Introduction

For past few years despite the conundrum in property market and oversupplied in almost every segment of property, bread and butter property landed houses in good location are always still in good demand.

For the past 4-5 years due to scarcity of available land for development, developers have ventured to far away area such as Kuala Langat, Canal City, Puncak Alam, Dengkil, Rawang etc. for township development. Nothing really wrong with it really, however given it is a green field, it will take times for township to developed and mature with amenities, population and employment opportunities.

During the digestion period, residents have no choice but to face the inconveniences as developer is still developing all the amenities, commercial and infrastructure. This further compounded with these area are not exactly well equipped with modern facilities and amenities.

From time to time there will be landed house launches in mature township such as recent Legasi 2 launch in Bandar Kinrara.

Now we have alternative where new township is launched and surrounded by ready amenities, commercial and infrastructure. To boost it further, the township is located less than 30km away from KLCC. 

Please welcome Taman Puchong Legenda by Huges Development.

Developer background

The origin of Huges Development can be tracked way back 60 years ago from the humble beginning as construction outfit. They branched out to property development by developing Bandar Baru Kampar with flagship developments like Westlake Villas and Westlake International School.

In 2014 Mahsing had purchased 88.7 acre leasehold land in Puchong for RM657millions. Named as Festival Lakecity, the project development GDV was RM9,3billion.  

The developer targeted to sell apartment for RM585K. (Source: Festival Lakecity). And the vendor was none other than Huges Development. Apparently they have kept the land for past 30+ years where Puchong was still a backwater place.

However in 2015, MahSing informed Bursa Malaysia that they will not proceed with the acquisition of this parcel of land, citing some none fulfillment of SPA conditions.

Festival Lakecity Location and Artist Impression

In total Huges Development is holding approximately 259.3acres of prime leasehold for development in Golden Mile of Puchong. Read on for PROPCAFE^TM review.

Where is the Taman Puchong Legenda?

Puchong used to be backwater place until the important missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle was found, the dedicated flyover adjacent to IOI Puchong Mall which completed in 2005.

This also coincide with the property bull from 2008-12, making Puchong a preferred destination for many property seekers. The accessibility and smoother traffic journey has made commercial shop lots constructed along the LDP. The booming of population migration to Puchong has made most of these commercial spots thriving.

Propcafe^TM has covered few property reviews in the past. You may click The Pavilion and Skypod.

Along the Puchong Golden Mile stretch till Bandar Puteri Interchange, there are no shortage of amenities such as medical centers, shopping malls, hypermarket, shop lots, school etc. In short, it is a self-contained township. 

Spread over 170 acres of leasehold land, Taman Puchong Legenda is flanked between LDP and KESAS highway.

Location

The land may not visible from LDP and KESAS as it is blocked by the Menara KLH, industry buildings and Trees.

Menara KLH along LDP and Tree along KESAS

 Therefore it is not surprising even though the land is quite sizable and located just next to the highways, many passersby are not aware the empty land prime for development. Until Now.

 Taman Puchong Legenda is accessible via two main entrances. One is the South Entrance/Exit which located next to IOI Puchong Mall and second is the North Entrance/Exit which located next to the industry park.

Entrances for Taman Puchong Legenda

Currently the south entrance was blocked by LRT open carpark

The south entrance current status

If you are coming from Bukit Jalil or Old Klang Road, you may take the U-turn Flyover just after Puchong Jaya. You can turn to left after the IOI Puchong Mall to Taman Puchong Legenda.

Currently the site is only accessible via north entrance which is next to the industry park. If you use LDP from KL or Sunway direction, you may U-turn below the flyover, skipping the traffic jam and use the north entrance to Taman Puchong Legenda.

The north entrance current status

There is not traffic light and hence residents will have smooth journey from LDP to the township. Some of the deeper township such as Taman Putra Prima and Taman Tasik Puchong will take much more time to reach highways due to multiple traffic lights along the way. 

LDP will leads you to KESAS, NPE, Federal Highway etc which will lead you to the following

KLCC	Federal Highway, KESAS, NPE	28km
Sunway Pyramid	LDP	5km
Kota Kemuning	KESAS	16km
PJ, OneUtama, Ikea	LDP	15km
Putrajaya/Cyberjaya	LDP	30km
Bukit Jalil City Centre	Bukit Jalil Highway	8km
Old Klang Road	Jalan Puchong, NPE	8km
Seri Petaling	KESAS, Bukit Jalil Highway	11km

Taman Puchong Legenda Location and Proximity

Concept and Masterplan

The township consists of landed houses, mosque, low cost apartment, shop lots and school. Majority of the launches will be landed houses. In general, there will be 4 precincts which developer intend to launch progressively for next 10-15 years.

