Patrick O'keeffe

Setia Eco Park, which won the International Real Estate Federation (Fiabci) Prix d’Exellence Award for World’s Best Master Plan in 2007, will be home to 11,000 residents in 2,900 homes within its 791-acres development when it is completed. Sharing the ample green space is a diverse range of flora and fauna, including various species of butterflies, birds, fishes, ducks and other animals.

With 400 acres of Setia Eco Park remaining to be developed, the whole development is expected to be completed over the next six years or so. However, it should be noted that the Developer has decided to slow down the frequency of its launches in order to preserve their landbank and focus more on value creation in the homes and the amenities in the township.

SP Setia has a unique home loan package called the ’5/95 scheme’ that is applicable exclusively to 11 of its developments in the country. Under this scheme, the buyer makes a 5% down payment with no other cash outflow until completion. The Developer bears all legal fees, stamp duty on SPA, loan agreement, memorandum of transfer and also services the interest during the construction period.

It should be noted that despite the fluctuating state of the economy, sales of the Setia Eco Park homes have been good with generally over 70% take up since the launching of their phases.

Phase 7′s Street of Arts were launched in January, 2008. Starting prices then was RM1million and the 126 units of semi-ds boasted land areas of 3,498 sq.ft onwards with built-ups of 2,900 sq.ft and above.

Their Phase 9 have 117 units of 1½-storey Summer Garden Villas. These have smaller built-ups to cater for retirees, couples or small families and the price at launch started at RM1.2million. The land area of about 5,000sq.ft offers built-ups ranging from 2,700 to 3,100 sq.ft. These 3-bedroom units can be expanded to two-levels as the Developer has ensured the foundation can support it  in order to provide the buyers the option to upgrade their home in the future.

Phase 6C was dubbed The Rainforest Villas. In this phase are eight units of lake-view and hillside bungalows located next to the 3,000-acre Bukit Cahaya forest reserve. These units have large built-ups between 8,000 and 9,000 sq.ft while the land areas are between 9,929 to 13,412 sq.ft. The villas cost RM5.2million onwards.

As an extension to Phase 6C, The Spa Villas, which are targeted at nature lovers, were unveiled last year. The 25 spa villas with individual titles will sit on a 7.5-acre gated enclave. The Developer worked with environmental non-governmental organizations to understand the natural habitat of the forest reserve before starting construction works.

The homes will enjoy cross-ventilation features that will cool down the house while the surrounding temperature is expected to be at least 2°C lower because of the forest foliage. A unique feature of these  2½-storey homes is that one level is dedicated to the spa concept where on it would be its integrated spa offering a swimming pool, Jacuzzi, steam and even massage rooms.

With a launching price of RM3.1million onwards, Setia Eco Park’s Spa Villas offer land areas of between 7,000 and 16,000 sq.ft with built-ups ranging from 8,000 to 10,000 sq.ft. The homes also come with a private lift and air filters.

The bungalow lots in Setia Eco Park were launched about six years ago at RM63 psf. In March of last year, some of these lots, with an average size of 8,300 sq.ft; changed hands at RM95 to RM103 psf. Five years ago, the first batch of semi-ds and bungalows in Phase 2 was unveiled. The semi-ds, with land sizes of 3,500 sq.ft and built-ups from 2,900 sq.ft were sold at about RM614,000 while the bungalows with land sizes from 4,478 sq.ft with built-up of 4,000 sq.ft, were sold at RM912,000.

During the September-October period of 2008, these semi-ds were transacted in the secondary market at  more than RM850,000 while the asking price for the first batch of bungalows was at RM1.4million. To add more value to the township, the Developer completed the RM150million Setia Alam interchange in 2006.

The Developer also built the Tenby private and International schools, which have already started operations. With a student population of more than 700, the Tenby educational facilities have attracted foreign residents, including those from Britain, South Africa, Namibia, the Philippines, Japan and South Korea.

In May 2007, the Developer introduced Phase 5, featuring 32 Eco Villa bungalows. With land areas of 4,400 to 7,000 sq.ft and built-ups of 3,500 sq.ft and above, these homes were sold out in four months at RM1.2million onwards. A year ago, they were going for over RM1.6million on the secondary market.

In the same year, the Developer launched more bungalows Phase 6B’s Villas Enclave. These were tagged from RM1.6million onwards, with the most expensive one costing RM3.1million. These homes have land areas of 4,500 to 12,000 sq.ft and built-ups of 3,500 sq.ft onwards.

In Phase 7C’s Solar Enclave, the Developer launched 39 bungalows with solar roof panels and rooftop garden in August 2008. The average land size of these units is 4,478 sq.ft while the built-up is 3,942 sq.ft. Prices at the time of launch was from RM1.8million onwards.

Phase 6B – Eco Villas @ Villa Enclave

Solarium B

Solarium C

Solarium C1

Phase 6C – The Spa Villas

The Amazon Villa:

The Borneo Villa:

The Costa Rican Villa:

The Hawaiian Villa:

Phase 6C – Rainforest Villas

Hill Side Villa:

Lake View Villa:

Phase 7C – The Solar Enclave

Amadeus

Bach

Rossini

Tchaikovsky

Phase 9C – Summer Garden Villas

Bonita

Camino