This article first appeared in City & Country, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on July 1, 2019 - July 7, 2019
Henna Residence, Beverly Group Sdn Bhd’s third project in the Quartz WM township, is a serviced apartment with a modern, tropical and resort concept, and a theme of “secret tropical garden”. This would perhaps explain why, upon stepping into the Quartz WM sales gallery in Wangsa Maju, Kuala Lumpur, I am surrounded tall and spindly plants.
Beverly Group chief operating officer Lim Chee Ming and senior manager of sales and marketing Alexis Ng are clearly enthusiastic about Henna Residence, which will be launched in the third quarter of the year (3Q2019).
“This is why, when you enter the gallery, you are surrounded greenery. Similarly, buyers will also have the same experience when they enter the ground floor of the residence. They will not see the lobon entry, and will feel like they are in a secret garden,” says Ng.
The developer’s first two projects in the township — Lexa Residence and Fera Residence, with a combined gross development value (GDV) of RM450 million — are fully sold. Lexa Residence is expected to be completed in 4Q2019 while Fera Residence will be completed in 2Q2020.
“Piling works for Henna Residence are completed and we are ahead of schedule. We hope to sell all the units the end of the year,” says Lim.
Developed by the group in collaboration with Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd and Lai Sun Development Co Ltd, Henna Residence is sited on a 2.47-acre freehold parcel that is located within the 16.5-acre Quartz WM in Wangsa Maju. The serviced apartment has an estimated GDV of RM350 million.
Mapletree is a leading real estate development, investment, capital and property management company in Singapore, while Lai Sun Development is a public listed company in Hong Kong that focuses on property investment, property development, investment in and operation of hotels and restaurants, and investment holding.
According to Ng, the majority of the partially furnished units will be flexi units. “This means that they will have removable walls, known as flat slabs (reinforced concrete slabs that are supported concrete columns without the use of beams). The units are designed to enable certain walls within the units to be easily removed.
“If these walls are maintained, they would form a room. If buyers decide to remove the walls, it would open up the living room to make it bigger.” She adds that the walls are made of reinforced concrete and are soundproof.
“We had used this type of wall in our past projects but we did not remove the beams for all the units. Whereas for Henna Residence, we will remove the beams from the slabs, having collaborated with our consultants to come up with this innovative design,” says Lim.
The development will have three towers of 23, 30 and 39 storeys respectively, with a total of 653 units. It will also have eight levels of parking bays.
The units will feature four types of layouts, including 33 dual-key units with built-ups of 657 to 1,304 sq ft, and four 2-storey exclusive villas with built-ups of 2,400 to 3,198 sq ft. The average selling price is RM700 psf while the maintenance fee is 35 sen psf. Each unit will come with one to four parking bays, depending on its size.
To date, 500 units have been pre-launched, with the take-up rate at 80%. The remaining 153 units will be launched in 3Q2019.
Ng says buyers have the option of purchasing a unit of the same size in a one-bedroom or two-bedroom configuration at the same price.
“The creation of different spaces in the units of Henna Residence will enhance their future sale potential and value. Buyers can opt to sell a one-bedroom unit as a two-bedroom configuration in the future at a higher market value,” she adds.
Four units will be located on the facility level and terraced gardens will be created for them. Ng explains that these limited units are called PES (private enclosed space) units, which will come with larger balconies.
All Henna Residence units will be fitted with kitchen cabinets, hobs and hoods, general lightings, air conditioners for the master bedrooms, ceiling fans for the living rooms, storage heaters and shower screens for the bathrooms.
“They will cater for all customer groups, ranging from bachelors, investors and families to multigenerational living,” says Ng.
Wangsa Maju has been earmarked as a high residential growth area under the Kuala Lumpur Structure Plan 2020. “This is because this area (Seksyen 10) is near the city centre and prices of units here are generally 60% to 70% cheaper than those in the city centre,” she continues.
“There are a lot of new developments coming up in Wangsa Maju. We have a large percentage of bumiputera buyers. For Lexa Residence and Fera Residence, 50% of the buyers are bumiputera and we have exceeded our initial target.
“Meanwhile, about 30% of the buyers of the pre-launched units at Henna Residence are bumiputera,” says Ng.
The township’s name, Quartz WM, was inspired the English name of Bukit Tabur — Klang Gates Quartz Ridge. Meanwhile, the residences — Lexa, Fera and Henna — were named after rare plants found in Bukit Tabur, she explains.
