Mayland's Elements at Ampang

If Mayland has anything for us to remember them by, it's their densely congested "luxury" developments in strategic locations. This strategy has served them well, that is to buy into expensive pieces of land and cut the units up to small affordable bite sizes. Example is their Plaza Damas serviced apartment in Sri Hartamas. Each floor has almost 40 units of 500sf studios. While in the past 2 or 3 articles, we been talking about luxury condos with their individual lifts, these 40 units per floor in Mayland's "luxurious" Plaza Damas is served by only 3 lifts! Mayland's "luxury" is also defined by their long school-type corridors...

So, when Mayland invited me to their Elements @ Ampang preview this weekend, I was a bit sceptical but made the trip anyway to see what it is all about. Well, it is slightly different... though not a too pleasant surprise.

Elements @ Ampang, a JV between Mayland and L&G features 12 units per floor (instead of their usual 20 to 40!!), ranging from 630sf studios to 1550sf 3-bedroom units. Mayland "generously" included 4 lifts to serve the 41 floors. This "generosity" is obviously reflected in the price which ranges from just over RM500k for the studios to just over RM1million for the larger units.

The density is still there. The project consists of 2 blocks. Each block has over 500 units and the 2 blocks on this plot of land has more than 1000 units. This is the trademark of Mayland.



With this kind of density, it is possible to throw in lots of high-end condo facilities as these can be supported by the maintenance cost. Elements is the only Freehold plot amond the leasehold part of KL's Ampang. Interestingly, it is neighbouring another up-coming project D'Rapport which is leasehold. The location is about 8km from KLCC accessible via the busiest stretch of Jalan Ampang and the AKLEH highway. It is at the fringe of the exclusive Ampang Hilir dotted by various embassies and high commissions. The most attractive selling point is the nearby International School KL (ISKL) at Jalan Kolam Air across the MRR2 highway.




But I think there is a mismatch in the project and the location. 1st of all, if you buy a project near a school, e.g. Mont Kiara with the Garden School and Saujana with the Japanese School, you can't go wrong. Expat families tend to congregate there, no matter where they work, they rather have their kids closer to the school than them closer to their work. With majority being 630sf to 690sf studios and 1-bedroom units, Elements is not exactly catering to the families with school-going kids in ISKL.
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Junior expat officers at the Embassies normally have a budget starting from RM3k up to RM6k. But for what embassy officers are used to, they would be horrified at the thought of having an accomodation the size of 600sf because embassy staffs are expected to also do some entertaining. They would probably shop for the abundance of choices in Ampang Hilir which features larger units but much older design and up-keep. Perhaps they would consider the larger units at the Elements and with the 3-bedrooms starting at RM1.1million, they might just make it with a RM6k rental. But paying maintenance fees on a 1500sf unit with a RM6k tenancy might just be stretching the ROI a bit.
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As for the senior expat officers, i.e. those ranked 1st Secretary and up, forget about renting a condo which is located among densely populated studio units with hospital-like corridors to them...


Nevertheless, Mayland have their hardcore supporters. Those who made money from Parkview, Maytower etc. swear by them. They even ban people from property forums for criticizing Mayland. Sales have not been that bad considering the soft launch. Take up for the 1st block of 500 plus units are about 45% with a 10% discount off published prices. For me, Mayland still need some convincing to do about their quality of work.

I'll provide more comments when I have managed to scan in the floor plan... keep rooted here..