Area Focus: Ampang

By: Jotham Lim

HISTORY OF AMPANG

To better understand the Ampang region as a whole, it pays to learn about the history of the people living in the area who have shaped the culture of the community to what it is today. In fact, the glorious city of Kuala Lumpur that we Malaysians are proud of would not come to fruition without the help of the district of Ampang.

Raja Abdullah, the first Ruler in the District of Klang, brought along a group of 87 Chinese workers to prospect the area for tin mining. Sadly, 69 of them died within a month due to malaria, but 150 more were sent to excavate the land. Soon, there were fewer deaths, and the first tin was exported in 1859.

With that, came the booming tin mining industry which funded the development of the Kuala Lumpur region. There was rapid growth, which then gave birth to prominent leaders such as the famous “Kapitan Cina”, Yap Ah Loy.

A dam was constructed, stretching over from Bukit Belacan to a town area which we now know as Ampang Point. The Malay term for dam “empang” was mispronounced as “Ampang” by the Chinese tin miners, so much so that it became the official name of the region itself.

Ampang  has its fair share of violent. The region was taken over by the Communists for 14 days during the end of World War 2. Within the period, Bukit Belacan was the site used to decapitate the heads of Japanese sympathizers and followers.

However, Ampang was excluded from riots thanks to the leadership and wisdom amongst the community leaders’ which dribbled down to the Malay and Chinese communities during the 13th May riots in 1969.

AMPANG SPLIT IN TWAIN

Running through Kuala Lumpur City Centre, Jalan Ampang is probably one of the most famous and busiest roads in Kuala Lumpur. Lining on both sides are prominent business towers, embassies, celebrated hotels, shopping malls, and not to forget our national icon, the Petronas Twin Towers.

However, at Ampang Point is where Jalan Ampang is divided into two. Initially, under the jurisdiction of Selangor, the Ampang district was spit in the year 1974 following the declaration of Kuala Lumpur as a Federal Territory.

The west of Ampang Point (also known as Ampang Hilir) is under the purview of Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), while the east is under the purview of Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ)

IS AMPANG SAFE TO LIVE IN?

Homebuyers looking to move into Ampang might be worried about the crime rate in the area. After all, in early 2018, Ampang scored one of the highest in the Perception of Crime Indicator (PCI) amongst the district of Selangor.

Overall crime statistics have dropped year-on-year which is a good sign for Ampang, despite a spike in violent cases in 2017.

But to truly understand how safe Ampang is, let’s compare it to Petaling Jaya, a city where the City Council itself (MBPJ) itself admits to having the highest crime rate in Selangor*.

According to the population data released by both city councils, the district of Am pang Jaya is relatively safe with 4.6 crime cases for every 1,000 residents, compared to Petaling Jaya which has about 6.8 crimes per 1000 residents*.

*This was revealed during a seminar hosted by MPPJ in October 2015 **Data collected from both city councils and Department of Statistics Malaysia

WHAT DEFINES THE AMPANG REGION?

There are several pockets of large lakes spread across the region, a relic of the past from the tin-mining days.

Over to the West, nature has taken centre stage with plenty of greenery in the area. Highlights include the Saga Hill and the Ampang Recreational Forest, a great weekend getaway for young couples and families. In the North is Zoo Negara Malaysia, managed by the Malaysian Zoological Society and home to more than 5,000 animals from 476 different species.

Pre-war buildings line up alongside the famous Ampang Road, many of them renovated and modernised to suit the 21st-century lifestyle. No stranger to art and culture, The National Art Gallery is located in the DBKL downtown area, and beside it, the Istana Budaya, Malaysia’s cultural centre where performances and theatres are held.

Property Insight has also reached out to the Ampang New Village Chief, Mr Ho Hoong Chor to chime in his thoughts on Ampang.

“I have lived in Ampang New Village since birth for more than 60 years. The village’s Nine Emporer Temple have already existed for more than 100 years, way before I was even born. It started out as a small building, but slowly expanded and become modernised to what it is today.

I love Ampang’s rich culture and history and the committee has plans to turn Ampang New Village into a cultured, heritage site. We are collecting, archiving and preserving all the historical information about Am pang. Did you know, the Chinese term for the “Am” in “Ampang” used to mean darkness, rather than peaceful? Even the name of the district has changed across the years.

Now with so many rapid developments going on in the district, the traffic in the area is slowly increasing. Our roads are not built for large amounts of traffic, and I hope that there will be better road infrastructures in the future,” said Ho.

NEW ADDITIONS

Strangely enough, there are new residential property launches in Ampang Jaya whatsoever. Jalan Ampang, however, has received a lot of attention by developers with plenty of new project completions and launches in the area.

You have NOVO, a luxurious 38-storey serviced apartment by Sheng Tai International Sdn Bhd and Alfranko Development Sdn Bhd, that was just completed in December 2018 with prices coming up to about R M1,500 psf.

M City, another mixed development of serviced apartments by Mah Sing Berhad, and was fully completed in early 2017. Having an added benefit of being situated closer and having better visibility from the Middle Ring Road 2 (MRR2), the prices of the units in M City starts from about R M1,400 psf.

The newly launched Datum Jelatek is a mixed development project by Datumcorp International Sdn Bhd, and it features the country’s first sky ring bridge. The project is scheduled for completion early in the year 2020, and has a starting price of RM1,341 psf.

IS IT A GOOD BUY?

To answer the key question that many readers have in mind, the answer is an astounding “it depends”. Ampang is a large town rich with diversity, and answers will vary depending on location, demographic and subjective individual taste.

What is objective, however, is cold hard data. We will focus mainly on the Jalan Ampang, as transactions and new launches are concentrated in the area.

WHAT DOES THE EXPERT SAY?

