CHERAS EXPLORING A POTENTIAL INVESTMENT JEWEL ORN & BRED XPLORE TORY RANSACTION BYou think you ENasi lemak SGrowth potential of TCheras under know Cheras? wars a sought-after district the microscope CHERAS CONTENT 04 Growth potential of a sought-after 31 Nasi lemak wars district 36 Authentic flavours presented in a 10 MyTOWN ready to take on ‘KLTown’ charming setting 14 Crowning glory of Cheras 40 Fairly priced gastronomy 18 The ‘One’ Cochrane has been waiting for 44 A Concoction of Distinct Flavours 22 Lifestyle facilities abound at M Vertica 49 Education hub boosts Cheras 26 You think you know Cheras? advances 61 Relevance of Retail in Cheras 55 More TOD’s to call Cheras home 66 17 Interesting facts about Cheras you should know before investing BORN & BRED STRETCHING about 14.9km from the Kuala Lumpur city centre, Cheras begins at the Royal Selangor Golf Club and then along the Jalan Tun Razak-Jalan Bukit Bintang intersection to parts that border Kajang. Hence, parts of Cheras have a Selangor address while the larger areas come under Kuala Lumpur postcodes. BORN & BRED GROWTH POTENTIAL OF A SOUGHT- AFTER DISTRICT High-value economic activities will serve to sustain the Cheras property market By GUNAPRASATH BUPALAN Cheras of yesteryear Cheras is a township located south-east of ou’re from Cheras? Wow! That’s so Kuala Lumpur, adjacent to Ampang (to the far away... Cheras, don’t want lah north) and Kajang (to the south). It is therefore – the jam is horrible. What to do in sandwiched between two major towns within Cheras? Not happening lah... These the metropolitan area of Kuala Lumpur. Yare some common remarks Cheras residents Stretching about 14.9km from the Kua- hear from ‘outsiders’. la Lumpur city centre, Cheras begins at the Although such statements may be correct Royal Selangor Golf Club and then along the to a certain extent, there is more to Cheras Jalan Tun Razak-Jalan Bukit Bintang intersec- than meets the eye. This comprehensive re- tion to parts that border Kajang. Hence, parts view on the district will give readers the ben- of Cheras have a Selangor address while the efit of familiarising themselves with an area larger areas come under Kuala Lumpur post- that has huge potential for capital apprecia- codes. tion through property investment. Based on history, Cheras began at the end Before we get into the benefits of living of 1876. There are several versions of how or investing in Cheras, let us learn about the the name ‘Cheras’ came about, so it’s difficult place. to confirm which is the true origin. However, they make for interesting stories. BEST@ CHERAS 05 BORN & BRED Cheras has 11 out of the 31 newly-completed MRT stations. According to one version, a group of la- that was sunken in a stream. Because it was bourers was building the Sungai Langat bridge so difficult to remove the tree from the steam, at Kampung Balakong when they stumbled the area came to be known as teras and the upon a big piece of hardwood that was diffi- stream was called Sungai Teras, which was lat- cult to cut because of its tough core. er changed to Cheras. In Malay, the core is known as teras. There- The third tale speaks of a Chinese trades- fore, the area where the hardwood was found man who frequently used a stream to get was named teras – which eventually became around. In the Chinese language, to go back cheras. and forth is chow lai. As time went by, chow lai Another story tells of locals claiming that was pronounced as Cheras. the name Cheras originated from a huge tree Yet another explanation says that the 06 BEST@ CHERAS name was derived from the Chinese mispro- opening of Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Line 1, nunciation of beras (rice), which was widely where 11 of the 31 MRT stations are situated grown in the area in the late 1880s. within the district. “Cheras is in a unique position, being half Cheras in the later years way between Kuala Lumpur and Cyberjaya. Soon after 1 Feb 1974, part of Cheras district The highway linkages to Cyberjaya are ex- fell under the jurisdiction of Kuala Lumpur cellent, so it’s important to look at how they and officially migrated to Wilayah Perseku- connect to parts of the Klang Valley in terms tuan through ‘Perjanjian Penyerahan Kuala of local and global value chains,” said Nordin Lumpur 1974’. Abdullah, founding chairman of The Malaysia Since then, Cheras has been divided into Global Business Forum. two neighbouring districts – one part in Se- langor and the other under Wilayah Perse- New catalysts from kutuan. In Selangor, Cheras is situated in the integrated developments Hulu Langat district and is under Majlis Per- and retail malls bandaran Kajang while the neighbouring KL Among several significant new mixed com- portion of Cheras falls within the Kajang and mercial developments in the neighbourhood Hulu