Taman Puchong Legenda Masterplan

Currently they are launching 356 unit landed houses in Phase 1 which is on top precinct.  

Taman Puchong Legenda billboard

For more details of the masterplan, clicks the YouTube video Taman Puchong Legenda

Each precinct will be fenced and comes with guardhouse for security. The spacious 66’ width main road and 50’ inner road will be heavily landscaped. In fact landscaping is one of the heavier pitch sale by developer. In the developer Facebook, they show the landscape progress despite early stage of construction. Check out the video link in the Facebook.

Site plan

Phase 1 consists of 356 units of link houses where it is divided to 3 sub phases 1A, 1B and 1C

Phase	Total Units	land size, sqft	Built Up, sqft	Configuration
1A	136	1400 – 4358	3163 – 5208	3 storeys, 5+ 1 bedrooms
1B	100
1C	120

Site plan of phase 1

Unit Layout and Facade

There are 4 type of layouts in Phase 1 as per table below

Type	Concept	Land Size, sqft	Built Up, sqft	Configuration
1A	Flexi Dwelling	Inter 1400	3163	5 + 1 bedrooms
1B	Single Dwelling	Inter, 1400	3163	5 + 1 bedrooms
1C	Single Corner	Corner, 2690 – 3648	3204	5 + 1 bedrooms
2D	Supreme Corner	Corner, 4358	5208	5 + 1 bedrooms

For past few years, high rise developers came with innovative products such as SOFO, SOVO, Loft, Dual Keys etc. For Taman Puchong Legenda, developer has introduced Type 1A Flexi Dwelling which is quite similar to dual keys.

The 3 storeys house comes with dual entrances on the ground floor. There will be a connecting door at the staircase which can be sealed or locked if you plan to rent out both units separately.

At the ground floor, the unit is fully functional space with bedroom, study room, dry and wet kitchens, yard, living and dining space. Even the bedroom has balcony for some outdoor space.

The interesting part is the 1^st floor where instead of conventional layout which comes with family area and bedrooms, the space comes with open space for living and dining area as well as space for bedroom, dry and wet kitchens as well as humongous balcony. On 2^nd floor there are three bedrooms with all ensuite with bathroom.

The master bedroom comes with space for walk in wardrobe and standing balcony. Propcafe^TM feels the layout can be improvised for example by relocation the bathroom to front and rear of the house, the bathroom will enjoy natural ventilation.

Check out the proposed layout modification below.

Type 1A – Flexi Dwelling and layout modification

The flexi dwelling will be ideal if you have elder parents which can stay on the ground floor where you can stay on upper unit while still maintaining the privacy.

The single dwelling is quite conventional layout with guest bedroom on the ground floor and 2 bedrooms on each floor.

This type is perfect for family with grown up kids which stay with parents. The master bedroom and junior suite are sizable to cater for growing family.

The master bedroom has good walking in wardrobe space, balcony and the bathroom enjoying natural ventilation.

Type 1B – Single Dwelling

Propcafe^TM like the master bedroom has window on both sides, allowing natural ventilation.

The balcony is enveloping almost the whole length of the unit. Propcafe^TM likes the idea the family area on 2^nd floor has access natural sunlight and balcony.

Type 1C – Single corner

Supreme Corner is probably the most luxury layout in Taman Puchong Legenda. Skipping the conventional design where typical corner just has bigger land or layout, Supreme corner standout like a zero lot bungalow design. The house even has provision for a lift!

The house has 5 feet setback from the boundary and 5ft turf is provided at the rear, allowing natural sunlight and ventilation throughout the house. Wet kitchen seems too small and two stores seems overkill.

There is double volume on the living area, allowing owner to install the luxury chandeliers that they craved for. However at RM2.8millions, it is not exactly an affordable corner link house.

Type 2D – Supreme corner

What Propcafe^TM like all intermediate link house the built ups are maximized to the edge of the backlane and hence saving the owners any requirement for extension.

Despite the land size is just 20X70, the built ups are more than 3,100sqft due to build up being maximized on the footprint. This come to other point where for almost RM1m for a typical link house, 20X70 not exactly footprint that the discerning buyers are expecting.

Just a comparison, recently SPSetia launched Legasi 2 in freehold Bandar Kinrara, just a stone’s throw away from Taman Puchong Legenda. SPSetia priced the 22X75 double storey link houses with built up ranging from 2161 to 2655sqft competitively at RM1million.

