Idaman Residence is a luxury freehold condominium located right in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, at Jalan P. Ramlee.
Continue Reading ⋅ 19 February 2022
Sentosa Residence is strategically located along Jalan Kulim, within the bustling township of Bukit Mertajam, Penang. Sentosa Residence comprises 96 condominium units from 1,200 to 2,590 sq ft priced between RM400K- RM950K
While the market value in the land-strapped island continues to witness an uptrend, property developers are slowly establishing their presence in the mainland. This spurs property developers to activate the development activities in the mainland.
Township creations have been more frequent in the mainland now as the landbanks on the island continues to deplete.
Sentosa Residence, among others, is one upcoming developments in the former cowboy town of Bukit Mertajam, about 30 minutes from the island of Penang.
Sentosa Residence is a freehold condominium by Kenstar Sdn Bhd and Solid Balance Sdn Bhd located along Jalan Kulim. Jalan Kulim is the main road that connects Bukit Mertajam with Kulim and ends at Jalan Ciku junction near the busy market of Jalan Pasar.
Project title : Sentosa Residence
Developer : Kenstar Sdn. Bhd and Solid Balance
Location : Kampung Baru, Bukit Mertajam, Penang
Property Type : Condominium (residential)
Tenure : Freehold
Built-up Area: 1,200 – 2,590 sq.ft.
Total Units : 96 (Low density)
No. of bedrooms : 3-5
No. of bathrooms : 2 – 4
Price range :
Type A (84 units)
1,200 sq ft : Starting from RM439,000
Type B (12 units)
2,400 sq ft : Starting from RM 866,000 – RM908,000
Car park :
2 parking bays (1200 sq ft)
3 parking bays (2400 sq ft)
Expected completion : 2017
Developer’s offers : Free S&P Agreement, stamp duty and Loan’s Legal Fees
Free furnished kitchen: kitchen cabinet, kitchen top, hood and hob
Facilities :
- 24-hours security and card-access system
- Central Park
- Soft Exercise Area
- Waiting Area
- Management Office
- Community Hall
- Children’s Playground
- Lobby
- Leisure Area
- Indoor Gym
- Changing Room
- Foot Reflexology Path
- Swimming Pool
- Children Pool
Project Details
The show unit available for Sentosa Residence is the 1200 sq ft unit (Type A).
Type A Floorplan
Type A Floorplan model at the sales gallery(Image source : Penanglang.my)
Upon walking in, you will be pleasantly taken by the simple design of the interior. The unit is fairly decent, with a decent kitchen by the side of the entrance.
The kitchen beside the entrance of 1200 sq ft unit
The cabinet and the sinks are all provided by the developer so your kitchen would look exactly like this(above) upon purchase.
All the rooms are aligned in such a way that it allows a good space for its resident to make full use of the living hall space. The furniture have also been positioned cleverly in all the rooms and seemed like the interiors were done up at minimal cost and very practically.
Below is a look of the cosy unit courtesy of Kenstar Sdn Bhd.
The living hall
The size for Type B is 2,400 sq ft, which is the size of the limited and exclusive 12 units of penthouses.The price for these units hovers slightly above RM900,000.
The penthouses are located at the top-most part of the condominium with probably the best view around the Bukit Mertajam township and hilly landscapes.
Type B Floorplan
Image source : Penanglang.my
Necessary materials are being installed for the comfort and convenience of the residents.
Built-in materials provided for Sentosa Residence
The progress of the project as of January 2016 :
Construction workers hard at work to build homes for the future proud owners of Sentosa Residence
The construction site as seen from Jalan Kulim
Location
Sentosa Residence sales gallery is located along Jalan Kulim, 45 minutes from the Penang Bridge.
Getting there is a straight road ahead and is 5 minutes away from the Bukit Mertajam town along Jalan Pasar. The Sentosa Residence project site is also at the same location, right beside the sales gallery.
Sentosa Residence occupies an enviable location in Bukit Mertajam’s. It is a modern development, right opposite the popular Klinik Joe Fernandez. The sales gallery and the condominium under construction right now is side by side.
Getting to the sales gallery
We had tried to rely on the GPS and internet maps to get to the location, but the developer informed us that because the location is still new, there has yet to be an address for Sentosa Residence.
So we were asked to look out for the nearest clinics surrounding the sales gallery.
For now, you may try keying in:
Klinik Pakar Bedah Kumar, Jalan Kulim, 14000 Bukit Mertajam, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
When you are in the vicinity of the clinics, it is not hard to miss the big and clear signboard bearing Sentosa Residence’s name at the sales office compound.
