Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Somewhere in Jalan Gurney

Here are more on niche developments - 6 units of 3-storey link houses in the heart of Kuala Lumpur at Jalan Gurney, 2 of them corner lots. Can't get any more niche than that...
The view from the actual location, i.e. from the 3rd floor of one of the units, you can see that KLCC is not really that far away. In fact, it's just about 2km and one would find it possible to walk there from here. The entrance to this development directly fronts Jalan Yap Kwan Seng which is separated from Jalan Gurney by the busy double decker Jalan Tun Razak.

The back of the houses is the Felda office and a couple of old bungalows belonging to some government departments. There is a possibility that these may be torn down in the future.


Despite being link houses, these are large houses. Each one of them has 7 bedrooms. The ground floor consists of a very large living room with adjoining dining and dry kitchen. There is also a wet kitchen and a maid's room and bathroom. The 2nd level has 3 bedrooms, each one of them with its' own private baths. Level 3 has 3 more rooms with ensuite facilities. The front room from which the top picture was taken has a sliding door and balcony - it would work well also as a kind of office or study.

There is a sky-roof in the middle of each unit. Basically, the rooms up above have these pretty wooden kampung style windows that opens out into the living room down below. It is a very nice concept and it is possible to actually have a little garden or fish pond inside the house in the middle of the living room. We were not allowed to take any interior pictures, so we have to make do with a picture taken from outside one of the corner lots to demonstrate this concept.

Judging from the exterior design (...and interior too), it is very likely this developer is targeting the older generation of buyers. Possibly those who are past retirement and looking for a house big enough for the whole family, grand children and all. The price is also not too steep considering it is freehold and location in the city center. Each of the intermediate costs just above RM1 million. The corner units were sold out when we got there and understandbly since it is only about RM200k more than the intermediates. These 2 corner units are probably the only ones worth having.... more than 1 month after our viewing, about 2-3 intermediate units are still available.



Despite targeting old people, I think the developer would have done better to invest in a better, more modern design. That is to use more glass and natural wood for the facade.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sin Leong

Many thanks for bringing us back to bright and shinny Malaysia.

Yes I do agree that developers get away with high prices and shoddy work and will continue so if buyers allow them.

Real estate is still a good investment and in the worst case scenario, its still a roof over the head.

Looking forward to your articles.

Cheers