EdgeProp, Lendlease provide the lowdown on strata living

• “Events like this give us the opportunity to present issues that are pertinent to the industry and also for our audience to be able to hear from the experts,” said EdgeProp Malaysia managing director, Alvin Ong.

KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 2): EdgeProp Malaysia and Lendlease jointly organised an event at the TRX Residences Discovery & Experience Gallery here, with talks and a panel discussion yesterday.

All the 50 available seats were filled up by the pre-registered attendees for the event entitled State of Strata Living: What to know before you buy, which followed the EdgeProp-Lendlease Sustainable Strata-living Survey. Run from July 8 to Aug 5, the survey uncovered interesting findings about what strata residents wish to experience today.     

“Events like this give us the opportunity to present issues that are pertinent to the industry and also for our audience to be able to hear from the experts,” said EdgeProp Malaysia managing director, Alvin Ong during his welcome address.

“Many of you here have given your voice to the EdgeProp-Lendlease Sustainable Strata-living Survey, and one of the key takeaways is that homebuyers are paying more attention to buildings that are easy to maintain and have long-lasting quality.

“Unfortunately, not every building in Malaysia is built that way. But the good news is, by staying well informed, by making good choices and smart tradeoffs, the decisions that you make to buy or not to buy will force developers to build better quality properties and only homes whose values will grow through the long term,” said Ong.

Two speakers who provided their take on strata living were Architect Centre accredited building inspector, Anthony Lee Tee; and Chur Associates founder and managing partner, Chris Tan.

“A strata property is very complicated, but strata living is here to stay,” said Lee during his presentation entitled Safe or Sorry: What should residents look out for?.

Lee explained that for strata properties to work, they have to be planned, designed and executed by a team of very experienced practitioners and property developers.

“Look beyond the aesthetics. Don’t buy into frivolous features because those are things that will tax you later,” he cautioned.

“Predictive and planned maintenance, coupled with financial sustainability, is crucial. If you do not have this, I can almost tell you the future is that your building will deteriorate and will surely become unsafe. And the value will also definitely be affected. So, it will become very expensive for you,” Lee added.

During Tan’s talk entitled Communal Living: Resident’s guide to solving issues proactively, he defined strata living as “regulated community living”.

“When you buy into a strata property, there are rules and regulations that will allow you to make the most out of your strata living within the community,” he explained.

“You believe we need to live within certain laws and rules. You do not want a lawless cowboy town. [Then] you need to respect it,” he added.

Meanwhile, during the panel discussion, TRX Residences project director and head of residential practice, Asia Eric Chan said that planning is paramount for a strata property.

“What is the difference between the good and the bad? It is all about planning. [For example,] from very early on, we have engaged Henry Butcher [Malaysia (Mont Kiara) Sdn Bhd] to do a study of our property management,” said Chan.

“When we buy a strata unit, you do not just buy the square footage within the four walls. You also own the facilities,” he added.

The panel discussion, which was moderated by EdgeProp’s Ong, also comprised Lee, Tan and Henry Butcher Malaysia (Mont Kiara) Sdn Bhd (HBMK) executive director Low Hon Keong.

Low said developers in the country have now started to put thought into property management during the planning stage, even before construction.

“This is a very good sign towards the importance of property management.

“I remember when we first engaged with Eric [for the development of TRX Residences], the details they looked into included things like the toilet doors,” Low revealed.

“If the building is not planned well, we, being the property manager, will have to spend a bit more, and much more sometimes, to maintain the building,” he added.

Touching on the EdgeProp-Lendlease Sustainable Strata-living Survey, a Lendlease spokesperson stated at the event that “we have worked very hard to make sure that TRX Residences is not only offering you a great space to live in with the global standards that we have achieved, but is also able to capture the essence of how we do our business, which is really grounded in sustainability to deliver a great resilient product as well”.

“We want to introduce innovation so that you can live in a space efficiently and as smoothly as possible using digital applications that are available already at this point in time. These are all features that you have indicated to us in terms of what is important for sustainable strata living in the Malaysian context,” he said.

“We spent a lot of time so that the urban living environment we create is really engaging, so that place is important, so that values are created, so that your living space will be the best you can find in any urban environment, and definitely in the city that we live in,” he added.

TRX Residences is part of The Exchange TRX precinct, which is a joint-venture project between Lendlease and TRX City Sdn Bhd, the master developer for Tun Razak Exchange (TRX), Malaysia’s new central business district.

Lendlease is an international real estate group which has a total of 21 projects across gateway cities around the world in the pipeline, mainly in urban regeneration.

One of the participants, David Chia, 65, who travelled all the way from Kajang to attend the event, said he enjoyed listening to the experts providing important information.

“I came a bit late but overall I gained a lot from this event,” said Chia. He also said the event was very well organised. Chia was also one of the five lucky winners who walked away with a portable air purifier nanoe X generator sponsored by Panasonic Malaysia during the lucky draw.

Adzham Mahmud, who is a general manager at Worldwide Property Management Sdn Bhd, said the event was a “great session because I plan to customise the needs of buyers in strata living”.

“I am looking forward to practise what I have learned to engage customers for my properties, which are located in Selangor,” he added.