High-rise units? My personal reasons to getting one.

Until today, I have never purchased a landed property. I do love landed properties but I prefer to buy the strata-titled ones, especially developments with a common clubhouse within a gated and guarded scheme. Today, these are getting very expensive. I am just a working professional with a wife and two kids. I must manage my finances. 🙂 So, my choice would be a high-rise unit. Within a good high-rise development, my kids get to enjoy the swimming pool and the playground, all within the safety and comfort of the development. As for me, the gym is my favourite place. I reduced my weight by 8kg just by going to the gym! There are 6 considerations from my personal view on reasons for high-rise units.
Common, greenery and well-designed spaces. Common areas must have have sufficient lighting (preferably natural during the day) and greenery and it should be well-designed (modern and feel spacious). High ceilings would be a must because we do not want to feel ‘trapped.’ This provides a comfortable environment for owners to sit down and chit-chat with friends and families. They could even throw parties for loved ones and invite lots of friends or families over.

 

 
Sufficient amenities. I personally prefer to buy into a development where the focus is to provide sufficient amenities for my family’s comfort but not too much that I am charged higher maintenance fees but may not enjoy all of them and with each passing year, the cost of repairs from wear and tear may become a huge burden to the development. A swimming pool, a gym and even a lounge would be the three most important ones for me. My father loves to read in a well-lit area during the day instead of being cooped up inside the home.
Density. Many of my friends told me that everyone should aim at low density developments wherever possible. I agree and I would like to add that the number of units should still be large enough because I do not wish for too few units which meant that the number and quality of the amenities may need to be reduced while the maintenance charges would go up. My personal thoughts would be that anything below 500 units would be low density enough today while anything below 400 is considered ‘pre-luxury’ already.

 
Connectivity. The crazy jams of today, especially within mature neighbourhoods are going to get worse. We may not want to be like my colleague who has to drive for over 30 minutes just to reach the main road from her home. The distance? 2km. It is thus very advantageous to buy into an area with expressways nearby, LRT stations today and even MRT stations in the future. Expressways allow us to still have the advantage of driving when needed even with LRT / MRT stations nearby.

 
Family centric. Let’s be honest. It is not always rosy when one has to stay with the family after getting married. However, staying far away is a no-no for me. I personally believe not staying together helps minimize conflicts but I hate to be staying too far away. Usually, the older generation would have been staying in a mature neighbourhood for a long time. Getting them to move and leave all their usual routines and friends would be tough. Thus, for those who wants to stay nearby their parents but not together, think of getting a high-rise unit nearby their home.
Location. (Shopping and Food) A mall, especially a big one of 1,000,000 sq ft of retail space or higher appeals to me a lot. As parking will get ever more expensive, how about one within walking distance? I love window shopping and my wife and I love to do grocery shopping together. Development within a mature neighourhood meanwhile means easy access to many good local food. The local fare continues to have its advantages even if I love air-conditioned restaurants within the malls too. Please do not buy just any development with a mall built by a developer who is not known to be a successful mall operator.

 
Two weekends ago, I visited a show unit for UNA. The development is by Selangor Dredging Berhad, an award-winning developer. Taking inspiration from the early New York skyscrapers, UNA, located next to Sunway Velocity is a 46-storey Service Apartment, a potential upcoming prime property within the Jalan Peel / Cochrane locality. Located nearby are IKEA Cheras, My Town Shopping Centre and of course Aeon Maluri, then known as Jaya Jusco and one of the earliest Jaya Jusco to be established in Malaysia. This location certainly suits me as it is just 300m away to Maluri MRT station. If that is not enough, Maluri LRT station is also located nearby. What caught my attention is when the sales person mentioned that owners at UNA can potentially get to Singapore from here without the need to get into a car. Imagine getting on a MRT and transit to MRT2 line (expected completion 2022) at TRX station which is 2 stations away and head to Bandar Malaysia. A proposed High Speed Rail station is to be built at Bandar Malaysia which will connect to Singapore. That’s just a snapshot of what connectivity means from UNA. The connectivity to the various networks of rail lines creates convenience to commute to most parts of Klang Valley. I believe this will shape how people commute in future.
As for the units, built-up area ranges from 807sf 2-bedroom unit to 1,356sf dual key unit. I fancy the idea of Dual Key unit where there is a potential of hosting our elderly parent(s) and having their own private space complete with its own pantry and bathroom yet being close enough to us. That said, renting it out is also a potential option for additional income to support the installment. The units are partly furnished with kitchen cabinets, electrical hood and hob as well as glassed shower screen to the masterbath.

 
Although the building looks architecturally subtle from the outside, the architectural intent on the inside are impressive especially the 3-storey ceiling height of the sky deck with coffered ceiling which looks like an inverted pyramid (surely something to brag about when you bring friends to visit the development when it is completed). The sky deck also hosts 2 canopy dining with bbq pits for family and friends get-together. For bigger functions, the sky hall could cater up to approximately 100 pax with cooking facilities available. For a moment of quiet contemplation or a more private chat, head to the 2-tiered rooftop garden where the seating are set amongst the greenery with views to the KL skyline. This is certainly going to be my favourite hideaway spot (when I need my time!!).
For regular facilities such as the lap pool, children’s pool, children’s playground and gym, they are all located on level 9. Did I mention that they also have a hydrotherapy pool equipped with hydro jet spray that provide soothing water massage after a long day. There are also various co-working spaces available if there is a need to organize small meetings with colleagues or business partners with printing facilities available at the management office during working hours. If all that is too formal, just hang out and catch up with family and friends at the various spaces.
After a sneak peek into the dual-key show unit and coupled with ‘your architectural masterpiece in the city’ features at UNA, I certainly want a piece of it. So, those of you who wish to get a piece of UNA, hurry on to their show unit to have a look or call 017 294 3477 or 03-27873218.