Why Cheras?

Bordering Ampang to the north and Kajang to the south, Cheras is one of the oldest residential areas in Kuala Lumpur with parts of it located in Selangor.

Location is Cheras’ biggest advantage as the KL portion of Cheras is about 6km from the KL city centre. It also offers various housing choices that meet different buyers’ needs and budgets.

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Starting as a residential area, Cheras has evolved into a business, education and entertainment centre for city dwellers. The opening of IKEA Cheras and MyTOWN Shopping Centre as well as Sunway Velocity have created more vibrancy to this old residential area in KL.

Cheras was also one of the top three most-searched locations in EdgeProp.my last year.

It came as no surprise that developers are eyeing to increase landbank and roll out mixed developments here for its proximity to the city centre and easy connectivity to the rail transportation system.

For UEM Sunrise Bhd, its newly acquired land in Connaught is located adjacent to the Taman Connaught MRT (mass rapid transit) station. The company has planned to develop a transit-oriented development (TOD) here with a gross development value (GDV) of RM1 billion.

According to UEM Sunrise CEO Sufian Abdullah, the preliminary plan is to develop some 1.8 million sq ft of various types of competitively-priced products aimed at young city dwellers who are looking for homes with immediate accessibility into the city centre.

The first phase of the two-phase development is slated to be unveiled in the second half of next year. This will be the second TOD development by UEM Sunrise after its Gerbang Nusajaya, Johor.

In a media statement in June 2021, Sufian said the location of the prime land has offered the company an opportunity to explore a TOD that suits current market needs.

Taman Connaught MRT station is just six stations away from Tun Razak Exchange (TRX), which is poised to be the future financial centre of KL city centre with an estimated 45,000 working population.

Cheras continues to stay robust

Commenting on the location, Sufian anticipates the Cheras housing market will continue to stay robust – supported by the growing working crowd, thanks to its good amenities and easy accessibility as well as connectivity via six MRT stations.

About 10 minutes’ drive or 8.5km away from Taman Connaught MRT station, one will reach Sunway Velocity Mall, IKEA Cheras and MyTOWN Shopping Centre.

Master community developer Sunway Property, the property development arm of Sunway Group, on April 19, 2021 acquired a 6.59-acre freehold plot from Boustead Properties Bhd for RM233.4 million.

The developer is mulling to roll out a mixed development comprising serviced apartments and retail elements that carries a GDV of at least RM1.15 billion on the prime land which is located at Jalan Cochrane, KL. The land is located within the commercial zoning in the city centre and situated directly across Cochrane MRT Station, which is just one station away from TRX.

The new addition of the Jalan Cochrane plot has added up Sunway’s landbank in Cochrane vicinity to 38 acres. This will further strengthen Sunway’s presence in this vicinity where the company has already developed and invested substantially in the very successful Sunway Velocity and Sunway Velocity TWO, both of which are MSC Cybercentre-status developments.

Apart from this, Sunway also has planned for another residential development in Jalan Belfield, KL, about 6km away from Sunway Velocity, which will be unveiled this year.

Dubbed Sunway Belfield, the 4.53-acre development, which has a GDV of RM1 billion, will be offering 1,330 serviced apartments spread across three residential towers. Unit built-ups range from 788 sq ft to 1,337 sq ft and are priced from RM590,000 or an average of RM720 psf, according to earlier news reports in January this year.

The plot is located 400m from the Maharajalela monorail station, close to various amenities such as Zhongshan Building, Petaling Street, SJK (C) Kuen Cheng 1, Alice Smith School and Taylor’s International School KL.

It is also about 1km from the upcoming Merdeka 118 tower which is slated to be completed in 2022. Upon completion, the 644m skyscraper will become the tallest building in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.

Permodalan Nasional Bhd and its subsidiaries reportedly will take up 42 floors of Merdeka 118, while 14 floors are for amenities. Four floors will become observation decks and another 41 floors are for office rental. The upper 17 floors of the tower will house Park Hyatt Hotel KL, operated by Hyatt Hotels Corp.

This story first appeared in the EdgeProp.my E-weekly on June 11, 2021. You can access back issues here.

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