Sunday, December 30, 2012

Local plan: Taman Putra Prima, X2 Residency, The Peninsular Puchong


 
 
 
 
 
 
Although this local plan is not the latest plan, and subject to change in the future, but this will give you a rough idea of how this place going to be developed.

Best wishes to everyone in 2013!
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Collapsed bridge in Puchong put motorists in danger













IT was a rocky year for road users this year with collapsed roads and bridges in Semenyih, Hulu Langat and Sepang.
In Puchong, a bridge along Jalan Pulau Meranti near Masjid Meranti that links Kampung Pulau Meranti to Cyberjaya, Putrajaya and Puchong has partially collapsed, cutting off a key access road for thousands of residents in the area.
Many motorists use the route to avoid paying toll for a highway.
The hole was estimated to be around 3.5m wide and 3m deep.
Residents said numerous complaints to the village chief about tell-tale cracks and small holes found along the bridge was made as far back as six months ago.
Residents said they complained to the Public Works Department (PWD) and the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) five months before the incident, when they noticed erosion on the river bank where the bridge was sitting on.
The departments required six months to investigate the collapse and carry out repair works.
A temporary bridge was installed.
To make matters worse, an erosion occurred in Jalan Desaria, Puchong, not far from Jalan Pulau Meranti, a week after the bridge had collapsed.
Sungai Rasau overflowed during Hari Raya Haji on Nov 5, causing water levels to rise to knee-high.
Within 10 minutes, Jalan Desaria was submerged.
Taman Kipark management office had written a letter to the Sepang Municipal Council and DID about the erosion.
However, DID cited a lack of funds as the reason for not fixing the river’s embankment.
Meanwhile in Hulu Langat, a section of Jalan Sungai Tekali was closed after one of its lanes caved in.
This happened less than two weeks after the landslide at the Ampang Look Out Point, which was less than 10km away.
The road, used as an alternative route to Semenyih, has caved 100m to 150m in depth.
A few days later, a road collapsed near the Semenyih dam following a minor landslide in Jalan Kechau.
Five people, who were travelling along the road when the incident occurred, narrowly escaped death.
Related news: http://putraprimapuchong.blogspot.com/2012/10/jalan-pulau-meranti-closed-after.html

Source:TheStar

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Bolton to replicate Puchong success at Sungai Long










PETALING JAYA (Dec 25, 2012): Bolton Bhd, which is targeting RM1 billion in sales within two years, wants to replicate its success in Puchong with its proposed 252.9ha township in Sungai Long.
"Sungai Long is now ready to be changed, like what Puchong was 10 years ago. As you know, Cheras is quite stressed out, it is busting at its seams already and because Cheras began development easily 30 years ago, it grew continuously but infrastructure was not there from day one," said its executive director Chan Wing Kwong.
"Nowadays, it is different, people want better planning and better environment. Sungai Long is a big opportunity for us to do something special again. We'll not only transform the area but become market leaders in terms of trends and pricing," he told SunBiz in an interview recently.
Chan said it is now inviting planners, both local and foreign, to submit proposals, and it will evaluate the proposals and fine tune the numbers before introducing the concept to the market.
He said with the sizeable piece of land, plans will definitely include commercial, institutional and a mix of residential products but the percentage of the mix is yet to be decided.
"It will take us easily 10 to 15 years to develop Sungai Long. The early gross development value (GDV) is RM8 billion to RM12 billion, which will anchor our future earnings.
"We're still looking for more land but we're lucky because while many developers have to continuously look for land to replenish landbank, we've had sizeable landbank already to anchor the whole group's performance while the rest of the land that comes in are like icing on the cake that will give us the additional 'kick' in earnings," he added.
Bolton is looking to start work on Sungai Long some two years from now. The land, which is currently quarry land, was given to the developer under a quarry lease 20 years ago and Bolton has now bought over the land.
Chan said it is confident in transforming the area, similar to what it achieved with its 121.4ha Taman Tasik Prima in Puchong which began in 2001.
When it first started the project with the first phase of link houses in 2001, the area was quite "in the backwaters" with products such as single story residential and industrial units.
"It was not exactly the nicest part of town but Bolton saw an opportunity there. With 121.4ha, we were quite confident that we would be able to transform the whole area.
"Over the years, we've been building a lot of landed properties there. About five years ago, we started doing the townhouses and that market was doing well, selling at a good price, which gave us the confidence to change our plan," he said.
Taman Tasik Prima's initial plan included mainly residential units and limited commercial units, all surrounding a 80.9ha lake with a GDV of RM500 million.
"We redesigned the remaining land and a bulk of it was The Wharf. That was about 6ha with a few components – three-storey shops, flexi suites (2-in-1 units,
can be used for residential and commercial) and all share a multi-level carpark. On top of the carpark are three condominium blocks," he said, adding that there are a total of 1,200 condominium units.
These units are connected to a 530,000 sq ft shopping mall via a sky bridge. The neighbourhood mall supports daily necessities with eateries and a supermarket. The whole component, named The Wharf, has a GDV of RM600 million.
"From RM500 million, the entire GDV has almost tripled to RM1.4 billion after the changes we made in the plans. We will complete the whole project in three to four years' time, but even with completion, there are still pockets of land on which we plan to build different products.
"Because we were so aggressive in the area, we became a trendsetter there. Everyone looks at us in terms of setting the trend and what products to sell.
Secondly, we are also the price leaders," said Chan.
According to him, purchasers have been enjoying healthy capital appreciation of between 20% to 25% on a yearly basis while rental yields are also increasing.
Units launched earlier at RM350,000 are now selling at RM600,000 and while the first launch of three-storey shops four years ago was at an average price of RM750,000 to RM800,000, the latest shops are now sold at RM2.5 million.
"A lot of people who buy our properties come from surrounding areas like USJ, the upgraders and they are mostly from the upper middle income," he said.
Already in the last phases of Taman Tasik Prima, Bolton is now looking for more land in the vicinity.
"We have made a few offers but the sellers are holding out for better prices. We can be patient because there are other places that we can invest in," he added.
Its current projects are located in Kuala Lumpur and Penang. It also recently announced its maiden project in Sabah, a joint venture with Mobuild Sdn Bhd to develop luxury condominiums in Kota Kinabalu.

