TRX Residences sets itself apart with early planning, says Lendlease

• "We produce guide documents, DNA documents and [a list of] global minimum requirements internally to ensure that no matter where we are, our residents and buyers can expect an international standard from us.”

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 17): What is the difference between a good and a bad strata development? Planning. 

This was the main point highlighted by Lendlease’s TRX Residences Head of Residential Practice, Asia, Eric Chan in the State of Strata Living: What to know before you buy panel discussion held early this month at the TRX Residences Discovery & Experience Gallery.

“Once we have submitted our building plan, even before breaking ground or calling for tender, we have engaged Henry Butcher [Malaysia (Mont Kiara) Sdn Bhd (HBMK)] to do a study around property management [for TRX Residences].

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.

Chan pointed out that with Lendlease having four plots of land in TRX to build an integrated development, “there is no running away from responsibility”.

“We are building for sustainability. So, we must get it right from the design stage,” he said.

He added that Lendlease looks beyond just building to sell, but is willing to invest in capital expenditure, such as in building good WiFi infrastructure, to ensure its owners enjoy long-term value on their investments,  because in a strata development, “you don’t buy just the square footage within the four walls [of your unit], you own the facilities”.

Among the issues the team looked into was security. “Security is important. [However, if the] security is tight but the guards are not very friendly or eloquent in taking your ID (identification document), [it can be a problem],” Chan said.   

On top of that, they also considered if facilities could be made more adaptive, such as whether a movie theatre could double up as a lounge.  

“All these can be solved by planning,” said Chan. “We automate [the features] and did a lot of the designing work upfront.”

Earlier in a presentation on Global Living: International standards in urban living, Lendlease pointed out: “We have got to make sure what we are doing here makes sense from a property management perspective. There’s no point in building the most beautiful place in the world but it cannot be maintained well. It will create more problems to our residents in future.

“HBMK sat with us and considered – how is this going to work, three, five, or 10 years down the road. How are residents going to engage with these spaces – does this make sense?

“So we made tweaks as we progress, so that what we have right now is actually the best you can find available.”

Drawing from international experience

Lendlease is an international integrated real estate group that has a total of 21 projects valued at A$117 billion (approximately RM350 billion) in the pipeline across gateway cities around the world, mainly in urban regeneration.

In its talk, Lendlease says it has drawn from its rich global experience in conceptualising TRX Residences.

“It’s about how we bring all the knowledge and experiences from our developments around the world to deliver a great product that captures everything we have learned.

“We do all these by codifying the things we know. We produce guide documents, DNA documents and [a list of] global minimum requirements internally to ensure that no matter where we are, our residents and buyers can expect an international standard from us.”

Lendlease stated that the global knowledge is then localised.

“We engaged with EdgeProp [through the EdgeProp-Lendlease Sustainable Strata-living Survey] to find out what sustainable strata living means in the local context and you gave us what’s important to you.

“The tangible form [of all the knowledge gleaned] is The Exchange TRX.

“Located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, the 17-acre regeneration scheme is Lendlease’s largest integrated development in Asia at RM10 billion total estimated development end value.”

The Exchange TRX comprises about 2,400 residential units, 2.2 million sq ft of experiential retail, Malaysia’s first Kimpton Hotels and Restaurant, a Grade A campus-style office block and a 10-acre activated rooftop city park.

Envisioned to be Kuala Lumpur’s most progressive and sustainable new city precinct, Lendlease said The Exchange TRX would provide a climate-resilient, green and engaging environment for executives, residents and visitors.

“Per Lendlease’s DNA, there is a sustainability target for the precinct called the Climate Change and Adaptation Resilience Plan. In ensuring long-term utility and relevance, vigorous thinking and planning have been put in to create places that last through environmental change, resource scarcity, climate change and more. We accommodate this via design, deliberate choices and efforts to be more responsible in consumption. Hardware and software facilities have been created to support reuse and recycling. There is a macro view on connectivity and alternative modes of mobility, and a focus on community and wellbeing benefits.

“In line with global trend, more than 70% of you have indicated your preference for car-free living [in the survey]. All of us are looking forward to not having to get into a four-wheel vehicle anymore. We can walk, cycle, take the train, get on an e-scooter and move about effortlessly without all that congestion because TRX offers you unrivalled connectivity.

Lendlease also highlighted that TRX Residences allows residents to live as efficiently as possible using available digital applications. Among them are the Community App Visitor Management System, contactless access for reduced surface interaction, destination control lifts and an app payment system.

“Everything is at your fingertips,” said Lendlease.

TRX Residences has six residential towers. Launched in 2019, all the 443 units in the 53-storey Tower A have been fully sold. Meanwhile Tower B, which comprises 453 units in a 57-storey tower, is offering units with built-ups between 474 and 3,854 sq ft, starting from RM970,000. However, a salesperson told EdgeProp that the biggest units have all been fully sold.