Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in City & Country, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on December 13, 2021 - December 19, 2021

Bukit Jalil first came into the limelight when it was chosen as the location for the National Sports Complex, the venue of the 1998 Commonwealth Games. Prior to that, it was a plantation and part of it was a rubbish dump site.

Since the global sports event, developments there have been booming. Many residential and commercial properties have been built, and it also houses several educational institutions, such as Asia Pacific University (APU, formerly known as APIIT); International Medical University (IMU) and TPM (Technology Park Malaysia) College.

After more than 20 years as one of the two international zones under the KL Structure Plan (2020), the area remains attractive owing to the offerings there, and it is currently seeing a second wave of development. A major ongoing project is Bukit Jalil City by Malton Bhd and Ho Hup Group, which houses Pavilion Bukit Jalil that officially opened on Dec 3.

Other upcoming projects in the area include Bukit Jalil Sentral by Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd, IMU Hospital as well as KL Wellness City.

Long before the development of the National Sports Complex, Berjaya Land Bhd became a pioneer developer in Bukit Jalil when it obtained approval for the master plan of its 400-acre freehold tract in 1985. It owns the Bukit Jalil Golf & Country Resort.

Other developers active in the area include Exsim Group, Trinity Group, SkyWorld Development Sdn Bhd, Aset Kayamas Sdn Bhd, WZR Property Sdn Bhd and Meraki Land Sdn Bhd.

Bukit Jalil is easily accessible to other parts of the Klang Valley with the Shah Alam Expressway, Maju Expressway (MEX) and Lebuhraya Bukit Jalil. It is also served by four LRT Sri Petaling Line stations — Bukit Jalil, Sri Petaling, Awan Besar and Muhibbah.

Property experts say the rents in Bukit Jalil were generally holding firm before the Covid-19 pandemic, as can be seen in the steady take-up of new apartments completed in 2018 to early 2020, such as The Park Sky Residence, The Rainz and SkyLuxe On The Park. The target market, they say, has always been the upper middle class given the price setting.

Knight Frank Malaysia associate director (agency) Kelvin Yip notes that the rental market in Bukit Jalil during the pre-Covid period had been growing rapidly and is currently seeing renewed interest and growing demand.

“The tenant profile has been local families, young professionals as well as local and foreign students. There have not been many changes in the tenant profile. They like Bukit Jalil for the ease of accessibility and good connectivity via highways and public transport (bus and train); as well as the supporting amenities and facilities there,” he says.

Steady rental market for residential

According to Metro REC Sdn Bhd managing director Ng Weng Yew, most owners are still holding to the previous rental rate for their current renewals. There has been no increment. However, some may resort to slight rental discounts to retain their tenants, while owners of vacant units may give more rebates to entice prospective tenants.

Yip: Yields have generally been maintained for the past two to three years (Photo by Knight Frank)

“There were reports of turnover/termination of tenancies in certain apartments popular with university students such as Vista Commonwealth last year, when the country was under a strict Movement Control Order (MCO). Such occurrences have somehow stabilised since. Yields have generally been maintained for the past two to three years, which is about 4% to 5% for strata high-rise residential properties and 3% to 3.5% for landed residential units,” he says.

“There are many upgraders from older and mature areas such as Sri Petaling, Puchong and Seri Kembangan, who are moving to Bukit Jalil, and high-rise residential units there tend to have a myriad of condo facilities, while the landed residential units have bigger built-ups and contemporary designs.”

Knight Frank’s Yip notes that average rental rates for high-rise residential properties in Bukit Jalil range from RM1.5 to RM2.5 psf per month, depending on factors such as which scheme it is, unit size, floor level, condition of unit and level of furnishing.

While both high-rise and landed residential properties in Bukit Jalil have been popular among tenants, he observes that the current preference in Bukit Jalil is condominiums with a balcony, study area and good internet connectivity.

Ng concurs, adding that he sees a fair share of young families moving into Bukit Jalil as tenants in recent years, with a substantial number of them having a professional background.

“As more high-rise residential schemes are mushrooming over the past few years in Bukit Jalil, with a number of these new units less than 1,000 sq ft, new tenants in this locality tend to be younger professionals, mostly with small growing families with the need for public transport convenience,” he says.

Ng: The nearby Technology Park Malaysia will definitely pull in the professional populace with a high-tech background (Photo by Metro REC)

Strong rental market for commercial

Metro REC’s Ng sees sustained demand for commercial properties in Bukit Jalil over the past few years, and that generally, they achieved a satisfactory occupancy rate at above 70%.

The 4-storey Jalil Link terraced shopoffices, which were each sold for RM1.8 million in the mid-2000s, are now going for about RM4.3 million. He notes that these shopoffices are still holding “very strongly” despite the economic challenges posed by the pandemic.

According to Ng, The Link 2 by Berjaya, completed about three years ago, is currently almost 80% taken up. 

The take-up for Aked Esplanad, which has 4-storey shopoffices, is also good. The Park signature shopoffices in Bukit Jalil City have in recent months seen new tenants taking up commercial space due to the opening of Aurora Place and Pavilion Bukit Jalil.

“Even the older 2-storey terraced shopoffices in Jalan 16/155C and Jalan 17/155C, which are not as popular due to the secluded location, have seen most of the units occupied. The Earth @ Bukit Jalil (4-storey shopoffices opposite Pavilion Bukit Jalil on Lebuhraya Bukit Jalil) is perhaps the only commercial location with higher vacancy rate currently due to the impact of the lockdown and the movement of tenants into Aurora Place and The Park signature office,” he says.

He adds that, generally, the monthly rent for ground-floor shops in Bukit Jalil ranges from RM3.3 to RM5 psf, while the upper floor offices are RM1.3 to RM2 psf.

Prospects

Generally, property experts are positive about the prospects of Bukit Jalil in terms of its rental market given the good connectivity and accessibility, the available infrastructure as well as the general sustaining demand for properties there.

Yip foresees an increase in demand for the rental market in Bukit Jalil as commercial activities increase there. There is also a potential increase in population due to the rapid pace of incoming supply.

Ng shares the same sentiments, adding that the opening of Pavilion Bukit Jalil will bring a new retail dimension and crowd into Bukit Jalil. He says it will be interesting to observe how this mall, with a massive 1.8 million sq ft of retail space, will unfold and transform the area in near future.

“The nearby Technology Park Malaysia (TPM), which will see the development of a Phase 3 next-generation digital and AI [artificial intelligence] hub, will definitely pull in the professional populace with a high-tech background. Therefore, we believe the existing mid-upper population there and the potential spillover of working crowds as tenants and buyers from TPM will be the catalyst for a positive growth and development in Bukit Jalil in the foreseeable future,” he says.

“This shall bode well for the rental market too. In the medium term, there will be increasing vacant units that require longer waiting periods prior to fill-up but we foresee there will certainly be no huge downward adjustment in rents. The rental market in Bukit Jalil could be better off and more resilient during this time compared to the secondary sales market.”

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