Datuk Paul Khong
Managing Director
Savills Malaysia – Global Real Estate
Service Provider

Jalan Ampang is always known as the Embassy Enclave of KL. Over the recent 5 years, we have seen the British Embassy and French Embassy lands being sold at good prices of above RM2,000 psf and subsequently planned for redevelopment. Thailand, China and Russian embassies are still sited here along Jalan Ampang.

Over the entire stretch of Jalan Ampang – the Embassy Row from DoubleTree Hilton thru to Gleneagles Hospital, we see a varied mix usage of commercial projects. Many of the existing developments here have basically out-lived their existing economic life and parts of it are looking a little tired.

Many of these plots are now under-utilised and are presently used as old commercial furniture showrooms, used car open yards, restaurant premises and temporary structures for various commercial uses.

There are also new developments such as The International School of Kuala Lumpur (ISKL), The Linc Ampang street mall, the ongoing Pavillion at Jalan Ampang, Mah Sing’s M-City, BSG’s Reizz and L&G’s Elements.

We also have an existing mixture of developments here which range from Malls like the Great Eastern Mall and office buildings, hospitals such as Gleneagles and Ampang Puteri and its medical suites around to hotel apartments and various types of showrooms straddling Jalan Ampang.

On the southern side, we have the residential areas of Jalan U Thant, which is named after former United Nation Secretary. General U Thant, Ampang Hilir, Madge, Langgak Golf and also the infamous landmark of the Royal Selangor Golf Course (RSGC).

Many of the older bungalows here are already heading for low-density condo redevelopments. Based on the planning requirements in the Kuala Lumpur City Plan 2020, most lands with Jalan Ampang frontage has commercial zoning with a plot ratio of 6 whilst most secondary parcels would be residential with a density of 260 people per acre.

We will continue to see Jalan Ampang, specifically the Embassy Row, holding on to a more commercial front with its present zoning, and also the newer developments here will be more retail and service apartment focused.

This development trend will continue on when the current market conditions strengthen and demand for high-end condos returns. Looking at the price trend, general property prices here in Jalan Ampang peaked in 2014 at RM1,250 psf. Prices subsequently stabilised at about RM1,000 psf thru into 2017 and improved in 2018.

The completion of ISKL has brought back some light to this neighbourhood. The Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) for this area was a slight negative over a 5-year period due to the current difficult market conditions and the present oversupply position.

The residential market has generally not been favourable to the local condo market and overhang properties reported in Kuala Lumpur stands at 2,700 units as per NAPIC’s figures, in 2018 with about 25 per cent unsold units above the RM1,000,000 per unit pricing.

It will still take some time for the overhang to be absorbed and prices are expected to remain flat with nominal price movements in the short-medium term. Stretching over to the KLCC side of Jalan Ampang, various office towers and five-star hotels populate this locality such as Integra Tower, Menara Citibank and Intercontinental Hotel, Petronas Twin Towers, Menara Maxis and W Kuala Lumpur, to name a few.

WHAT DOES THE DOCTOR SAY?

Dr Victor Gan
Property investor, advisor & public
speaker

Ampang, in general, has always been one of the few favourite places for expatriates to live in due to the various embassies concentrated in that area, as well as its proximity to Kuala Lumpur City Centre which is home to many oil & gas companies.

However, when the petrol price began to drop in 2015, there has been a noticeably lesser amount of expatriates living in this area, partly due to cost-cutting measures as a means to stay afloat during hard times.

The demographics of this area has therefore significantly changed over the past four years.

There have been a lot of new projects coming up around Ampang as of late, the most recently completed is Arte Plus by Nusmetro. The rental price of a two bedroom suite is around RM2200-2700, a figure that is hard to sustain without the heavy presence of short term rental services like AirBnB.

In my opinion, the only places in which the rental prices have sustained well thus far are those older condominiums dotting Taman U-Thant. Places like Brunsfield or 7 U Thant has historically been the preferred choice for expatriates to stay. A two bedroom in Brunsfield today can easily fetch an R M3500-4500 monthly rental.

Property investment may not be as simple as it used to be, due to the changing demographics in the area. However, I do believe that there are hidden property gems which can still be found, more so in this current market climate. The key is to keep looking, keep hunting to find that diamond in the rough.

Armed with data and comments from experts, Property Insight has reached out to representatives from Datumcorp to get their comments on why the decision to build Datum Jelatek at Jalan Ampang.

“Datum Jelatek is located in the prestigious portion of the Am pa ng neighbourhood, which is known for its cluster of embassies within the ’embassy row’ and an international community. The site has a great locale, just ten minutes away or less from Kuala Lumpur City Centre, LRT integration with Datum Mall, and is four stops away from the Golden Triangle where retail, entertainment, F&B options are plentiful,” they said.

Datum also pointed out that the area is also surrounded by a host of amenities and facilities including six world-class education institutions including the International School of Kuala Lumpur and four renowned centres such as Gleneagles and Prince Court.

In addition, the National Zoo is a 15-minute drive away and Genting Highlands is only a 45-minute drive away for leisure or day trips with families.

“Am pang also has plenty of accessibility with its connecting highways to and from Jalan Ampang along with the MRR2, DUKE 2, AKLEH, Jalan Tun Razak as well as DUKE 3 & SUKE Highway which will be completed soon,” Datumcorp further commented.

When we asked for their thoughts on the changing expatriate population in the area, Datumcorp replied, “From our observation, we believe that the Ampang area still retained its international community.”

The company believes the future of the area is inevitably promising with the “Greater KL Plan”. “We expect a positive impact on the area, which will translate into capital appreciation and good rental yields. Upcoming amenities will include five MRT lines, Tun Razak Exchange and the 118-storey PN B118 Tower of Warisan Merdeka, which will add value to the area,” they said. -JL