The nearest town to Sentosa Residence is in the middle of the Bukit Mertajam town at Jalan Pasar.
Believe it or not, Sentosa Residence is located at a very strategic location of Kampung Baru in Bukit Mertajam and this is where also, most public transportation would pass through everyday.
Sentosa Residence is in short distance to :
- Penang Bridge
- Juru Auto-City
- Aeon Jusco
- Juru Industrial Park
- Near by to famous primary and secondary School.
- Hospital Bukit Mertajam
- Bukit Minyak Industrial Park
- KTM Station
- Tesco Alma
- Taman Rimba BM
- Sentosa Wet Market
- Kampung Baru Wet Market
Distance estimates to these locations from Sentosa Residence :
Penang Bridge 11.7km
Raja Uda 20.9km
Jalan Pasar 1.9km
Butterworth 21.7km
Bukit Tengah 6.7km
Autocity @ Juru 6.5km
Bukit Mertajam KTM station 3.6km
Kulim, Kedah 11.3km
Schools around Sentosa Residence
Close to the famous primary school like SJKC Kim Sen 0.3 KM
Close to the famous Convent High School, BM 0.5 KM.
Jit Sin High School 1 Km
Sentosa Residence is near to the Maju Jaya Business Centre at Jalan Maju, the wet market place at Jalan Pasar which is the main marketplace for Bukit Mertajam residents, famous primary and secondary school, the Hospital (2 minutes away), churches and jogging park at Tokun Hill, among others.
Maju Jaya Business Park, Bukit Mertajam
It has easy access to the North-South Expressway (NKVE), Juru Autocity and the first Penang Bridge, which is about 11.7km away and the second Penang Bridge at Batu Kawan.
People in the mainland and Bukit Mertajam travel as much by bus as they do on the island.
The new KTM station (Image source : Penang Travel Tips by Timothy Tye)
The old train station at Jalan Stesen beside the wet market at Jalan Pasar (Image source : Penang Travel Tips by Timothy Tye)
There are also taxi stations available here while the nearest KTM station is now situated in Permatang Rawa, west of the old station. The old station has also been demolished and is now replaced by the new station at Permatang Rawa.
About the New Bukit Mertajam Railway Station (ETS Train)
(GPS coordinate: 5.3664, 100.44783)
It serves as an interchange for the railway line connecting the main line to the branch line that goes to the Butterworth Railway Station. The present station was built in 2013 in anticipation of the introduction of the Electric Train Service (ETS) through it.
Now the only Intercity-train that goes to Bukit Mertajam is the Rakyat Express that operates between JB Sentral and Butterworth. You could use other Inter-city trains to travel to Parit Buntar, then catch one of the new KTM Komuter Utara Trains that run between Kamunting in Perak and Gurun in Kedah, stopping at Bukit Mertajam.
From Kuala Lumpur to Bukit Mertajam is a 4-hour train ride on the Ekspres Rakyat.
http://www.penang-traveltips.com/bukit-mertajam-railway-station.htm
Going to Penang
To go to Penang, it is easily accessible by a short 15 minutes ferry ride from the mainland at Butterworth or by driving over the 13.5 km bridge that links to the mainland near Batu Kawan.
There is also the new even longer 24 km bridge now open.
About Bukit Mertajam
Bukit Mertajam or BM in short, is known as ‘tua sua ka’ among the locals in Hokkien, meaning “the foothill of the big forest”.
Hokkien is the main language used in Penang state-wide. People young and old, regardless of race even, whenever one speaks Hokkien in Penang, one is considered as family, or in their sense ‘kaki-lang’ or ‘orang sendiri’.
‘The town of Bukit Mertajam is named after the nearby hill with the highest peak at 547m above sea level. The hill is named after the Mertajam tree (Lepisanthes rubiginosa). It is a tree with white flowers that can grow up to 5-12m tall. This hill is now used due to its height above sea level, for construction on a number of communications masts as shown in my video of the area.’
There is also a different northern accent for Bahasa Malaysia as well, and the Chinese community who live there are pretty fluent in the northern take of the national language after decades of integration in their diversity.
[Excerpts from source : SS Quah Blogspot entails a comprehensive and informative description of Bukit Mertajam and its history]
‘Bukit Mertajam is a town in Central Province Wellesley (Seberang Perai Tengah), Penang, with the Chinese community forming the majority of the total population. Jit Sin High School is one of the top performing schools in Malaysia.
The town is also famed for the St Anne’s Catholic Church, with its annual St Anne’s Novena and Feast being held every year at the end of July which attracts thousands of devotees from all around the country.
