Old Klang Road gets new image

By Finton Tan of City & Country, THE EDGE SUNDAY May 14, 2006.

Excerpt of the article as follows . . .

Old Klang Road or Jalan Kelang Lama — the names evoke images of a long, winding road flanked by furniture shops, used car outlets, garden supply shops, Chinese restaurants, terraced factories, small and medium-sized businesses, housing estates and squatter colonies. The 12km road, which stretches from near Mid Valley City, starts inconspicuously off the Federal Highway and then opens up to a six-lane highway, ending in the vicinity of the Guinness Anchor Bhd building in Petaling Jaya Selatan. It also links to the 19.6-km New Pantai Expressway (NPE), Jalan Gasing and Jalan Puchong.

Like Jalan Cheras, the road is the main artery for housing estates on the left side if one is coming from the city. These comprise mainly single and double-storey terraced units and high rises, interspersed with semidees and bungalows.

Among the housing estates are Taman Desa, Taman Danau Desa, Taman Lin Hoe, Taman Goodwood, Taman Kuchai Jaya, Kuchai Brem Park, Taman United, Taman Happy Garden, Taman Bukit Indah, Taman Kanagapuram, Overseas Union Garden (OUG), Taman Yarl, Taman Nam Fong and Taman Seri Sentosa.

On the opposite side, it roughly parallels the Klang River and railway tracks in some sections. And sandwiched between the road and the Federal Highway beyond are a hodgepodge of shoplots, terraced factories, office buildings, squatter colonies and high-rise residential developments.

Notable commercial buildings along the road are Pearl Point Hotel and shopping mall, Citrus Park and Plaza OUG, while the area’s largest industrial zone is OUG Industrial Park, sandwiched between Taman Yarl and Taman Sri Sentosa.

The housing estates on the left side border areas such as Puchong, Bukit Jalil and Bandar Baru Sri Petaling. On the right, the road branches off to Jalan Gasing residential neighbourhoods and Petaling Jaya’s Old Town. The NPE links to the Damansara Puchong highway and Bandar Sunway.

Development of the housing estates on the left side took off from the early 1980s. Developers known for their involvement in the area are Faber Group Bhd in Taman Desa and Taman Danau Desa, Brem Holdings Bhd in Kuchai Brem Park, Aik Bee Sdn Bhd (Pearl Point development comprising retail, hotel and condominium), Sunrise Bhd (OG Heights and Fortuna Court) and Overseas Union Bank (OUG).

Others known to have been active here include Lee Yan Lian who developed Taman Bukit Indah in a joint venture with an Australian company, and also Taman United. Others such as Sin Nam are said to have developed parts of Taman Happy Garden while Tan Yew Lai developed Taman Tan Yew Lai and parts of Taman Yarl.

In recent years, with the upgrading of Old Klang Road and the completion of the NPE, both residential and commercial property developments have picked up, although on a much smaller scale because there is now less land. These developments are found not only along the road itself but also in small pockets within existing housing estates. Ongoing or recently completed projects along the road include 3rd Mile Square commercial centre by Tanjung Dikari Sdn Bhd and Zamrud apartments (in Taman Pasir Permata) by TPPT Sdn Bhd.

In Taman Desa and Taman Danau Desa, Faber Group is developing high-rise and landed residential properties in addition to the shopoffices completed about a year ago. Other developments in Taman Desa include UOA Holdings Bhd’s Desa Ria Condominiums, Zeus-TNB Properties Sdn Bhd’s Taman Bukit Tenaga apartments and Am-El Development Sdn Bhd’s Merc condominium.

In Taman Yarl, in the vicinity of OUG Club, smaller property developers are turning one-and two-acre parcels into semidees and bungalows.

City & Country visited the area to see how the road upgrading and NPE have impacted the surroundings and property values.

Congested road to six-lane highway

“Old Klang Road used to be a narrow road… there were shoplots selling fish and flowers and there were also squatters,” a long-time resident of the area recalls.

“I moved into my Taman Desa two-storey terraced house in 1976 [purchased for $65,000]. When I visited the site in 1975, I remember the area was hilly and covered with trees and rubber plantations,” she says.

“The junction where Old Klang Road branches off from the Federal Highway used to be littered with cow dung,” she exclaims, adding that she initially wanted to buy a house in Taman Seputeh but the nearby cemetery put her off.

Another consultant says the first thing that comes to mind when Old Klang Road is mentioned is the traffic. “The road was narrow then. A small accident would cause a jam and if it rained, the road would flood,” he recalls.

He added that the traffic and flood situation in the area have seen considerable improvement since the road upgrading but adds there are too many traffic lights along the way. He agrees with Lee that there is not much land left to develop in the area, and says completed or ongoing projects include commercial developments by Glomac Bhd in OUG (OUG Square) and South Malaysia Industries Bhd in Kuchai Entrepreneurs Park (Dynasty 2 and 3).

Taman Desa, OUG and Taman Yarl

“Taman Desa is the prime location along the entire left side of Old Klang Road, primarily due to its direct connection to the Federal Highway and the KL-Seremban Highway,”

He adds that if the smaller developers in Taman Yarl read the market right for their niche projects, then the take-up rates should not be a problem. “Sales should also be good since it is in a matured housing estate. However, these projects are too small to be of any impact,”

He notes there is some upward movement in the pricing and rental of properties along Old Klang Road but it takes time for the market to adjust from the days before the road upgrade as there is limited new supply.

“People are now starting to realise that the road is relatively free of traffic and it is close to the city… demand is picking up but it still needs time for people to come in,”