This article first appeared in City & Country, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on June 10, 2024 - June 16, 2024

The royal city of Klang has gradually transformed over the years. In addition to excellent seafood and bak kut teh, it has also become a popular place for property development.

This month, Paramount Property Development Sdn Bhd is introducing Uptown Residences 2, a residential offering with an intergenerational living concept, at its Berkeley Uptown development in the city.

Berkeley Uptown is a RM1.2 billion commercial project that sits on 33.12 acres of freehold land on Jalan Goh Hock Huat.

Paramount Property’s property division CEO Chee Siew Pin, who grew up in Klang, tells City & Country how familial ties are still very important for those living here.

“I roughly know of the needs of the people here [in Klang] and so I planned what is best for the community,” he says, adding that the entire project is designed to provide an intergenerational lifestyle where families can live close to each other.

“I want to bring everyone into one place where three generations can live together for a more sustainable living situation.”

According to Chee, “The land [where Berkeley Uptown is located] used to be an old shoe factory, Fung Keong Rubber Manufacturing Mill, which was established in 1939 on Jalan Goh Hock Huat. In 2011, Paramount submitted a bid to purchase this 11.7ha (about 29 acres) land and won. [Envisioning] a bigger development, we expanded the land size by acquiring an additional 1.6ha [across from the factory site] on Jalan Goh Hock Huat and adjacent to Klang’s central business district on the west.”

Both of the land acquisitions were completed in 2011 at a cost of RM110 million, he adds.

Berkeley Uptown has five sections. One portion, measuring 5.23 acres, is taken up by Sri KDU International School, which has been in operation since November 2020. It is the first Microsoft flagship school in Southeast Asia.

On another portion sits Uptown Residences. Launched in 2019 and fully sold, the project is on 5.18 acres and offers 736 units. It has a gross development value (GDV) of RM369.09 million and vacant possession of the project is expected to be delivered this year.

Two other portions of Berkeley Uptown have been set aside for future commercial development while the last section of land is for Uptown Residences 2, which is slated for launch by the end of June, says Chee.

Sitting on 7.37 acres, Uptown Residences 2 will have a GDV of RM628.64 million. It will offer 1,086 units spread out across a low-rise building and two towers.

The 6-storey low-rise structure, called Parkfront Villas, is divided into two wings called Block A and Block B. The ground level will have a 10,000 sq ft community space while the 35 residential units (Block A: 15 units; Block B: 20 units) are in the remaining five levels. The low-rise building’s rooftop is the development’s recreational podium deck.

Each unit in the low-rise building will have a built-up of 1,556 sq ft, with four bedrooms, four bathrooms and one utility room. Each unit will also have four parking spaces directly in front of it, allowing the homeowner to park cars like on landed property.

At the launch, units in Block A will be available for purchase, at prices starting from RM908,000. Units in Block B will be released at a later date.

As for the towers, one will be 32 storeys with two wings called Block C1 and Block C2. Block C1 will have 252 units with built-ups ranging from 1,000 to 1,350 sq ft, while Block C2 will have 365 units sized from 910 to 1,350 sq ft. The layouts will be 3- to 4-bedrooms with 2- to 3-bathrooms. Each unit will come with two to four parking bays.

The second tower, Block D, will stand at 37 storeys. There will be 434 units with built-ups ranging from 910 to 1,350 sq ft. The layouts will be 3- to 4-bedrooms with 2- to 3-bathrooms and the units will come with two to four parking spaces each.

At the launch, only units in Block C1 will be available, at prices starting from RM573,800. Those at Block C2 and Block D will be released later.

“The units are provided with smart home systems, like smart door locks, switches, lights and fans. We have a hub in case the owner wants to install other smart devices,” says Chee.

In addition, they will come with wet kitchen cabinets, kitchen hoods and hobs, shower screens with glass doors in the master bedrooms, fixed shower screens for the other bathrooms, towel rails for common bathrooms and water heaters.

As the development is focused on intergenerational living, certain design elements have been included to cater to the elderly. For example, common areas will have walkways that are wheelchair and baby pram accessible, and lifts will have buttons accessible from wheelchairs.

Units will have doorways and hallways wide enough for wheelchairs, lever-style door handles instead of door knobs, non-slip flooring materials in the bathrooms, towel rails that can double as handrails, foldable shower seats in common bathrooms, and switches and outlets placed at 1.2m (about 4ft) high.

According to Chee, Blocks B, C2 and D will be released to the market depending on demand and the sales performance of the launched units. He highlights, however, that the entire Uptown Residences 2 will be completed by 2028.

Uptown Residences 2 is designed to foster closer ties within families and the wider community, says Chee. “Uptown Residences 2 is where different generations can flourish together in a secure haven that has a verdant central park, a recreational podium deck, a private rooftop garden that’s the first of its kind in Klang, 2.9 acres of lush landscapes and 40 lifestyle facilities for all ages.”

The one-acre central park is divided into various sections catering to different age groups. There is a reflexology path, chill-out island seats, pet play park, playground, an outdoor gym station, and a cycling and jogging track.

“There are open spaces with lush greenscapes for children to play and pet-play equipment in the park. Parents and grandparents can enjoy a relaxing time at the chill-out island seats or enjoy foot reflexology while the children play to their hearts’ content,” says Chee.