The very famous St. Anne’s Church along Jalan Kulim that draws Christians from all sects from across Malaysia every single year.
The St. Anne’s Church is just 5 minutes away from Sentosa Residence
As a major town in Province Wellesley, Bukit Mertajam serves as one of the many economic hubs in the northern region.
Short history of Bukit Mertajam (SS Quah Blogspot)
Based on the early Chinese settlers of Bukit Mertajam, the urban planning of the old section of the town was established in 1886 by the Hock Teik Cheng Sin temple community, with the Pek Kong Temple as a town core while the shops, markets and bazaars radiated around the temple.
The Hock Teik Cheng Sin Temple along Pasar Road not only served as a centre for Chinese folk religious worship but also functioned as an administrative body for the Chinese community which consisted of four clan associations. At that time, the temple community was responsible for the economic and social welfare of the Chinese community including schools, graveyards, events, social activities and properties.
Familiar sight of the market at Jalan Pasar (Pasar Road)
This is where BM locals come for breakfast and shop for their daily goods after a good traditional meal every morning
It gets crowded here in the morning
The Chinese community in Bukit Mertajam mostly of the Teochew clan. The Teochew people were from Huizhou, Guangdong, China and speaks the Teochew dialect. The Teochews once made up nearly half of the total population in Seberang Perai.’ – Source : ssquah.blogspot.my
The larger population of mainland Penang, majority Chinese community, is concentrated over here.
The population branches out further into Nibong Tebal, Jawi and Permatang Pauh, where the majority Malay community is resided.
Similar to its island counterpart, Bukit Mertajam is also home to great food, of which recipes have been passed down generation after generation. Sentosa Residence is in close proximity to an all-time old Penang food galore in the mainland. Nibong Tebal, Raja Uda, and Alma are some of the haunts by the mainlander foodies.
Analysis
We compare Sentosa Residence with its neighbor BM Parklane along Jalan Ciku, just 1 minute down the road. The BM Parklane is another new development, which is one of few very rare high-rise residences in Bukit Mertajam.
We also take one Penang property(affordable) as an example, and another from Kuala Lumpur to compare the prices of the offerings in Bukit Mertajam and in KL.
With such a generous amount of space, and which also comes with built-in materials provided by the developer, Sentosa Residence would come by as a great investment opportunity for the average KL property investor.
With a minimum of RM439,000 in mainland Penang, you get a comfortable living space of more than 1,000 sq ft.
This is unfortunate, but for this price one can only get roughly 400 sq ft studio unit beginning from the Klang Valley itself.
| Project title | Tenure/Land Title | Built-up area | Total units | Price range |
| Sentosa Residence, Bukit Mertajam (mainland) | Freehold condominium | 1,200 – 2,590 sq ft | 96 (very low density) | RM439,000 – RM908,000 |
| BM Parklane, (mainland) | Freehold mixed development | 947 – 1,513 sq ft | 278 | RM406,000 -RM600,000 |
| i-Santorini by Ideal Properties, Tg. Pinang (island) | Leasehold | 850 sq ft (standard) | 2,155 (very high density) | RM430,000 (Phase 1 & 2 sold out, Phase 3 – Mar/Apr ‘16) |
If we were to compare Sentosa Residence to some of the properties with similar sizes in Penang island, the market value in the island has gone much higher.
In Kuala Lumpur, for the size of over 2,000 sq ft, that would easily cost about over RM3million or almost akin to living next to the golf course, ranging to over RM5million.
Summary
Despite being situated at an enviable location in Bukit Mertajam’s bustling CBD at Kampong Baru, Sentosa Residence is in the centre of one of the busiest roads in town.
It is not exactly a tranquil location, because it gets busy during peak hours and during the holiday season which can get heavy even at times. Plus, there are many kinds of people passing by this location day and night. Hence, the security features of Sentosa Residence should be top notch to assure the residents of peace of mind.
Nonetheless, living in Sentosa Residence provides its residents with high access to all the necessity and entertainment in this wonderful town of Bukit Mertajam. People of BM mainly consist of nature lovers. So good news, because the drive to the nearest hiking trail is all within less than a half hour’s drive and there are many hills surrounding this classic township.
This is more of a home for people who want to live in for themselves than it is prospective for rental purposes. BM has no universities nearby, but there are banks and offices around which means that perhaps there is a smattering number of young professionals living around the location who would appreciate amenities found in Sentose Residence.
Nonetheless, Sentosa Residence is a project ideal for those looking for affordable housing in mainland Penang and it certainly has more potential than meets the eye, especially for out-of-town investors.
