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FOLLOWING the success of its RM156 million high-rise development Avantas Residences in Old Klang Road, Kuala Lumpur, CPI Land Sdn Bhd is working on its second project — a mixed-use development in Mantin, Negeri Sembilan.
Serintin, an amalgam of “serene” and “Mantin”, is a 26-acre freehold development that will offer 371 landed residences and 21 shopoffices. It has a gross development value of RM200 million.
The first phase is slated for launch at end-March with construction to start at the same time. The whole development is slated for completion in three to five years’ time.
The company was started by four friends in 2010, three of whom are directors, namely Yeap Teck Hooi, Tan Joe Hoe and Chung Shan Tat. Yeap and Tan are engineers while Chung owns several businesses in the country and abroad.
With more than 20 years of engineering experience, Yeap oversees the company and drives its projects from inception to completion while Tan and Chung handles the financial matters.
Yeap and Tan spoke to City & Country recently about what Serintin has to offer as well as what the company has in the pipeline.
Bringing the best of both worlds together
Serintin is a guarded neighbourhood scheme with a guardhouse and anti-climb perimeter fencing. It also has plenty of green areas. “There will be a three-acre green space comprising a 1.5-acre central park with a multipurpose court for basketball and badminton, a children’s playground and a recreational pond with a jogging track and a viewing deck,” Yeap says.
He was pleased to find that the Nilai Municipal Council encouraged guarded neighbourhood schemes. “Residents at Serintin can enjoy the same benefits of stratified gated and guarded schemes but at a much lower cost, as the maintenance work largely rests on the shoulders of the local council for things such as playgrounds, roads, drainage, waste collection and street and compound lights,” he explains.
“In short, this development offers the best of both worlds — the benefits of a gated and guarded scheme but with minimal maintenance costs,” Tan enthuses.
He adds that the company will help set up a residents’ association, which will then be responsible for the appointment of security guards and the upkeep of the guardhouse and perimeter fencing.
The first phase comprises 137 double-storey terraced houses and shop-offices. According to Yeap, the residential units cost RM200 psf, so the indicative selling price of a typical 20ft by 65ft, 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom house with a built-up of around 2,000 sq ft is RM400,000. The units are fully extended to the back to achieve a bigger built-up.
In the second phase, more product variations will be offered, including three-storey terraced houses, townhouses and double-storey terraced houses with an internal courtyard.
Yeap says those who are interested in the new courtyard homes can visit the sales gallery at the development site in Mantin, which showcases the dining, kitchen, terrace and courtyard sections in actual dimensions. According to him, it was difficult to sell the new courtyard concept on paper as most people felt that a double-storey terraced house would be too small to have an internal courtyard. But those who visited the sales gallery liked what they saw, he explains.
Meanwhile, of the 110 townhouse units, 50 will be low cost and located outside the guarded compound along with the shopoffices.
“We are placing the low-cost units outside the guarded compound because the maintenance fee for the guarded community may be burdensome for some buyers. Moreover, the low-cost units are located near the shopoffices, which will be convenient for the residents,” explains Tan.
The row of shopoffices will comprise 19 intermediate double-storey units with built-ups of 2,800 to 4,100 sq ft and two 3-storey corner units measuring 8,000 sq ft, which will have lifts. Indicative prices of the intermediate units range from RM880,000 to RM1.3 million while the corner units cost RM2.4 million. These shop-offices are sold as individual lots.
“These shops have good frontage, and the façade is trendy and new. We hope such new elements will drive traffic to the area. As the shops are located on Jalan Mantin, which is a major road linked to a network of highways, there will be a steady flow of traffic, which is important for the shops to be successful.”
The company is looking at tenants such as food and beverage outlets, banks, convenience stores, showrooms and offices.
The shopoffices have garnered bookings of 30% while 20 buyers have registered for the terraced houses.
Inspired by nature
The directors describe the development as “a park within a park”, pointing to the three acres of green space within the development.
“The site is naturally blessed with an abundance of greenery in its surrounding, which gives it fresh and cool air, especially in the morning and evening,” Yeap says.
He adds that residents will have views of Banjaran Titiwangsa and it is common to see thick fog at the bottom of the hills after a spell of rain.
The natural terrain of the project site, which has a gentle slope of 10m, is an asset, he says, “giving the development an overall highland feel”.
