Bandar Rimbayu

Edit (28 Jan 2014) - One of the cons of Bandar Rimbayu in my post last year was the distance. At the end of December, IJM officially launched this township and invited all the purchaser for the launch. They have also moved their sales office from Kota Kemuning to The Arc in Bandar Rimbayu. I was eager to go for a visit. And I was pleasantly surprised that The Arc is just about 7km from Kesas Highway. You know, when you want to to Kota Kemuning from Kesas, you exit the highway and you came to Kemuning Utama, before the first roundabout. I tripped my odometer from that point to measure the distance and was shocked how near it is to Kota Kemuning. That is like from Aman Suria to One Utama shopping centre. Not as far as I thought and being so near KK means that early movers can already enjoyed the amenities of a mature township. More plus points for Bandar Rimbayu.

I have a feeling this will be the next Kota Damansara - huge leasehold township surrounded by mature freehold towns - e.g. Kota Damansara was surrounded by Bandar Utama, Tropicana, Taman Tun, Mutiara Damansara. 

Bandar Rimbayu is surrounded by Kota Kemuning, Bukit Rimau and Putra Heights (when SKVE highway was built). And it probably is the best township if you are working in Cyberjaya/Putrajaya.

=== original ===
Last Saturday, 2 March, the wife and I went to a property balloting in Holiday Villa Subang. This property was highly recommended by a friend, who has been eyeing this launch for the past 9 months. We had to purchase RM10K banker's cheque to qualify for the ballot. Registration starts from 8.30 and close at 10am. Balloting will start at 10am.

The property is called Chimes. It's phase 1 of this huge upcoming township called Bandar Rimbayu. The whole township is 1,900 acres and with a development value of RM11 billion. Project timeline will be around 10-15 years. Developer is IJM Land - a famous property developer. When I mentioned IJM to 10 people, 10 will nod their approvals. But when I asked what are the examples of township or projects they have done, the names they mentioned are unknown to me. Maybe it's just me but I'd think famous = Bandar Utama (See Hoy Chan), Desa ParkCity, Sunway. IJM? Um, um.....

Anyway, this new township, touted as the largest green township is going to be located south of Kota Kemuning and Putra Heights, west of Bandar Saujana Putra. This project used to be called Canal City so there's a lot of lakes and possibly a waterfront development.

Anyway, Chimes, Phase 1, is made up of 22x75 and 24x75 double storey house. There are around 500 units in this phase.

We were shocked at the number of people who turned out. The whole grand ballroom was packed with people. I think there were 1,000+ people but in the balloting I heard the number 00xx and 28xx called, so I guess there are at least 3000 registrations. When balloting starts at 10am, it took a long time for them to select and called out one ticket, I wondered how long the whole process would take. Turned out it ended quite fast - why because there are only 115 units available for non-bumis! When they announced this, the whole ballroom was full of protest. I think many people did not expect the number to be so small!

The odds favours us as we were one of the 115 selected. What are the odds right? We should be jumping with joy right? We selected our units and went home to decide if we wanted to proceed. If we decided to cancel, there is a small administrative fee. I guess it's ok.

Now here are my thoughts. The pro of this township:
1. IJM Land - ok la.. 10 people I asked and 10 said they are good. They must be good. Including in the 10 people is my mother. So, this developer must be someone.

2. New township. Great master plan. They said that the 1,900 acre is 5 times Desa Park City. There's going to be commercial lot, more housing, high end bangalow and semi-D lots facing a waterfront, yadda yadda. Must have a lot of potential to grow, right?

3. Being the one who balloted for Phase 1 means that by the time Phase 2 or 3 come out, my unit would already have appreciated! Instant money making, right?

4. Green concept. Ok, maybe we can retire there. Nice facade, nice design of the house, lots of greens, energy efficient.

Cons:
1. So damn far!!!
2. Leasehold!
3. Price.. for one place so far, this 24x75 leasehold house with 2,300 sq ft built up is RM670K! What can you buy with that price? Some sub sale house in Kota Damansara or maybe a freehold house in Kota Kemuning which this project is trying to be benchmark against.
4. Who can guarantee that a concept like this will become popular? What if it becomes a ghost town? What if it becomes Bukit Beruntung (there's a joke saying it is Bukit Belum Untung)

So, what am I going to do? Do I let go of this opportunity? Or did I just save myself from a failed investment? Dilemma!

Here's an article about Bandar Rimbayu that appeared in The Edge in Jun 2012.





Comments

  1. This is the next big thing for township. Maybe a bit far today but won't be in a few years.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rimbayu wont be a ghost town. and the location is "far" for those at the north.. (basically it is easily connected by highways).. but for people at putrajaya, klia, shah alam, westport, it is a mid of traffic. There's lot of small developers took the opportunity to develop small taman perumahan out of Rimbayu boundary.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think Rimbayu would be attractive to people who worked in Cyberjaya and Putrajaya. It creates an alternative township to Puchong, which are old and rowdy already. And it also give an expansion to people who are used to Kota Kemuning and Bukit Rimau to get their other family members close. But if you work in PJ/KL, Rimbayu is not for you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. 15 years ago when I first look at Kota Kemuning, it was very very far. Who on earth would want to stay in this development. 2 years ago I shifted to Kota Kemuning after purchasing one of the last landed development.

    ReplyDelete
  5. so did u end up buying?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yes, I did end up buying.. and now I have leased it out. It seems to be a pretty good neighbourhood.

    ReplyDelete

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