PROPERTY TALK
By S. C. Cheah
MENTION the name YTL Land & Development Bhd and the following images may appear in one's mind:
People sipping fruit cocktails with the stirring sounds of classical music floating from a white tent. Sometimes there is a small fountain to lend a touch of finesse to a YTL property launch.
Former mining ponds turned into part of a lifestyle residential development.
Nice, three-storey houses with high ceilings, interesting facades and quality workmanship.
In recent years, YTL Land (formerly known as Taiping Consolidated Bhd) carved a niche for itself as a reputable and innovative developer that has set a bold trend in new layout designs and concepts for its projects.
It started with Pantai Hillpark about a decade ago where the condominiums have a Spanish design and metal instead of wood was used for some of the roof trusses.
The roadsides were nicely landscaped and visitors greeted with a large entrance archway. Suddenly the area’s kampung image with roadside stalls was spruced up and thanks to Pantai Hillpark, people began to take notice of this laid-back area.
YTL Land then revived the stalled Sentul Raya project in Kuala Lumpur and in the process turned an old golf course there into a "green" residential enclave boasting Malaysia’s first gated private park with boating and recreational facilities. It has come to the rescue of purchasers of some uncompleted condominiums there by reviving their projects as well.
The ambitious 294-acre urban renewal project called Sentul East and Sentul West is set to transform this part of Sentul into a unique neighbourhood similar to New York’s SoHo. It has an estimated sales value of about RM8bil.
YTL Land then embarked on another project in Puchong called the Lake Edge. Again, it has made the best use of the existing natural attributes of the location and turned it into a private gated and guarded community with lots of recreational facilities to encourage a healthy lifestyle. Besides offering nice house designs, it also ensures that the pricing is reasonable.
The "overwhelming" response took YTL officials by surprise.
As YTL Corp Bhd deputy managing director Datuk Yeoh Seok Kian said: “Frankly, I didn’t expect the market to take it so well. We have a loyal following.”
Its Lake Edge Courtyard Homes had been sold out and last month it officially launched the Pavilion Terraces and Garden Terraces, 2-storey homes that had never been seen before in Puchong. They boast a 3,100-sq ft built-up area and priced from RM500,000.
These houses with a unique length of 100ft allow a family ample space for recreation. The Garden Terraces come with an outdoor jacuzzi that overlooks a 20ft garden, enabling one to create one’s very own private spa.
The concept was so well received that registered buyers snapped up nearly all of the pre-launched units during a private viewing.
Who would have thought that a disused mining lake in Puchong could have such an appeal to house buyers? The Lake Edge has enhanced the overall image of Puchong.
And now YTL Land’s latest project, the RM600mil Lake Fields in Sungei Besi (its fourth project in the Klang Valley), is also poised to transform another ex-mining lake into a successful residential enclave. Syarikat Pembenaan Yeoh Tiong Lay Sdn Bhd (a wholly-owned subsidiary of YTL Land) is developing the 184-acre leasehold project.