The sense of community at The Park Residences 1 was omnipresent as the property manager, staff of LaurelCap Sdn Bhd, the judges for The Edge Malaysia Best Managed and Sustainable Property Awards 2022 (BMSPA) and City & Country gathered to review the property, with residents raving about it proudly.

Despite being built more than 10 years ago, the façade of The Park Residences 1 remains pristine, sharp and clean, with almost everything — from its lively koi fish ponds and lush landscaping to its properly ventilated gym and facilities — appearing to be well-preserved.

Thrilled that the development has won an award for the first time — the Silver award in the 10 Years and Above Multiple-owned Strata Residential category — LaurelCap director and head of property management Jerry Lee Wei Keat recalls his first encounter with the residents, and his experience managing the property thus far.

“When I attended my first interview with the committee members, I was pleasantly surprised to find that they were all very courteous and down to earth,” says Lee at LaurelCap’s office in Subang Jaya.

“I also felt that they were a very hands-on committee, and worked well together as a team. The committee members were supportive and reasonable in dealing with matters,” he says.

It is evident that communication has been a key factor in The Park Residence 1’s excellent maintenance. “They (the residents and property manager) are all in harmony; we have certainly found balance working with one another. We regularly engage with them, and have committee meetings on a monthly basis.”

Other than that, the company has also organised festive celebrations, decorative measures involving staff and residents, briefings and seminars such as Child Safety Awareness talks, First Aid demonstration by the Red Crescent Society, as well as owners’ participation in alleviating the water crisis in 2020.

With its apparent upkeep, the maintenance fee inclusive of sinking fund has been kept strikingly low at 20 sen psf. “To us, it is a matter of prioritising, optimising the costs and saving energy where we can. There is also a matter of achieving an understanding with the residents; for example, how often they would like the blocks to be cleaned and at what cost.”

“Most importantly, we prepared in advance, and listened to the needs of the committee members and residents, who, in general, had reasonable demands that could easily be met. We would also relate to them why some of the requests could not be fulfilled as they might incur unnecessary additional costs.”

“We would prepare a comprehensive budget and capex (capital expenditure) to cater for present and short-term future expenditure. We tried our best to anticipate breakdown and replace it (faulty item) before extra expenditure was incurred. We also strictly compared the cost of previous repairs to the cost of the current year’s repairs if data was available. A comprehensive checklist for all categories included the cost and breakdown that had to be controlled,” shares Lee.

“Our intended achievements included no major breakdown and unexpected costs to be incurred, and no extraordinary expenses yearly so that we were able to maintain a healthy surplus throughout the past 11 years.”

Completed in 2010, The Park Residences 1 was developed by UOA Bhd, and is a multiple-owned strata residential development comprising two blocks — Acacia (179 units) and Begonia (291 units) — with a total of 470 units. The Acacia units have built-ups between 1,019 and 2,095 sq ft, while the Begonia units are between 1,260 and 2,068 sq ft.

The Park Residences 1’s facilities include a gym, infinity pool with children’s pool, jacuzzi, sauna, children’s playground and playroom, games room, reading room, barbecue area, badminton courts, function hall and herb garden. The development is also interwoven with pergola areas and outdoor walking paths.

Situated in Bangsar South, Kuala Lumpur, the leasehold development is 100% sold (50% are owner-occupiers while the other 50% are investors), with 99% local residents and 1% foreign residents. The development has an occupancy rate of 95%.

“What separates us from the rest is that we have a large group of experienced team members who can provide training and support from other sites if required, and we manage sites from the vacant possession stage to formation of management corporation stage. As such, we are experienced in managing buildings of different stages,” he says.

Some of the notable maintenance works include implementation of access cards to deter duplication for better security, upgrade of access card readers, roof structure enhancement, inspection of swimming pool pump rooms, and cleaning and upgrade of new pumps. Others include reservoir leakage and excess water redirected, water tank internal enhancement, replacement and upgrading of LED lights at the landscape and swimming pool area, new doors and exit points for easier access and enhancement of the library and game rooms.

The upgrading works were “very extensive and exciting”, says Lee. “There were a few considerations such as were we able to work in-house or whether the works required the participation of third parties.”

“Many repairs were done internally by our technicians, who tried their utmost to solve problems that arose, sometimes through trial and error. Works that had to be carried out by third parties such as repainting were awarded through stringent tender and we insisted on the practice of dealing directly with the manufacturer.”

Lee adds, “This proved to be more expensive compared with appointing an applicator but we believed the warranties and after-sales service that came with dealing directly with the manufacturer played a crucial part in keeping The Park Residences 1 sustainable in the long run.” He notes that since its handover in 2011, The Park Residences 1 has maintained its standards and accumulated a total surplus cash of RM4.09 million over 11 years of operation, as at April 2022.

“For The Park Residences 1, we have created customised, and localised, operating procedures (with a team of managers, technicians and associate directors),” says Lee, as he delves into the comprehensive programme the company has tailored for the property.

“One of the key things that we decided on was to do a tender exercise for repainting [and waterproofing] as the blocks are over 10 years old, and it was a very thorough process.”

Lee highlights some obstacles. “A challenge is the wear-and-tear of the property (in terms of mechanical and electrical). Some of the floors are worn out as well, but we always try our best to be hands-on and clean everything [within the set budget]. Another challenge would be to get a clear standard operating procedure for the property’s management office.

“There was also an increase in electricity consumption, mounting wages of workers and problems posed by service providers.”

“As the building aged, maintenance costs would increase as the need for replacements and repairs gradually increased. In addition, we had to ensure quality and standards were not compromised as we got down to the nitty-gritty of getting things done,” he says.

Lee opines, “To overcome all these, we had to look into our budget and capex thoroughly and find ways to optimise the performance of service providers, machineries and usage of utilities.”

Some of the maintenance and operations of The Park Residences 1 include carrying out routine inspections, handling repairs and electrical works, and ensuring all maintenance works and periodic recalibration works are according to schedule, among many others.

“We have plans to improve our efficiency, and to explore further advancements and enhancements. In the meantime, we have observed many improvements in technology such as LED fittings and consideration of motors [for the property],” says Lee.

“Swimming pools are slowly moving towards adopting variable speed motor/pumps as this allows energy saving and may offer saving and cost recovery within two years. There is also the utilisation of apps, and as apps improve with better features, we would implement these features if they bring us benefits by increasing efficiency without incurring higher manpower needs.”

To date, LaurelCap has a property management portfolio of over 30 properties across the Klang Valley.

With the implementation of the minimum wage policy and the potential increase in electricity consumption, LaurelCap plans to explore further the implementation of energy-saving mechanics without compromising the safety and comfort of residents.

“Solar power, a reduction of cost on utilities and maybe some revenue to be generated from car charging bays are some of the ideas in the pipeline.”