Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in City & Country, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on February 17, 2020 - February 23, 2020

A suburb of Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Damansara Utama is divided into two sections and separated by the Damansara-Puchong Expressway: SS21 in the west comprising a commercial centre known as Damansara Uptown (Uptown); and SS20 in the east, known as Damansara Kim, made up of mainly residential houses.

Developed by See Hoy Chan Sdn Bhd in the early 1980s, Uptown has since flourished and grown into a well-established commercial hub that is home to cafés, banks, restaurants, fashion houses, opticians and offices, as well as its own shopping mall, The Starling.

Opened in 2016, the five-storey eco and lifestyle shopping mall boasts a 50,000 sq ft landscaped rooftop park, a 27,500 sq ft ground level park and 3,333 parking bays. Its tenants include an MBO cineplex, Jaya Grocer, Popular Bookstore, Daiso, Sushi Zanmai, Tiger Sugar and ACE Hardware.

The area has been plagued by huge volumes of traffic, congestion and a lack of parking space over the years.

“I was told by my friends and had read lots of promising reviews that Village Park Restaurant in Uptown served one of the best Ayam Goreng Nasi Lemak. So, I had to try it. By lunchtime, the restaurant was always packed,” says Lily, 23, who used to work in the area.

She says the fragrant rice was chewy and had a rich coconut taste, and the sambal was slightly sweet and not overly spicy. “The ayam goreng was something I looked forward to; it was well marinated with spices, the chicken was crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. The meal was always simply satisfying.” Village Park Restaurant is still very much a crowd pleaser.

Other notable eateries include A Pie Thing, Restoran Koon Kee, The Good Batch, Miru Dessert Café, Dal.Komm Coffee, Soylab and Molten Chocolate Café.

Laurelcap Sdn Bhd head of capital markets Lou Minn Yian notes that SS21/37 is lined with 3½-storey shopoffices with an average built-up of 5,500 sq ft, and are priced from RM670 to RM960 psf. “Since 2016, the transacted prices of shopoffices have increased from RM4.3 million to above RM5 million, an increase of 15% from 2016 to 2019,” says Lou.

“This is due to the establishment of Starling Mall and upgrade of infrastructure and amenities such as sidewalks and roads within the perimeter of Uptown. Rental rates range from RM2.70 to RM3 psf, giving yields of 3.5% to 4% a year.”

Meanwhile, the prices for residential properties, with built-ups of 734 to 5,500 sq ft, were trending slightly above RM1,000 psf in 2017. “In 2019, however, owing to the sluggish market, there were several transactions at RM900 psf, a drop of 10%. Rental rates ranged from RM2.80 to RM3.60 psf, or yields of 4% to 4.5% a year,” says Lou.

The only upcoming project in the area is the Uptown 8 corporate office tower by IJM Land Bhd. Due for completion this year, the 31-storey Grade A office building has a net floor area of about 480,000 sq ft and will feature two levels of commercial space, 1,387 parking bays, landscaped open space and walkways.

For the long term, Lou says the demand for shopoffices and residential properties in Uptown will continue to grow. Property values will remain solid for the next two years, as they have peaked.

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