“The RRI land will take 10 to 20 years to develop. They are buying into this location for its capital growth potential. This is after all not the most prime of location”.
Developers show interest in former RRI land in Sg Buloh
OF late, there has been much interest in the potential growth area of Sg Buloh, not so much by house buyers but by developers.
Much of it is piqued by a pension fund’s plan to develop more than 2,330 acres of former Rubber Research Institute (RRI) land and the development of the Sg Buloh-Kajang line. Work on the MRT line is already under way. As for the RRI land, Kwasa Land Sdn Bhd has the tender process going for the 64-acre town centre.
Kwasa Land, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), is the master developer.
Bursa Malaysia-listed Selangor Dredging Bhd (SDB) is also carving a spot here in the form of a mixed commercial development called SqWhere near the Jalan Sg Buloh-Kuala Selangor intersection. It is, however, not the first to be there.
Earlier this year, Mah Sing Group Bhd launched the D’Sara Sentral, also a mixed commercial project with a gross development value (GDV) of about RM900mil. SDB’s SqWhere GVD is RM630mil.
Both projects offer similar components, namely serviced apartments, retail shops, and small office, versatile office (SoVo) units. Both are connected by the same link bridge to the Kg Baru Sungai Buloh MRT station which is currently being built on opposite sides of Jalan Welfare.
SDB, known for projects such as ParkSeven near the Petronas Twin Towers, AmanSari in Taman Kinrara Puchong and Five Stones in SS2 Petaling Jaya, is building SqWhere on 4.8 acres while Mah Sing’s D’Sara Sentral is on 6.55 acres.
Over the years, SDB has moved progressively away from the city, to the suburbs of Petaling Jaya and Cheras and now to a predominantly industrial area.
SDB also has several projects in Singapore and one beachfront project in Penang. SqWhere will have 15 retail office units, all of which have been sold at an average price of RM825 per sq ft. The other components of this RM630mil development comprises about 300 units of SoVos of which about 80% have been sold at an average price of RM750 per sq ft.
The third component is 328 units of serviced apartments. Prices have yet to be finalised and these will be launched in the second half of this year. The entire project will be completed by the middle of 2018.
Mah Sing’s D’Sara Sentral SoVo units are priced about RM100 per sq ft lower, with an average price of RM650 per sq ft. There will be 322 units, of which 70% have been sold. Mah Sing’s land area is about a third larger than SDB’s SqWhere and it is offering 100 units of retail lots.
There are two salient features about both projects. Their selling point is their access to the Kg Baru Sungai Buloh MRT station. Both will be linked to it via an overhead bridge across Jalan Sg Buloh. This will be the second station in the Sg Buloh-Kajang MRT line. The first station will be the Sungai Buloh MRT station. SqWhere and D’Sara Sentral are, therefore, located at one end of the line and Kajang at the other end. Travel time from end to end is expected to be an hour.
The second thing to note is the price point. Both are located across the road from each other. Buyers have to examine both projects with a critical eye. As mentioned time and again, when one buys into a project, one also buys into the surroundings. Because there are two reputable developers involved, elements like landscapping, service charges, after sales services (if any), quality and ceiling height, types of windows and built-in cabinets and other facilities will have to be considered. Issues like density, security features offered by the two respective projects are important. Another factor to consider is the surroundings. Take a drive around the area and into the new village. If one is buying to stay, all well and good. If this is going to be an investment, will there be tenants?
Despite an average price of about RM825 per sq ft, SDB has sold all of its 15 retail units. Mah Sing’s retail units are priced at RM950 per sq ft. SDB’s SoVo units, priced at an average RM750 per sq ft, is 80% sold.
Says Kim Realty Sdn Bhd CEO Vincent Ng: “Buyers are paying PJ prices for a Sg Buloh location. It shows they are confident in the branding and the reputation of the company when they pay that kind of prices to buy into that location. Both are leasehold.”
“It also shows that they are still very positive about the property sector and are attracted by all that talk about the Sg Buloh growth potential.
“The RRI land will take 10 to 20 years to develop. They are buying into this location for its capital growth potential. This is after all not the most prime of location,” Ng says.
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