Despite the selling price, the response was quite good with 58 of the 76 two-storey terraced houses released during its launch on Feb 15 taken up (see Legasi 2). Sometimes it is not just about large built up but the correct product at the right price point.

For a product priced closed to RM1m, purchasers will demand certain feature such as freehold status of the land, wider house with minimum 22’, proven track record in developing township etc.

Taman Puchong Legenda location is quite prime, no question however instead of 3 storey link house, Propcafe^TM feels the developer should launch DSL 20X70 at lower price point eg RM700K to gain traction, customer trust. Subsequently developer can move on to launch premium product such as 22’ and 24’ as well as 3 storey link houses.

At current property bearish sentiment compounded with MCO, developer will have tough time to maneuver not just current phase but future phases as well.  

The type configuration already predetermined in site plan as per below.

Site Plan with predetermined type

Move back to Taman Puchong Legenda, to make unit selection more interesting, the developer has opted for varying façade which make the whole development more interesting.

Developer has offer 4 different facades for purchasers to choose as per scale model below.

Scale Model (From left to right type 1X1, 1X2, 1X3 and 1X4)

Scale Model for the single corner unit

Special note for type 1A1, you would notice that the 2^nd floor has high ceiling of 16ft height on the master bedroom. You may opt to build a mezzanine deck with this volume.

Sample of Mezzanine deck

Therefore purchasers are spoil with choice of units such as

1. Direction (North/South/East/West)
2. House No. and Address (firm)
3. Unit Layout (Flexible/Single Dwelling)
4. Façade

For example if you want Single Dwelling, North-East Facing with House No. 10 and façade with high ceiling (type 1B1), there are only 1 unit available in whole phase 1A.

Therefore if you buying as investment or own stay, you may pick few permutations that is quite unique and not easily comparable.

Investment Potential

One of the risks aside the leasehold mining land status is the proximity to the HTC which running at the North-Eastern border of the development.

Strangely rather than launching the cluster nearest to the HTC, developer has decided to launch the Phase 1 which is about 300-400m away from HTC.

HTC running along the Eastern side border of Taman Puchong Legenda

Anyway, let’s talk about the positive side of this development, for a start, Taman Puchong Legenda located just next to the biggest mall in Puchong, IOI Puchong Mall.

On top of that, Puchong LRT station is just next to southern entrance to the Taman Puchong Legenda. From the guardhouse of phase 1, it is estimated the distance is approximately 600-700m away which is fairly walkable if the nice shades is provided.

Puchong LRT Station

IOI Puchong Mall with Aeon as Anchor Tenant

It is convenience to travel via LRT to KL, Seri Petaling, Bukit Jalil and via Masjid Jamek, you can transfer to KLCC and KL Sentral.

Finance

Base on the PSF, Taman Puchong Legenda represent excellent value for owners as the price is approximately RM300+/- psf. For flexi dwelling, it is slightly pricier than single dwelling. There is a minimum rebate offered by developer. Check them out.

Maintenance Fee is set at RM70 and waived for first 2 years. Compared to stratified GnG development, maintenance cost for individual title is so much affordable as the road, parks etc are belong to public and will be maintained by Local Authority.

No sinking fund will be collected and therefore the fee collected is for security and maybe a gardener.

Currently the land lease left with 83 years however accordance to the developer the lease tenure will be extended back to 99 years.

What amaze Propcafe^TM was the freebies voucher provided by developer. Voucher such as kitchen cabinet, automated gate, electrical appliances etc will be provided by developer with selective vendors.

Summary

The construction is currently going well and developer pretty committed to deliver the house to the buyers. They even started to plant some trees with anticipation of mature trees when keys handover time…

Construction progress (photos from developer facebook)

What we like about Taman Puchong Legenda? For a start we like is the location. The building façade is modern and the buildup already maximizing the footprint. Therefore minimizing renovation nuisance (noise etc) by those who want to do extension.

What we do not like? Well leasehold is always a bummer particularly the first phase is already selling for more than RM900K.

We also think for the price, the size 20X70 maybe an issue as the price is not meant for entry house. And finally we think the launch is in a very bad timing where we have low oil price, potential of recession and people fear to put their hand earn money into illiquid asset and debt.

We do not intend to be disrespect to the humble long history of the developer, however for most buyers we probably never heard of the developer as they are not active in Klang Valley property development and yet they own the prime 260 acre of land in Puchong Golden Mile.

Till then, happy hunting!

From Propcafe^TM Intern