Semenyih districts. are Ikea-MyTOWN Shopping Centre, Sunway During this time, the central business area Velocity Mall and EkoCheras Mall, adding to of Cheras district was at Pekan Batu 9. Some- the well-established Aeon Taman Maluri and time in 1982, Kampung Konggo was officially Cheras Leisure Mall. renamed Bandar Tun Razak – named after Sunway Velocity is a 23-acre integrated Malaysia’s second Prime Minister Tun Abdul development with residences, shopping mall, Razak, who inspired the development of the hotel, medical centre, offices and shops and a district back in 1974. two-acre park. Residents of Bandar Tun Razak live with- The MyTOWN development is an 18- in a comprehensive township that is fully acre family and lifestyle shopping centre an- equipped with all the amenities and recrea- chored by the largest Ikea in Malaysia, while tional assets within Wilayah Persekutuan. EkoCheras is a 12-acre mixed-use develop- ment comprising serviced apartments, office Cheras of today suites, hotel suites and retail components. Cheras has become one of the city’s largest Other upcoming integrated developments suburbs, being home to more than 100 land- that will help raise property prices in the area ed housing estates, some of which were es- include the 10.74-acre Emerald Square by tablished back in the 1960s. Among the larger Guocoland in Batu 9, which will comprise ser- housing estates are Bandar Tun Razak, Taman viced apartments, a hotel and offices with a Connaught, Taman Maluri and Taman Midah. GDV of RM1.5bil. Cheras generally comprises decades-old Laville Kuala Lumpur by Orando Holdings housing estates interspersed with small com- Sdn Bhd, when completed in 2021, will fea- mercial centres and a few malls. Over re- ture 35 two-storey retail units, 1,200 serviced cent years, Cheras has undergone extensive apartments and around 2,000 parking bays. growth and rejuvenation especially with the M Vertica by Mah Sing Group, also due BEST@ CHERAS 07 BORN & BRED for completion in 2021, is a mixed undertak- gle-storey house in Cheras in 2001 was around ing that will comprise five high-rise residen- RM151,000. It climbed to RM215,000 in 2010, tial towers and commercial shops, while illi then surged to RM430,000 in 2017 – a capital @ Kuala Lumpur by Symphony Life Berhad is growth of close to 185%. planned to comprise two serviced apartment For double-storey terraced houses, Previn blocks totalling 757 units plus 10 retail shops said the average transaction price in 2017 was sitting on top of an eight-storey carpark podi- RM593,333 but these properties were sold at um. an average price of RM199,333 in 2001, which In the pipeline are plans to convert the is equivalent to a capital appreciation of 198%. green lung at the north-western side of Taman Taynton View, near to Taman Mutiara Barat by Growing demand for Viva Impian. This will make way for a mixed de- student housing velopment that will see a five-level shopping Previn also said that the market for student mall, several blocks of serviced apartments, a accommodation has been active in Cheras in signature serviced residence, serviced suites the last few years, most of which are concen- and SoHos, two corporate office towers and trated near colleges and universities. a hotel. Zooming in on Taman Connaught, the es- While these projects are under way, S P tablishment of higher education institutions Setia’s recent JV plans for a project in Cheras such as UCSI University and One World Han- that is expected to have an estimated GDV of Xing College of Journalism and Communica- RM11.03bil is in the works. tion, as well as its surrounding neighbour- With these developers taking up land hood, has contributed to a healthy property banks in Cheras and promising projects that rental market. will be much sought-after, property prices in “As of Q4 2017, the rental yield at Taman all likelihood will soon see an uptrend. Connaught stood at 3.32% while the me- dian rental for houses as of Q3 2018 is at Rising residential property RM1.11psf,” Previn added. prices Other private and international schools Housing developments in the area consist of such as Cempaka Cheras, REAL Inetrnational mostly terraced houses serving a middle-in- School Cheras, Taylor’s International School come population. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia International Korea However, Cheras has been receiving School – Cheras and Beaconhouse Newlands growth spurts in the form of infrastructure International School as well as universities boosts from rail connectivity and integrated such as the Liverpool John Moores University developments. Malaysia Campus and the Asia Metropolitan At the moment, house prices in Cheras University have all significantly contributed to are still considered affordable and attracting the growth and capital appreciation of Cheras.