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Continue Reading ⋅ 30 January 2023
The Mark @ Cheras
The Mark is a brand new and exciting concept to visit the neighbourhood of Cheras, and is according to the developer the last of the developments in the hills of Taman Bukit Segar due to unavailability of anymore land in the area. Surrounded by a plethora of high end landed developments, this residential high rise will get panoramic views of its surroundings.
The developer of The Mark, BHL, while not so well renowned in the industry is paving its way to success with another few much talked about developments in town. Attracting just as much notice with their strategic locations are the developments of KL Palace Court and USJ One Park located in Kuchai Lama and USJ respectively.
Details on The Mark
QuikPro No: PL-1700
Address: Jalan Cemara 1, Taman Bukit Segar, 43200 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan
Property Type: Serviced Apartment
Land Title: Commercial
No of Storeys: Block A: 28, Block B: 30
No. of Lifts per floor: 4
No. of Blocks: 2
Tenure: Leasehold (07/12/2102)
Bumi Discounts: 7%
Sales Gallery: On Site
Site GPS Coordinates: 3.094187, 101.753167
Website: http://themark.com.my/
Expected Date of Completion: December 2015
Total Units: 467
Built Up area: 618 sf – 1,166 sf
Special Features: 70,000 sf of facilities with a budget of RM4 million
Facilities & Amenities:
– Dance / Exercise room
– Gym room
– Garden swing
– Shiatsu pool (Hydro-gym)
– Children’s playground
– Children’s play lawn
– KTV rooms
– Clubhouse
– Reading area
– Mini theatre
– Library
– Jogging trail
– Multipurpose deck
– Convenience store
– Scented garden
– Garden lounge
– Yoga deck
– Multipurpose hall
– Office
– Cafe
– Reflexology corner
– BBQ terrace
– Children’s pool
– Jacuzzi
– Chillax lawn
– Water spouts
– Mini race car track
– Exercise lawn
– Lobby lounge
– Sauna
– Kindergarten
– Bar counter
– Mini maze garden
Listing Price: RM427,700 – RM816,900
Maintenance Fee psf: RM0.33psf (inclusive of sinking fund)
Parking Bay per Unit: 2
Unit Type:
Serviced Residence: Type A: 618 sf (1R,1B)| Type C: 833 sf (2R,2B)| Type D: 1,166 sf (3R,2B)
Shops: 10 units, 870 sf – 5,457 sf
SoSo: 36 units, 655 sf – 1,982 sf
Development Type: Serviced Residence, Shops, SoSo (Small office Smart office)
Project Details
The Mark is an almost completed development which already shows its full potential located on the top of the hill.
Still in the midst of development as of September 2015, it is uncertain if it can be completed by its deadline of December 2015. It is certainly set at the highest point of the hill, and hence has the status of being the highest building in the area.
The Mark : Still looking like a lot of development needs to be done despite the deadline set for December 2015
There are only two blocks to this development with two choices of views – the hills of Bukit Sungai Putih Forest Reserve or the landed properties of the hills. Being the tallest building in the area, residents of The Mark who opted for city view units will be able to see almost as far to the Petronas Twin Towers, while residents who obtain the hill view units, which costs marginally more, will be able to see the entire Bukit Sungai Putih Forest Reserve.
Upon reaching the site of construction, visitors will first notice the peaceful and quiet atmosphere of the area amidst the construction. Additionally, the quiet, somewhat untenanted commercial area directly opposite the residence will provide ample parking lots for visitors in the future.
Upon entering the development, visitors will notice that the road immediately ascends from the guardhouse to what in the future will be 10 units of shops. The shops will be leased out by the developer to tenants.
Curiously, although The Mark is almost completed, there are still no confirmed tenants for the shops; which is rather odd as other more well established developers already begin searching for tenants in the first year of their development. This brings about some worries on whether these shops will remain empty even after the serviced residence above have been fully tenanted.
