This article first appeared in City & Country, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on November 22, 2021 - November 28, 2021

Sunway Bhd is looking to unveil two projects — Sunway Artessa in Wangsa Maju and Sunway d’Hill in Kota Damansara — by the end of this year.  Speaking to City & Country, Sunway Bhd property development division central region executive director Chong Sau Min says that these two projects will be officially launched next year.

The RM340 million Sunway Artessa is its second project in Wangsa Maju, with the first being Sunway Avila Residences, and is located just a stone’s throw away.  The latter was fully sold within 1½ years of its launch in June 2019. 

Sitting on 3.69 acres of land, Sunway Artessa will offer 468 units in a 48-storey condominium block. The units have built-ups of 1,100 sq ft with 3+1 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms as well as 1,300 sq ft with 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. The indicative pricing starts at RM665,000.

“Sunway Artessa has a freehold residential title and is even closer to the Sri Rampai LRT station than Sunway Avila Residences. We are offering bigger units here because the 1,200 sq ft units in Sunway Avila Residences sold faster than the smaller units, which is a rare situation. From there, we could see the demand for bigger units. It also complements Sunway Avila [which has mostly smaller units of below 1,000 sq ft],” Chong says.

“The target market is owner-occupiers such as first-time homebuyers, upgraders and people who want to stay near their parents, as well as investors. Also, the new developments nearby offer mainly units below 1,000 sq ft.”

The facilities include an Olympic-length infinity pool, a poolside cabana, barbecue deck, wading pool, pool deck lounge, jogging track, multipurpose hall/indoor badminton court, half basketball court, children’s playground, gymnasium, children’s indoor play area and games room.

Sunway Avila, meanwhile, is a mixed-use development with 810 units in two serviced apartment blocks and 30 stratified shops on freehold land measuring 4.34 acres. The sizes of the apartment units range from 732 to 1,227 sq ft, while the shops will have built-ups of about 1,600 sq ft. 

Chong expects buyers of Sunway Artessa to be of a similar profile to those of Sunway Avila Residences — mostly living within a 5km radius, with some from other states such as Penang, Ipoh and Johor.

He reckons that buying sentiment is still cautious,  and observes that even though footfall at shopping malls has picked up, spending power is still low. The economy, Chong believes, is still weak and job security remains a concern. But he is confident the response to Sunway Artessa will be good owing to the overwhelming registration of interest, which currently exceeds 10,000.

The name “Artessa” is a combination of two words — “art”, which refers to the art of living, space and luxury, and “tessa”, which means together. The development is scheduled for completion in 2025.

Located 6.5km from the Petronas Twin Towers, Sunway Artessa is accessible via Jalan Genting Klang, Middle Ring Road II, Duta-Ulu Kelang Expressway and the upcoming Setiawangsa-Pantai Expressway, among other routes. It is also within walking distance of the Sri Rampai LRT station.

Amenities nearby include Wangsa Walk Mall, AEON BiG Wangsa Maju, Sri Utama International School, AEON Alpha Angle, Melawati Mall, Fairview International School, Tunku Abdul Rahman University College and Columbia Asia Hospital.

Chong says that the units will have dry and wet kitchens while the balconies will be bigger than usual. In addition, the units are of north-south orientation, with all bedrooms facing outside. Sunway has obtained the GreenRE gold award for Sunway Artessa.

“Also, this development is on elevated land, so there is a lot of terrain. We are building according to the terrain to reduce the cutting of the land. As a result, we are going to build the parking podium in a way that residents can go to their respective floors via a main driveway, without having to make several turns and rounds,” he explains.

“As we managed to sell all the units at Sunway Avila Residences in about 1½ years despite the pandemic, we hope we will achieve the same good response for Sunway Artessa. Also, as there are existing residents near our developments, our environment and noise control is important. The people there already know us due to Sunway Avila Residences. The foundation work for Sunway Artessa has started.”

The RM640 million Sunway d’Hill in Kota Damansara sits on a 6.46 acres of leasehold land near the Kota Damansara Community Forest Reserve. It will be a mixed-use development with more than 900 apartment units in two towers (Tower A: 487 units; Tower B: 489 units) and 29 retail units.

The apartments are available in five layouts — 551 sq ft (1 bedroom, 1 bathroom), 829 sq ft (2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms), 975 sq ft (3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms), 1,079 sq ft (3+1 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms) and 1,249 sq ft (4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms). 

Chong says that all units will come with their own yard, and all bedrooms will face outside rather than the void to allow for better ventilation.

“The target market is first-time homebuyers, upgraders and people working nearby because there is not much supply in the area. So far, we have garnered good response and registration of interest has exceeded 10,000. Meanwhile, for the retail units, we are selling some of them. They are 1-storey shops, sized from 1,500 to 1,700 sq ft,” he adds.

Sunway d’Hill will have more than 30 facilities including an Olympic-length pool, a kids’ pool, an elevated fitness studio, a yoga/aerobic studio, karaoke room, tree-top walk, bicycle rack, picnic and camping ground as well as a theatre/entertainment room.

“We have more outdoor facilities because of the demand [as a result of] Covid-19 and in tandem with the concept of green and wellness. There are open spaces and an unobstructed view of the forest. The units are bare units but we will give kitchen cabinets to early-bird buyers. The indicative average pricing is close to RM700 psf,” Chong says.

Sunway has been developing properties in Kota Damansara for more than 20 years. Other than Sunway d’Hill, it still has a land bank of 14 acres opposite Sunway Nexis on Jalan PJU 5/1. Part of this land has been earmarked for a medical centre, on which construction is ongoing. It is scheduled for completion in 2023.

“Kota Damansara is a much sought-after location. We are building a medical centre there, which will be completed in 2023. It is connected by MRT stations and is near many amenities such as shopping malls and educational institutions,” he explains.

“For the 14 acres we have in Kota Damansara, 2½ acres are for a medical centre and the remaining land will be used to build a mixed-use development. The medical centre will be connected to Sunway Nexis via a bridge. We will also build a flyover in and out of Jalan PJU 5/1 from Persiaran Surian to ease the traffic.”

Meanwhile, Sunway is also looking to preview Tower C of its Sunway Belfield development, which has a gross development value of RM448 million, this year. The size of the 450 units ranges from 797 to 1,238 sq ft. They come in two- and three-bedrooms layouts, and have kitchen cabinets and electrical appliances such as a cooking hob and hood, oven, fridge, washer-cum-dryer, digital lock and air conditioners in all rooms. 

Purchasers will also be able to customise the colour of their kitchen cabinets. 

Chong notes that Tower A and B have received a good response despite the pandemic. “We launched Tower B within three months of Tower A’s launch. Tower B was launched in March 2021, 10 months ahead of schedule. Tower A is 95% sold, while Tower B is 80% sold,” he says.

“Tower C is the final phase of the development. It integrates close to 30 facilities for residents’ well-being and social activities, including a co-working space, a herb and spice garden, as well as indoor and outdoor community spaces.”

Sunway Belfield is scheduled for completion in 2024. 

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