
The developer set the pricing of Clio 2 around RM470k to RM600k. For a minimum three rooms and 2 baths unit, the price is quite reasonable as RM500k is always the sweet spot and chewable for many first time home buyers.
In fact, the price is very attractive compares to previous developments. With this pricing, why go for high density affordable housing property with relatively inferior quality?
Depending on the type, the pricing above translates to about RM490psf to RM570psf. So, it is up to the individual to pick the type that they can afford. The price will move around RM1500 up for each floor except certain nice floor number like 8,18,28 or 9,19,29, which you may need to pay additional RM3,000 to RM9,000 premium.
Show unit and Freebies
There are two show units at the sales gallery. Other than the nice IDs, few things to note here:
The clear ceiling height is about 3m (10ft) except those areas with piping that cover by plaster ceiling (8.5ft). Well, 10ft is luxury enough for today’s standard.
The bathrooms comes with quality 2’ x 1’ wall tiles in full height.
Standard 2’ x 2’ tiles are used in the Living, Dining, Storage area while bathrooms will feature 2’ x 1’ tiles.
All bedroom floors are using laminated timber flooring with polymer composite skirting.
It is great to see the developer to provide wardrobe for all bedrooms and kitchen cabinet. It is not just save money for owners but also the stress from dealing with carpenters too.
However, the kitchen features 2’ x 1’ tiles in a 5 ft height configuration. Well, likely that is due to the cost cutting measure by developer. However, PROPCAFE realised the developer is clever on this as not many kitchen walls are exposed after your kitchen cabinet installed.
We captured the photo below and you know what, those potential exposed wall can easily be resolved by hanging a nice decorative item or picture. To me, it will be nicer than full wall tiles (e.g see the wall besides the fridge).
The unit comes with Instant water heater to all bathrooms.
In short, the developer is generous enough to provide the above freebies based on the price tag. The only down side is all units are running on single-phase wiring which means you may need to manage your electronic setting and usage properly. For normal use of standard home requirements, single phase is still sufficient enough.
Show Unit: Type D – 829sf
Show Unit: Type B2 – 947sf
How to conclude it?
IOI Resort City may sits at the border of Putrajaya, PROPCAFE never see this location as Putrajaya but a focal point between Kajang, Puchong, Sri Kembangan and Cyberjaya.
So, the stigma of Putrajaya does not apply here. In fact, this location may benefit from the recent government plan of making Putrajaya Sentral (linked up with Cyberjaya City Centre (CCC)) as the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) hub to “host” MRT, ERL (Express Rail to KLIA), and ECRL (East Coast Rail Link).
Who know the HSR (High Speed Rail to Singapore) and Putrajaya Monorail may also revive in near future?
The township and economy activities of IOI Resort City are expected to grow further with the latest Phase 2 of IOI City Mall, with additional business hotel (597 rooms), All-suite hotel (304 rooms) and 3 more office towers on top of the new mall.
To add another positive point, the infrastructures in the township are all readied. Given that there is no landed property offering here, so buyers who like this place have no other choices but only the highrise.
Furthermore, the pricing and offering now (thanks to the slow down of property market) is rather attractive without much mall premium being attached on it. So the price may still have room to move.
It is definitely one of the top choice for those who already (or like to) staying at Klang Valley Southern Corridor and prefer to have the convenience of big regional mall and leisure activities here.
The developer knows the important of having three bedrooms for all families. So, they made all units come with 3 bedrooms but designed it with different sizes to fit the budget of buyers.
This way, the buyers do not need to give up one or two bedrooms just because of the budget.
In term of space arrangement, by sacrificing the balcony, it makes all layouts very decent with good ventilation/sunlight for bedrooms, living hall, kitchen and yard. PROPCAFE observed the efforts from IOI Properties in Car Park podium design and lifestyle elements of facilities in Clio 2 Residences.
PROPCAFE sees The Clio 2 Residences as a very functional and practical offering. All features are there at the right balance. No More, No Less! The concept of “three bedrooms for all” with its affordable pricing is indeed very commendable.
The Clio 2 Residence – Progress
To know more about the masterplan, accessibility, amenities, and other projects in IOI Resort City, you may visit the previous PROPCAFE reviews here:
PROPCAFE™ Review: IOI Resort City Part 2
PROPCAFE Review : Conezion @ IOI Resort City By IOI Properties
PROPCAFE™ Review: Par 3 @ IOI Resort City By IOI Properties
PROPCAFE Peek : District 21 @ IOI City Mall Putrajaya
For further inquiries and to know more, click >>>>>>>> here
Please review Avara seputeh~
I look forward MRT2 to be ready in 16 Sierra or Sri Kembangan, then it won’t take too long from resort city to the station. Currently travel by car still needed from IOI resort city for my daily routine to office. Perhaps developer should provide shuttles/dedicated bus from IOI resort city the nearest MRT2 station? that will surely help me to decide to move over there as I like the serenity and mall there…weekend I don’t have to go out from the township.
Thanks for your comment. I am sure the developer is reading this and try to arrange something for the future MRT2.
Infact, actually developer already provide shuttle bus service from /to IOI Resort City to/from Serdang KTM station and Kajang MRT station for RM1 where the journey takes about 20 mins drive. Please check on link below for the shuttle time table >>>>>>>
https://www.ioicitymall.com.my/location-getting-here/
Cheers and have a nice day