Aside from these 10 units of shops, buyers will also want to take notice that there will be two levels of offices called SoSo (Small office, Smart office) above the shops. This will be followed by the facilities floor where the residential units begin as well. As such, noise pollution from the businesses below which resulted in the serviced apartment getting its commercial title, will not affect the residents above.
Location
Location, Location, Location
While claimed to be one of the higher end developments, there are curiously a big number of low cost high density flats on the way up the hill. These buildings are however interspersed with gated and guarded landed developments, including the highly sought after Canary Gardens.
The Canary Residence nearby
Development slow
According to the sales people of The Mark, the reason for the drastic mix of low and high end developments within the one area is due to the lack of planning during the development of Cheras in ages past. Hence although The Mark is claimed to be built within a high end area, visitors may not feel the same way during their drive up the hill.
Although claimed to have been built at a high-end area, residents may not agree
The surrounding area of the project
The Mark is located at the pinnacle of the hill, just outside the guardhouse of Taman Bukit Segar 1.
It is set against the Bukit Sungai Putih Forest Reserve, which is otherwise known as “Ah Pek San” or “Uncle Hill” to the locals. It is a protected forest reserve which runs a length of 27.94 kilometres and a size of 18.3 acres, providing a view which buyers of The Mark have to pay extra for as units facing the city are priced lower than the units facing the forest reserve.
The drive along the surroundings of the project
Views of nature aside, The Mark is also a very strategically located serviced apartment as it is within minutes of two upcoming LRT stations just down the hill, where it will be a mere 5-minute ride from The Mark to the LRT stations.
Conveniently located just outside The Mark is a bus stop opposite the development, where the RapidKL bus U47 passes by every 15 minutes during the weekdays, or every half an hour during the weekends. The timing of the buses differ occasionally, and public transport users are advised to check the timetable available at the bus stop. The buses’ route will include a stop at the LRT stations.
The bus stop opposite The Mark
Convenience is the key at The Mark. Because even though the area is quiet and peaceful, it is located just opposite a decently tenanted commercial square which hosts the popular franchise of PappaRich and the popular chain of convenience store, Speedmart 99. There is also a Sanubari tuition centre in this commercial square, and a 24-hour self service launderette; all of these face the main road. Located along the back rows are a number of well patronized mamak shops.
Tuition centres in this commercial square and a 24-hour self service launderette
Mamak restaurants nearby
The Econsave hypermart
A short drive down the hill at less than 5 minutes away is the hypermarket of Econsave, and located beside it is a sports centre by the name of Sports Affairs offering 15 badminton courts and 3 futsal courts. This is fortunate for the sports active resident of The Mark, as the serviced apartment does not offer a badminton court out of its 33 facilities.
The sports centre for your sporting activities
Chinese eateries nearby
Food options are aplenty just across the road from Econsave, catering mainly to Chinese patrons with restaurants and coffee shops which offer various types of cuisines. This commercial area also offers car workshops, stationary shops and even more tuition centres, amongst the many other services offered. This is certainly a much busier and more established commercial square than the one located just opposite The Mark. There is also a Shell petrol station almost halfway up the hill, and a Petronas petrol station just before motorists hit the main roads.
The commercial area for the neighbourhood
Aside from Econsave as a hypermarket option, Tesco Extra Cheras is located approximately 15 minutes away, while the closest shopping mall to The Mark is the ever popular modern Cheras Sentral Mall which hosts a range of the most up-to-date brands, a TGV cinema and a Jaya Grocer outlet for a more upmarket range of products as compared to the local hypermarkets.
The closest hospital to The Mark at approximately 20 minutes away is the well renowned Prince Court Medical Centre located close to the heart of KLCC, while slightly further away are the choices of Tung Shin Hospital or KPJ Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital at 25 minutes away.
Commercial area that is dotted by SMEs at your service
The most convenient highway linking The Mark to various parts of the city is the SALAK Expressway which will provide residents of The Mark convenient access to both the Kuala Lumpur city centre as well as the Federal Highway and from there to the Kerinchi Link.
