This article first appeared in City & Country, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on February 14, 2022 - February 20, 2022
For many people, the main landmark in Taman Connaught would be the Taman Connaught Night Market in Jalan Cerdas. At 2km long, it is one of the longest night markets in Malaysia.
It operates every Wednesday, when the stretch of road it occupies is closed to cars. Prior to the pandemic, it had more than 700 stalls.
Located next to the East-West Link Expressway, Jalan Cerdas has other visible landmarks such as ikon Connaught Shopping Mall, UCSI University, Wisma UCSI, CMC Centre as well as McDonald’s Taman Connaught Drive-Thru.
The most prominent of these is UCSI University, which occupies 20 acres along Jalan Puncak Menara Gading. According to its website, the campus has seven buildings for academic and residential purposes. The university has plans to build a five-star hotel, 12 levels of parking and student accommodation, administrative offices, restaurants, a ballroom and a clubhouse. Meanwhile, Wisma UCSI — located next to ikon Connaught Shopping Mall in Jalan Cerdas — houses UCSI College.
Jalan Cerdas intersects several streets, namely Jalan Cergas, Jalan Mahir, Jalan Cerdas 1, Jalan Cerdik, Jalan Arif 1, Jalan Pintas, Jalan Puncak Menara Gading and Jalan Puncak Gading. These streets lead to the residential area of Taman Connaught and other parts of Cheras.
Jalan Cerdas, together with Jalan Cerdas 1, Jalan Cerdik, Jalan Puncak Menara Gading and Jalan Puncak Gading, are commercial streets with shopoffices. There are many businesses and services here, especially branches of banks such as CIMB Bank, Public Bank, HSBC Amanah, Standard Chartered Saadiq, Alliance Bank, RHB Bank, Hong Leong Bank, AmBank as well as Maybank.
There are also plenty of eateries, beauty salons, clinics, dental clinics and convenience stores in this part of Taman Connaught.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic broke out and the subsequent Movement Control Orders, these commercial roads — especially Jalan Cerdas with its highway frontage — were busy. That translated into traffic congestion and a shortage of parking lots during the day. Many motorists resorted to parking their cars in the residential areas nearby to run their errands.
Metro Homes Realty Bhd executive director See Kok Loong notes that this commercial area has one of the best locations in Cheras, as it faces the expressway.
“Jalan Cerdas has maximum exposure and most corporations prefer this location; that’s why there are many major banks here. Jalan Cerdas 1 is an older development that usually houses transition shops. The Jalan Menara Gading 1 area, meanwhile, is a newer area and closer to UCSI University and UCSI College; therefore it attracts more lifestyle shops like cafés,” he says.
“In 2020, there was a transaction of a 3.5-storey shopoffice (land size: 1,540 sq ft; built-up: 4,800 sq ft) in Jalan Cerdas at RM2.78 million. Also, three retail lots, sized from 1,300 to 2,800 sq ft, on the ground floor of ikon Connaught were sold at RM1,200 to RM1,800 psf.”
As for the other streets, See notes that Jalan Menara Gading 1 has also registered several transactions. In 2019, a 3-storey shopoffice on the street (land size: 1,765 sq ft; built-up: 5,500 sq ft) was transacted at RM2.78 million. In 2018, there were five transactions, including a corner unit (land area: 3,500 sq ft; built-up: 9,200 sq ft) that was sold at RM5.1 million.
“The future [of this area] is great with its visibility, alongside [the presence of] UCSI University and UCSI College. Also, the night market is a landmark. The popularity of the shops is not affected even with the high-tension cable running in front of them and there were hardly any empty shops there prior to the pandemic,” See concludes.
Save by subscribing to us for your print and/or digital copy.
P/S: The Edge is also available on Apple's AppStore and Androids' Google Play.