From this, the developer has created “the Quartz community”. “It will eventually become an identity, location and landmark in Wangsa Maju,” says Ng.
Facilities at Henna Residence will include a 50m infinity edge pool, wading pool, children’s play area, outdoor terrace, and outdoor and indoor gymnasium.
The development is accessible via the Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway (AKLEH), Middle Ring Road 2 (MRR2), Duta Ulu-Kelang Expressway (DUKE) and Setiawangsa-Pantai Expressway (SPE).
Amenities nearinclude the Sri Rampai light rail transit station, Melawati Mall and Fairview International School.
Prospects
Despite the challenging market environment and competitors in the area offering cheaper products, Ng is confident that people will still be interested in Beverly Group’s products.
Meanwhile, Lim stresses that the oversupply situation is the main challenge in the residential property market. “We are using our strengths to come up with new products. For housing properties, the main priority is still location, location and location, followed offering the right product at the right price.”
Each phase of Quartz WM will feature different products. “We will continue to study and analyse the market’s demand to meet buyers’ expectations. There are basically two types of buyers — young professionals, who can afford a property after working for a few years, and those who want to upgrade from their existing property or are investors,” says Lim.
“We are positive [about our projects] because property development is always about demand and supply. In fact, the confidence level and political situation have improved since the new government came on board,” he adds.
“The bigger units are the first to be sold. We have found that most of the buyers purchase bigger units for their own occupation,” says Ng.
According to Lim, the group’s strength has always been its focus on practical designs that satisfy market demand. “We always believe that when the market is challenging, only good products will sell.”
Metro Homes Sdn Bhd director See Kok Loong says Seksyen 10 in Wangsa Maju sees mid to high-end buyers, the majority of which are bumiputera. “The selling prices of the partially furnished units offered Henna Residence are reasonable.”
Meanwhile, Nawawi Tie Leung Real Estate Consultants Sdn Bhd managing director Eddy Wong says the area attracts interest from families with young children who find the selling price reasonable and that the developments offer good value. “Many of the new developments here offer fittings such as kitchen cabinets, hobs and hoods, and air conditioning. Most of the buyers are buying for their own stay.”
According to him, the price of RM700 psf for partially furnished units at Henna Residence is comparable to the prices of other developments in Wangsa Maju, such as Irama Wangsa, Infiniti 3 Residences and Sunway Avila Residences.
“The pricing is reflective of buyers’ perception that Wangsa Maju is a choice neighbourhood and its proximity to KLCC. It also has good connectivity to central Kuala Lumpur via major roads (Jalan Jelatek, Jalan Ulu Kelang, Jalan Genting Kelang) and highways (DUKE, AKLEH), and KLCC is about a 10 to 15-minute drive,” says Wong.
“The neighbourhood has been going through a transformation in recent years with many new developments sprouting up, offering a good alternative to living in the KLCC/Jalan Ampang area.”
Upcoming projects
One of the upcoming projects Beverly Group is Equine Residence, which is nestled in the heart of Taman Equine, Seri Kembangan, Selangor. The mixed-use development is located on a 16.5-acre parcel, with Phase 1 set to take up five acres while Phase 2 will occupy the rest of the space.
Phase 1 will have two 29-storey towers (serviced apartments) and a 30-storey tower (small offices/home offices). The 861 units will have built-ups of 450 to 1,264 sq ft, with selling prices starting from RM300,000. The development will have a link bridge connected to the AEON Mall nearby.
Phase 2 will have solely residential elements. “There is a great potential for us to build a wide array of facilities on this huge parcel, and it will be a mature area once the Equine Park MRT (mass rapid transit) station is completed 2022. We want to build a community and add value to buyers,” says Ng.
She adds that Phase 1 has achieved a take-up rate of 80% and Phase 2 is currently at the submission stage. “We will be launching the units next year and will also acquire more land, mainly in the Klang Valley, for future developments.”
One of the group’s completed projects is 28 BLVD in Jalan Perdana, Pandan Perdana, Kuala Lumpur. With an estimated GDV of RM800 million, the 11.07-acre mixed-use development has four 45-storey towers with residential, office and retail components.
With an average selling price of RM700 psf, the residential component features two, three and four-bedroom units and duplex apartments, with built-ups of 678 to 1,367 sq ft. The SoHo units have built-ups of 450 sq ft each. The development is in the process of handing over the vacant possession to the buyers.
Beverly Group has two undeveloped parcels in the vicinity of Quartz WM. The company plans to have projects there with different concepts from its current developments.
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