UMLand to launch two more high-end condos

Anthony Yap (right) and Tang Chee Meng with a model of Suasana Bangsar at the launching ceremony.

KUALA LUMPUR; United Malayan Land Bhd (UMLand) will launch two more high-end condominiums in Kuala Lumpur this year following the launch of its Suasana Bangsar condominiums over the weekend. All three projects will have a gross development value of over RM1bil.

Group chief executive officer Anthony Yap said the 34-storey, 310-unit serviced apartment at Persiaran Chulan would be launched in the third quarter while the second project, a joint venture with Bolton Bhd, would be super condominiums to be launched by early 2009.

The super condominiums on 4.3 acres freehold land bordering Jalan Mayang and Jalan Yap Kwan Seng would have two 45-storey towers with low density, he said at the project launch on Saturday.

Yap said it was still “too early” to talk of pricing for the projects but assured that they would come with high quality finishes.

“Very few developers have the opportunity to have a piece of land of about four acres in a very prime location in KL,” he said, adding that the group’s two-pronged strategy was to develop high-end niche products and townships.

UMLand’s township projects are Bandar Seri Alam and Seri Austin (both in Johor), and Bandar Seri Putra in Bangi. It has two other high-end projects, the fully sold and completed Seri Bukit Ceylon, a freehold serviced residence, and the Suasana Sentral Loft in KL Sentral.

Yap said Suasana Sentral Loft, which just obtained the temporary certificate of fitness, was changing hands at RM600 per sq ft compared with the developer’s price of RM425 per sq ft. The Sommerset residences in Seri Bukit Ceylon are being transacted at RM700 per sq ft (original price: RM380 per sq ft).

On Suasana Bangsar, Yap said the 190-unit, freehold condominium project with a choice of two-, three- and four-bedroom suites of 1,100 sq ft (RM600,000) to 4,900 sq ft (RM2.4mil) for the penthouses, looked set to enjoy capital appreciation as prices of condominiums in Bangsar were rising rapidly.

Priced from RM550 per sq ft, Suasana Bangsar’s structure is designed to conform to UBC 1997 (American Uniform Building Code) Zone 1 in reference to seismic forces.

Features include a free form infinity pool, glass-encased gymnasium overlooking the swimming pool, sand pits, private whirlpool and two-storey high grand entrance.

Henry Butcher Marketing Sdn Bhd chief operating officer Tang Chee Meng said the prices of Bangsar’s high-end condominiums and apartments were now catching up with those in the KLCC area.

“One Menerung (next to Bangsar Shopping Centre) managed to bridge this gap when it hit RM1,300 per sq ft recently while other projects in Bangsar have also breached the RM1,000 per sq ft mark,” he added.

By The Star (by S.C.Cheah)