Star Residences is an unmissable structure, thanks to its gleaming and eye-catching podium façade. Few people realise that the gleaming effect is not created by LEDs but rather an art piece made from 88,000 pieces of 304 stainless steel plates, which shine brightly as the wind blows and sunlight reflects off them.

“These stainless steel plates need little maintenance. They will not rust and they are cleaned naturally when it rains. More importantly, they are shiny, environmentally friendly and sustainable at the same time, which means they bring almost no burden to the owners to take care of them,” says Alan Koh, designer of Star Residences and chairperson of the Star Residences Joint Management Body (JMB).

Located in Jalan Yap Kwan Seng, Kuala Lumpur, Star Residences is a luxury integrated development comprising two residential towers (Towers 1 and 2), a hotel (Tower 3) and a retail podium on a 3.9-acre freehold parcel.

The two residential towers have 1,039 units in total, with built-ups of 625 to 2,972 sq ft, and share an extensive range of common facilities such as a barbecue pit, gym, reading room, meeting room, sports lounge, yoga/dance room, chilled-out area, hammock garden, outdoor playground, swimming pools and KTV rooms.

The 56-storey Tower 1 and 57-storey Tower 2 were completed and handed over to buyers in November 2019 and November 2020 respectively. Due to the pandemic and the Movement Control Order (MCO), the formation of the JMB was delayed to August 2020.

Henry Butcher Malaysia (Mont Kiara) Sdn Bhd (HBMK) was appointed the property manager for Star Residences by the developers, Symphony Life Bhd and United Malayan Land Bhd, and then by the JMB for the management of Towers 1 and 2.

Star Residences is the winner of many international awards, including Best High Rise Residential Development in the Japan International Property Award 2018; Best Luxury High Rise Development in the Asean Property Developer Awards 2019/2020; and Best Apartment Malaysia in the Asia Pacific Property Awards 2017/2018.

Now, it has one more award to add to its collection. Star Residences (Towers 1 and 2 only) is the Gold winner in the Below 10 Years Multiple-owned Strata Residential category.

It is clear from conversing with Koh that Star Residences is a very dear project to him. The end product is the culmination of all his experiences and ideas that he has gained from the property development industry in the past decades.

“The planning started back in 2013 and my project design brief for Star Residences was over 40 pages. It was so detailed that I even measured the lift buttons’ distance to make sure that they would be easy to reach for everyone,” Koh tells City & Country.

One of the important chapters of the project design brief was the long-term maintenance and upkeep plan of the common areas and facilities, which have a total area of 100,000 sq ft and many art and statue decorations in various corners of Towers 1 and 2, making it one of the most instagrammable projects in town.

“The project’s design was benchmarked against a five-star hotel, hence the common facilities offered have to be on a par. At the same time, we understood that the long-term maintenance of these extensive facilities and common areas could be a concern to the owners. Hence, we planned ahead and got everything in place before the completion and handover of the project,” says Koh.

Planning ahead meant that HBMK was appointed as the property manager of Star Residences and brought into the planning team a year before the project’s completion and handover.

“The developer was concerned about the upkeep, maintenance and running of the project as it is not just another luxury residence. It is a luxury hotel-standard residence that was designed and built with investment in mind. A lot of pressure was put on us because the standard of [the property] can only go up; it cannot go down as five-star hotel living was what the developer had promised the buyers,” says HBMK managing director Low Hon Keong.

Many thoughts on maintenance and management were put in place before the project’s handover, such as implementing a three-tier check-in system for short-stay guests to ensure the privacy and security of the owner-occupier residents and long-term tenants; having in-house technicians to conduct planned preventive maintenance to ensure the machinery, equipment and services are maintained at the required standards; and preparing for the formation of sub-MCs (management corporations) in the future by keeping different account books for the residential, retail and hotel components.

“We had to make clear what the LCPs (limited common properties) were and who will have access to and pay for what kind of facilities before the project handover. We are also keeping different account books for different components of the project so that in the future, when the sub-MCs are formed, the handover would be clear, smooth and transparent,” Low shares.

For Towers 1 and 2, the maintenance fee is 50 sen psf, excluding the sinking fund. The collection rate has been healthy and maintained at 90%, a significant improvement from 60% during the MCO due to the closure of international borders and the majority of the owners being foreigners.

According to HBMK associate director Paris Tian, Towers 1 and 2 are 88% sold with an occupancy rate of 60% and 30% respectively. Only 20% of the total occupiers are owners, while the rest are long-term tenants and short-term guests.

“We have no plan to increase the maintenance fees because there was a surplus variance between the budget and actual amount spent so far, signifying that the management has successfully controlled the spending to be within the budget,” says Tian.

She also attributes the successful adherence to the budget to the continuous improvement in energy-saving alternatives, which reduces day-to-day operating costs, such as switching off the air conditioning in the common areas during non-peak hours instead of running it 24 hours, reducing the filtration pump by three hours daily, and the practice of using alternative lighting in areas with enough natural light. The estimated monthly operating cost savings from these measures is up to RM7,000.

The awareness of having “just enough” facilities within a residential project is increasing as people have started to realise that having too many facilities would lead to a long-term burden to upkeep them in terms of cost and time. However, Koh has a different opinion.

“I believe it is okay to have extensive facilities in a project, but the developer must make sure that they really serve their purpose and bring value to the owners and the project. For example, a KTV room should really be equipped with a karaoke system, and a meeting room should have tables, chairs and a projector, so that residents can really make use of them. If the facilities are just some empty spaces, it will never bring value. It will become a burden to the residents,” he comments.

Koh adds that the practicality and maintainability of facilities are more important. “At Star Residences, we have fully fledged facilities but they are all well maintained within our budget. It did not happen by chance. It is a result of much research, calculation and planning, which started as early as the project planning stage.”

He says that a well-maintained property does contribute to the project value. For example, Star Residences has a high score on short-stay rental platforms, mainly due to its well-maintained facilities, pleasant environment and smooth check-in system.

According to the latest available data from HBMK, the rental return of Towers 1 and 2 of Star Residences was RM5.26 psf in 4Q2021, which it considers a strong recovery after going through the pandemic. The highest record pre-pandemic was RM6.21 psf in 3Q2019.

“Winning Gold for the Below 10 years Multiple-owned Strata Residential category is a recognition of the effort the developer and the management team have put in. It means a lot to us and it will certainly motivate us to keep up the good work!” says Koh.