First private, gated park in the city
The Edge Malaysia (City & Country), 22 April 2002
Stories by Sreerema Banoo
Your own private park to host weddings or anniversaries. A gated, residents-only park for Sunday picnics or movies al fresco on the lawn. This is the vision and aspiration the developer of what is touted to be the country's first private gated park.
The 35-acre park lies in Sentul West, one half of YTL Land and Development Bhd's Sentul project. (Sentul West covers 186 acres while Sentul East is 108 acres in size.) Surrounding this park would be some 4,000 units of luxury condominiums. Though pricing for the first launches - targeted in May - is still not firm, the developer anticipates that it would be in the region of RM250 psf.
"The park will grow into each individual unit, each development will be given a name of a flower or tree and it will have its own character," promises YTL Corp Bhd managing director Tan Sri Francis Yeoh Sock Ping. (YTL Land and Development is a subsidiary of YTL Corp).
Drawing inspiration from 18th century English gardens, the overall design of the park landscape will be characterised by circuit walks framed by trees, gentle slopes and lakes. The Sentul tree, which no longer exists in this area - and from which this area derives its name - will be reintroduced in the park.
The park - said to be equal the size of St James Park in London - will replace a nine-hole public golf course which, under a previous master plan for the development project (then called Sentui Raya), could be viewed from the Sang Suria apartments on its fringes.
The change in plans created a furore among buyers of the apartments which were put on the market in the mid-1990s. Yeoh defends the move to scrap the golf course and replace it with a park. "Here is an opportunity to keep a green lung and give a park to the people," he tells City & Country. His level of excitement and enthusiasm for the project started from day one, he declares.
"For me this was a dream... [to] convert this golf course into a park," he says eagerly.
(GDP Architects design associate Kevin Low tells City & Country that the golf course has not been gazetted as open space. This means YTL Land and Development has the option of putting up buildings on the entire golf course. Low, the consultant for the new Sentul master plan, adds that for developments in the city area, there is no requirement for a green lung.)
Enthusiasm over the prospect of creating the first private park aside, Yeoh acknowledges the protests over the change in plans. "I don't blame them because most people consider golf course homes more valuable than non-golf course homes; unless you explain to them that a park home is much more valuable than a golf course home. The only thing is there is no precedence," he says, pointing to the value of properties that surround a park, citing those in London and New York as examples.
"The reason people are doubtful is because there are no developers who want to give up a huge piece of land and convert it into a park. We state in the covenant that we will not touch it," he declares.
But why not leave the golf course alone? Besides the maintenance cost factor, there is the danger posed by the pesticides used and the hazard of golf balls flying astray. "A golf course is never a good development... the people who pay for the maintenance are owners of golf course homes and [developers] never make money from the golf course; they make money from the homes. It is actually a wrong thing to do because you create so much maintenance fees."
It is a different story altogether with a park. "Here there isn't much you need to do. You just sculpture and manicure it so it becomes a park and it takes care of itself. You don't need sprinklers like golf courses."
Maintenance for the park is also expected to be financed by revenue obtained from the rental of the park (where residents can hold gatherings).
Besides the Sentul Park, a main difference between the original master plan and the one unveiled recently by YTL Land and Development is the use of the old Sentul station as a link between the two halves of the development.
GDP's Low points out that the Sentul KTM station area - to be known as "Station Square" - will serve not only as a transportation hub but also to host activities and events, from cafes to flea markets.
Below are other components of the project at Sentul West:
• A central lake -with a boat house, entertainment lawn, pavilion and camp grounds;
• Festival plaza -the former Sentul workshop to house outdoor cafes, dining outlets and bookshops; and
• Commercial units.
Sentul East, meanwhile, comprises:
• The Boulevard on Jalan Sentul;
• Elevated pedestrian "skywalk" from Sentul station to the LRT station;
• Residential towers - to be launched next month is Tamarind Court Apartments; and
• Hypermarket.
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