Source:TheSundaily

LRT extension to be ready by 2015

KUALA LUMPUR: The light rail transit extension project will only be ready in 2015.

Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd group managing director, Datuk Shahril Mokhtar, said it was originally scheduled to be completed in 2014, but faced a setback due to land acquisition issues in Puchong.
"The project is now 30 per cent completed, with main works carried out including relocation of utilities, construction of rail guideway and box girder (beam). Despite this, we try to manage the cost within the budget," he said.
The disputed land is located within the approved alignment at Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong (LDP) next to SRJK (T) Castlefield and squatter houses there.
The RM7 billion project commenced early this year with the Kelana Jaya line extension.
On the company's plan, Shahril said a major corporate restructuring within the Prasarana top management would take place next month. He, however, did not divulge the details.

Land swap done to help school














SHAH ALAM: A vernacular school in Puchong is dismayed that some parties are attempting to sabotage a land swap carried out by the state for its expansion.
“We are very upset and disappointed,” Chai Yoon Peng, who leads SJK (C) Sin Ming’s board of directors, told reporters on Wednesday.
A local MIC politician had accused Selangor of carrying out a “lopsided” land deal when it exchanged a nine-acre state land with a private developer for a 1.8-acre commercial land next to SJK (C) Sin Ming at Batu 16, Puchong.
“The state is (just) trying to help the school,” said a distressed Chai at the press conference.
The school could not afford to purchase the 1.8-acre land directly from landowner Bukit Hitam Development Sdn Bhd, which had been valued at RM7.45 million (at the rate of RM95 per sq ft) by TD Aziz Sdn Bhd.
As a result, the state offered to swap a nineacre unconverted land in Bandar Bukit Puchong, valued at RM25 million (at the rate of RM63.77 per sq ft) by TD Aziz Sdn Bhd, with Bukit Hitam Development.
On top of giving up the RM7.45 million commercial land, senior executive councillor Teresa Kok said the developer also has to contribute RM25 million to the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) to build a sports complex.
The deal was approved by the MPSJ full board in July 2011 and the Selangor executive council in November 2011.
Kok estimated that Bukit Hitam Development would have to pay anotherRM6.25 million to the state to convert the nine-acre land to industrial status and invest another RM6.75 million on infrastructure.
She pointed out that the land swap is hardly a sweet deal for the developer.
On Monday, English daily The Malay Mail had published on its front page MIC Puchong Perdana chief and former MPSJ councillor B Awthar Singh’s allegation that the land swap was “lopsided”.
SJK (C) Sin Ming director Sia Lian Sem is now worried that Bukit Hitam Development Sdn Bhd may pull out of the deal due to the bad press. The developer had signed a memorandum of understanding with MPSJ but had yet to ink the final agreement with the local council.
Sia said the school had already raised RM8 million from public donations to build a multi-purpose hall and new classrooms on the1.8-acre land.
The new facilities will enable the primary school to accommodate another 1,000 students on top of its existing 1,800 pupils.
Construction had begun in March and the work is scheduled to be completed in mid-2013. “It’s already 50% completed. What will we do if the developer refuses to swap the land now?” said Sia.
MPSJ councilor Ng Sze Hang, who was also present at the press conference, urged MIC and other Barisan Nasional component parties to stop spreading misinformation on the land swap.

Source: Selangor Times

New interchange along LDP











PUCHONG: A new interchange to ease worsening traffic congestion from the Puchong Barat Toll towards Klang will be opened along the Damansara-Puchong Highway (LDP) from 12am this Saturday ( Dec 22).
This new traffic management system, called the Subang Jaya South Interchange, consists of a 500m elevated bridge built alongside the existing highway.
Previously, there was no direct route towards Klang and all motorists hadto go through Subang Jaya, thus causing jams along the LDP.
“Before this there were only three lanes from Klang to the toll plaza but none going the other direction.
“Now we added on three more lanes on the other side of the bridge, heading towards Klang,” said MCT Consortium Bhd head of architecture department Shawn Chong.
Only two lanes will be open this Saturday. It is scheduled to be fully opened in February.
Construction of the RM60 million bridge started in October last year.
Chong urged motorists heading towards Subang Jaya to keep left while those going to Klang, Shah Alam and Hicom should stay right onto the new interchange.
“We will also try our best to create awareness by hanging bunting on pedestrian bridges and banners on streetlight posts along the LDP highway before the interchange,” he said.
Motorists passing through the toll plaza will also be given flyers informing them of the change.
The new interchange will also cater to the upcoming 77 acres mixed commercial development called One City which will be fully completed in 2018. .
The MCT development will include office blocks, a shopping mall and retail shops.
Joining him at the press conference was Lingkaran Trans Kota Sdn Bhd head of engineering Francisco Anthony, who explained that the cost of this bridge is funded by MCT as part of the infrastructure works to compliment their new development.

Source: Selangor Times