Additionally, and unique to the development, is the 10,000 sq ft community social space that will take up the ground level of the 6-storey low-rise building. This space will be divided into 11 lots.

“The private space is envisioned to be a community centre where residents can come together to enjoy shared activities such as lively games of Chinese chess, a farmers’ market, a weekend bazaar, pet grooming classes and more. This setting is to forge a stronger community bond among the residents,” Chee explains.

Additionally, Paramount plans to invite traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners to set up shop here, as well as organise conventional health checks on a periodic basis. There are plans to also invite a child enrichment centre and a convenience store to open here. Once the right tenants and services are in place, Paramount will hand over the operations to the management corporation (MC) to manage.

“The community social space’s internal wall is hackable if there is a bigger space requirement by the operator,” he says.

Also, the rents charged will be affordable and what is collected will be handed over to the MC, when it is formed, to offset the cost of the operational services of the apartments so as to keep costs low and to ensure the development is well maintained.

To ensure that the development is well taken care of, the maintenance fee inclusive of the sinking fund is 36 sen psf.

Complementing the central park and the community social space will be the recreational podium deck atop the low-rise building and the lifestyle rooftop garden on top of Block D.

The recreational podium deck will feature a swimming pool, a herb garden, lounge, barbeque area, relaxation nook, yoga deck, reflexology path, trampoline area, hammock alcove, multipurpose hall, gym, half basketball court and meditation lounge.

The lifestyle rooftop garden will feature a sky bar, barbeque terrace, meditation lawn, sky lounge, viewing pavilion and chill-out net.

To ensure that residents can use all these facilities with peace of mind, the development will be gated and guarded with 24/7 surveillance and security patrols, along with a secure card access system to the parking lot, lobby and lift area.

Chee highlights that the development is designed to include various sustainable and eco-friendly elements, and aims for GreenRE Silver certification.

Constructed using the industrialised building system (IBS), the towers are designed with a north-south orientation to minimise heat from direct sunlight and are stack ventilated with voids and open corridors for natural ventilation of internal spaces. They will have a rainwater harvesting system for irrigation use, water-efficient fittings, energy-saving lights in common areas, energy-saving lifts, solar panels on the rooftop, electric vehicle charging stations and a green facade at the podium car park to act as a natural buffer to reduce noise, dust and heat gain.

Environmental, social and governance compliance is high on the developer’s list of priorities, with all components being met through careful planning in the design of the project.

While the internal needs of the residents are catered to, outside of Uptown Residences 2 are numerous amenities, highways and forms of public transport.

Nearby shopping centres include Shaw Centrepoint, Klang Parade, AEON Big Klang, Centro Mall and AEON Bukit Raja. Also close to the development are banks such as Public Bank, Hong Leong Bank and Maybank, markets like Pasar Malam Klang, Pasar Jawa and Pasar Besar Klang Meru, and public services such as a fire and rescue station, Pos Malaysia, a police station, a Syabas office and Majlis Perbandaran Klang.

As for schools and institutions of higher learning, there are SMK Tinggi Klang, SK (1) and (2) Jalan Meru, SJK (C) Kong Hoe, SMK Sultan Abdul Samad, Pin Hwa High School, Kwang Hua Private High School, Acmar International School, Regent International School, Peninsular College City Campus, Royal Oxford University and Universiti Teknologi Mara.

Medical facilities include Hospital Wanita Metro Klang, Mahsa Healthcare Centre, Sri Kota Specialist Medical Centre, KPJ Klang Specialist Hospital, JMC Specialist Medical Centre, Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital and Pantai Hospital Klang.

Access to Berkeley Uptown is via the Federal Highway, Shapadu Highway, NKVE, West Coast Expressway, Kesas, Pulau Indah Highway and Elite Highway. Public transport nearby include the LRT3 stations of Pasar Jawa and Meru, to be completed in 2025. Chee highlights that this line is linked to an interchange at Glenmarie station, which will take passengers to Kuala Lumpur City Centre. In addition, the KTM Klang station is 1.3km away.

Berkeley Uptown is just one of the many projects Paramount Property is undertaking. Ongoing developments include the RM780 million The Ashwood in Ampang, the RM600 million The Atera in Petaling Jaya, the RM217 million Greenwoods in Sepang, the RM185 million Sejati Residences Phase 4 in Cyberjaya, and the RM156 million Bukit Banyan in Kedah.

As for upcoming property launches, there is the RM295 million Utropolis Batu Kawan in Penang in 3Q2024.

On future developments, Chee says, “We are on the lookout to expand our property development footprint locally and internationally as part of our strategic plan (2020-2025) to diversify our income base.

“Locally, although we prefer to expand in areas where our brands have been established, namely Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Kedah, we are open to other regions that have strong returns potential.

“Internationally, in 2020, we invested in an equity venture in Thailand to build Na Reva Charoennakhon, a 29-storey condominium in Bangkok that was completed recently. Then, in May this year, we sped up our expansion by acquiring a strategic stake in Eco World International (KL:EWINT), which has projects in London, Melbourne and Sydney,” he adds.

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