International quality homes

Westwood Green town houses start from RM3mil

About an hour's drive away from the Raffles City mall in downtown Shanghai, is CapitaLand's impressive Westwood Green Project, a gated and guarded residential development.

Located south-west of Shanghai in Huacao town in the Minhang District, the special features of Westwood Green include its location within the Jin Feng international community. In fact, it is just across the road from the Shanghai American School.

Surrounded by some of Shanghai's premium villa projects and high-end residential apartments, the existence of a multinational community is by no means due to luck.

Everything is nice about the project, from the landscaped grounds and club house facilities to the designs of the low-rise condominium units and town houses.

Apparently, American architect Benjamin Wood was hired to design these homes for contemporary living with the focus on privacy and spacious layouts.


Spacious layout and landscaped grounds offer residents a great home

According to Westwood Green Project representative Wang Yao Dong, the total development area spans 153,000sq m.

Launched in November 2005 and expected to be completed by December this year, the project comprises 280 town houses and 140 condominium units.

Built-up space of the town houses range from 235sq m to 300sq m with an extra 80sq m of basement space. Condominium units are between 140sq m and 250sq m.

The town houses cost RMB14,000 to RMB27,000 persquare metre while the condominium units cost RMB13,000 to RMB18,000 per square metre.

This means that a typical town house unit will cost RMB6mil (240sq m x RMB25,000 per sq m) or about RM3mil. But such a unit will come with furnishings.

To date, the 80% of the town houses have been sold and 50% of the condominium units have been taken up.

Due to the size of the development, the residential units are categorised under the "western" and "eastern" flanks.

Apparently, the "Western side" appeals more to foreigners who make up 90% of the purchasers while 10% are local buyers. Buyers who opt for the eastern side appear to be 50% foreigners and 50% locals.

Overseas buyers are mainly Asians from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia and even Malaysia.

Ten minutes away by car from the Westwood Green Project is the Hongqiao Transportation Hub which will eventually include high-speed train service (expected to be completed within 10 years) to Beijing and metro train lines linking downtown Shanghai.

By The Star