Although Cheras may be centrally located with convenient access to the Kuala Lumpur city centre at 20 minutes on a good day, traffic in Cheras is generally always congested due to what some perceive as overpopulation in the area, and the ongoing construction of the LRT lines.
As such, many locals find that they have to leave their house before sunrise during the weekdays in order to avoid traffic congestion and tardiness at work. Below is an example of the afternoon traffic in Cheras on a public holiday.
The Salak Expressway in Cheras
The SALAK Expressway usually comes almost to a standstill during peak hours heading towards the city. Heading back into Cheras during after work hours are also always a nightmare, and is always made worse if there has been a downpour. Traffic during the weekends are clear in the mornings, although it begins to build up later in the day.
Analysis
With the residential units beginning from the facilities floor itself, it is not recommended for those who prefer peace and quiet to obtain units on this floor despite its lower prices as the evening activity, especially of children who will definitely be screaming in the swimming pool and playground, will definitely be on the loud side.
The facilities at The Mark deserve special mention, as out of the Gross Development Value (GDV) of RM200 million allocated to the development, the facilities which takes up an entire floor of the serviced residence gets a budget of RM4 million whereby the normal budget allocation for facilities in other residential high rises are only RM1 million.
However, in spite of its comparatively massive allocation to facilities, there will not be a badminton court, basketball court or any type of court due to space restrictions. This comes as a big disappointment for sports enthusiasts.
The units at The Mark, on the other hand, are very well-planned out and very well-built. It comes as quite a surprise that what they call a studio is actually a rather large 1-bedroom unit that has a proper living area and a proper dining area, large enough to fit at least 10 people in comfortably.
The bedroom also comes with a walk-in closet of sorts and an attached bathroom. The slack part about the bathroom is that visitors will need to walk into your bedroom to use the bathroom, but the awesome part is that you seem to get more space than you bargained for.
Every single one of the unit comes literally fully furnished and in a ready to move in condition, with dining table and chairs, sofas, television, study table, bed, 2 air-conditioners and wardrobe. The washing machine and kitchen cabinets are also provided; all you need to do is bring in your clothes and bedsheets which are not provided. The bed provided will be a double sized bed, ideal for a couple.
Unit comes fully-furnished and in a ready to move in condition
The items that are not provided are minimal, such as a shower screen in the bathroom and sadly, a clothes dryer which is a serious need at The Mark as there are no balconies nor outdoor areas in which to dry your laundry.
As a matter of fact, it comes rather as a surprise, however, that a dryer is not provided as they provide a washing machine and there is barely space left for a dryer.
The spacious and decent bathroom for The Mark units
The Mark is one of its kind in the area; it has no competing residential high rise, whether old, new or in the development stage, as there is no further space for development in the area. The only choices buyers will have if they wish to stay in this area will be to buy a landed property, of which the most affordable would be the landed properties at Bukit Segar Jaya which cost a minimum of RM820,000, a far cry from the cheapest unit at The Mark which costs a comparative mere RM400,000.
Summary
After a visit to The Mark, it is conclusively an ideal and considerably affordable place of residence in the area of Cheras. It is however more suitable for those who are already familiar with the area, as it appears to have many ‘hidden’ roads with more than one access route, and also has access to other parts of the town down the other side of the hill towards Bukit Segar Jaya 2 which is lower down the hill.
Those who are unfamiliar with the area may face difficulties navigating through the area. The shops and offices at The Mark are also a dubious idea considering that the commercial square located just opposite the development is still fairly untenanted, and residents may just have to face many months or even a permanence of untenanted shops and offices below their homes.
On the other hand, peacefulness and quietness is a guarantee with its somewhat remote location on the hill, whether buyers take the hill or city view unit, as the apartment is located far enough from the highways that they will not be able to hear any noise from the highway despite their clear and unhindered views of it.
All in all, whether The Mark is a good buy or not depends very much on the preferences of the individual making the purchase. But if looking for a new, well designed and affordable home in the midst of high end landed properties in Cheras, The Mark, pardon the pun, has decidedly made its mark on the hills of Bukit Segar.