To make use of the natural land contour, the houses are aligned in a north-south direction, which according to Tan, is one of the passive green features they have adopted that will not allow direct sunlight into the house, thereby reducing dependency on air-conditioning.
He explains that there are two approaches to eco-friendly buildings — active and passive. While an active approach requires mechanical means, a passive and more subtle approach takes into consideration the orientation of the building, placement of windows as well as the selection of construction material.
Tan adds that natural lighting is enhanced by the use of glass panels, thereby reducing the usage of electricity. “For instance, we normally find that the staircase area is dark, so we made sure there is a tall window there to allow natural light in,” he explains.
Location and market
Serintin sits along the main road that connects Kajang and Seremban and is a 45minute drive from Kuala Lumpur. The sales gallery is situated at the entrance of the site, from which one can see the guardhouse and the earthworks being carried out inside the development.
Says Tan, “It is quite uncommon for property developers in Mantin to carry out large-scale earthworks prior to the sales or build such a nice sales gallery, so we have been receiving inquiries from people who drive by the site.”
Yeap says upgrading works is being carried out to expand the two-lane Jalan Mantin outside the development into five lanes.
“As Jalan Mantin is one of the major roads connecting Kajang and Semenyih to Mantin, and is quite a busy trunk road, we will expand it, especially in front of our development. We are working with the authorities and road safety professionals to widen the road to its maximum capacity,” Tan says.
Yeap shares that the company had been eyeing the site for several years but studies showed that the tract was not favourable then. However, things began to change when more developments in Kuala Lumpur succumbed to escalating price pressure and it became more difficult to obtain loans. This triggered the “southern wave”, marking the beginning of the “KL south” regime.
“As we had done sufficient studies and the land was available, we were able to enter the market sooner than many others,” he says.
According to Yeap, the land belongs to the Chung family and two of them — Thomas Chung Shan Kwang and Chung Shan Tat — are substantial shareholders of CPI Land. Thomas is also chairman of private investment company Wang Zheng Bhd.
The directors believe Serintin will be well received as it offers landed homes within a guarded neighbourhood at affordable prices.
“We expect strong demand from buyers looking for quality homes without incurring a heavy financial commitment, and we expect more interest from those in places like Sri Kembangan, Balakong, Cheras, Kajang, Semenyih, Nilai, Seremban and of course, the immediate neighbourhoods of Mantin and Pajam,” says Yeap.
Although there are several new developments in the vicinity, some by major players, he is confident that Serintin will offer a good alternative with its unique product and prices. He notes that other similar landed developments in the area are 20% to 30% more expensive.
Some neighbouring developments are Pelangi Heights (approximately 3km from Serintin), Nada Alam (5km), EcoMajestic (10km) and EcoHill (11km).
Lean and mean
CPI Land will continue to focus on innovation, prudent planning, creating value and seeking opportunities for joint ventures, Yeap says.
According to him, the company has signed a joint-venture agreement with the owner of a five-acre tract in Balakong, Selangor, for a high-rise residential project. The project has an estimated gross development value of RM160 million and will comprise 257 units, including dual-key homes and low-rise villas with private lifts.
Yeap says the company has also gone overseas. It is applying for a planning permit to build landed homes within an established residential suburb. The “modest” Melbourne project is worth approximately AU$10 million (RM29.6 million).
“We are using it as a stepping stone to lead us to more sizeable undertakings that will appeal to Malaysians who are following us and are seeking opportunities to invest offshore,” he explains.
CPI Land’s first project, Avantas Residences, which was launched in May 2013, is fully sold. The keys to the serviced residences should be handed over to the buyers next month.
“When we launched Avantas before the general election, we were told that wasn’t a good time as everyone would be too focused on the election and sales would be slow due to political uncertainty and instability. However, we held on to the principle that there is never a best time to launch, and as long as we are confident of our product, we would go ahead. Indeed, we got a very good response and managed to sell 70% of the project within two months,” says Tan.
“We believe that as long as we get the product right, people will like it and will buy it,” he adds.
Yap recalls that it was a challenge for CPI Land to get banks approve to finance their first project as it had no track record, but it was fortunate to get the support and trust of AmBank.
Unperturbed by the uncertainties in the local property market, Yeap is confident that CPI Land’s products will appeal to owner-occupiers, especially those with young families.
This article first appeared in City & Country, a pullout of The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on Feb 8, 2016. Subscribe here for your personal copy.
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