Yam: Expressionz is tailored for young urban professionals

FIVE years after the Lim brothers Aik Hoe and Aik Kiat started Exsim Development Sdn Bhd, the property development company is ready to debut its 1.12-acre development Expressionz Professional Suites in the Kuala Lumpur city centre.

Exsim began life during the 2008/09 global financial crisis when the Lim brothers, whose family has been in the timber industry for four generations, noticed that people were selling their land to weather the storm. The brothers bought up the land at good prices.

Since then, Exsim has launched four industrial projects under its Nouvelle brand — Nouvelle Kota Damansara with a gross development value (GDV) of RM70 million, Nouvelle Kemuning Business Park (RM65 million), Nouvelle Industrial Park 2 (RM55 million) in Shah Alam and Nouvelle Lot 10 (RM50 million) in Kota Damansara.

It also started handing over units in its maiden residential development — Green Building Index-certified condominium The Treez in Bukit Jalil, Selangor — in December last year. Covering 2.6 acres, The Treez fronts the 80-acre Bukit Jalil International Park and has a GDV of RM190 million.

Exsim’s other residential projects include the RM280 million Twin Arkz in Bukit Jalil and the RM330 million The Leafz in Sungai Besi. The former was launched in 2012 and the latter in 2013.

According to Michael Yam, Exsim’s sales and marketing director, The Treez’s units are going for RM680 to RM710 psf on the secondary market, which represents an increase of about 36% to 42% since 2010.

Yam says Exsim will be handing over a project a year in the next three years, including The Leafz (early 2015), Twin Arkz (early 2016) and The Petalz in Jalan Kelang Lama (2017).

An artist’s impression of Expressionz

Striving to be innovative and different

Located off Jalan Tun Razak, Expressionz has a GDV of RM548 million and sits on a leasehold commercial parcel that was acquired in 2006.

“This is a lifestyle development tailored for young urban professionals, which is why we are calling it Expressionz Professional Suites at Tun Razak,” remarks Yam as he shows us around the swanky showroom in Jalan Yap Kwan Seng. “We have always striven to be innovative, to be different.”

Expressionz comprises two towers — Tower A (52 storeys) and Tower B (42 storeys) — and according to Yam, Tower A is considered the “premium block” as it not only faces the Petronas Twin Towers, but also the orientation and layout of its units cater for those who plan to occupy them.

All 449 units of the development will be fully furnished, and reflective of the company’s timber roots, their interior will showcase a fair bit of wood furnishing.

In end-March, Exsim held a preview of both towers for its customers and VIPs. According to Yam, as at April 23, the take-up stood at 60% while the selling price started at RM895,000.

Yam says the developer’s target market is vast, including young and urban professionals, small and medium enterprise entrepreneurs, Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) applicants and locals who wish to live in the heart of the city.

Expressionz will have four whole floors of facilities located on Levels 8, 21, 41 and 48 and offers 231 dual-key, 39 one-bedroom, 81 two-bedroom, 41 two-bedroom + one-utility-room units and 54 lofts and one penthouse.

Tower A will consist mainly of the loft duplexes and two to three-bedroom units with built-ups starting at 1,300 sq ft while Tower B will only have the 650 to 860 sq ft dual-key units. The penthouse is not for sale.

Facilities at Level 8 include an infinity pool, a sky dining area and kitchen, a reading lounge, a sky garden, an indoor playground as well as a water-themed playground.

“A unique feature of Expressionz is that in addition to open areas and the usual facilities, we have a meeting hub on Level 21,” says Yam, adding that all the residents can use its presentation hall, meeting room, business lounge and a multipurpose meeting room with furniture and equipment that can be rearranged to suit the user’s needs.

Another sky lounge and dining area will be nestled on Level 41. Amongst the rooftop facilities available on Level 48 are a green lawn with artificial turf for outdoor functions and a double volume sky gym and pool.

Following the KL preview for its priority purchasers, the developer will launch the product in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore through tie-ups with foreign real estate agencies.

Exsim expects to complete Expressionz by the second quarter of 2018.

Top: A pool is among the many facilities on Level 48 of Tower A
Bottom: Reflective of the company’s timber roots, the units will showcase a fair bit of wood furnishing

Aiding the owners

In an effort to beef up its customer service and help in its quest to be innovative and different, Exsim has set up a new corporate leasing division to cater for the buyers of all its projects.

One of the main tasks of the division is to help sift through rental prospects. The division will also be on hand to provide advice to its purchasers as to whether it would be a better decision to rent or sell the units (if the capital appreciation is very good).

According to Yam, the division will also liaise with a foreign network to help the owners of the units rent them out to foreign travellers and for the short term.

“These services will be free of charge,” says Yam, adding that they are also part of Exsim’s goal to consistently strive “to be innovative, to be different” to garner more fans.

The developer will also outsource shuttle facilities to take the residents of Expressionz to major shopping centres in KL, such as Pavilion in Bukit Bintang, Suria KLCC and, in the future, Tun Razak Exchange. The shuttle service will be free for residents. There will also be a concierge service on the ground floor, which Yam believes will add value to the development.

In an interview with The Edge Financial Daily in mid-2013, the developer said it had plans to launch 11 residential and industrial developments covering about 90 acres in the Klang Valley within the next three years.

At the moment, Exsim has only one piece of commercial land in KL. The less than one acre is located in Jalan Yap Kwan Seng, near Megan Avenue. Later this year, it is set to launch The Rainz in Bukit Jalil.

“We are in the midst of acquiring more land in the city centre. We are always looking for opportunities to buy land, especially in the Klang Valley,” says Yam.


This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on May 12 - 18, 2014.

 

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