A HOME WHERE YOU FEEL SAFE
Moving into an apartment offers a secure space for the family to live and play in
PEOPLE who stay in condominiums often seek to upgrade to a landed property, especially if their family is expanding.
However, for Shatish Nair, 41, and wife Anushia Kannan, 39, the opposite is true as they will be shifting their family from a double-storey terrace house into an apartment.
Safety and security for their three daughters, aged 12, 11 and two, was at the top of their list of concerns.
The couple bought the house four years ago, but started looking for another place after their youngest daughter Ansheetha was born.
Their current home faces a busy main road and the safety of the active toddler was their top priority as she would often run out when the door opens.
At the playground, they cannot afford to take their eyes off her as it is not a safe space for her to run around.
So when they found out about PR1MA @ Alam Damai at Cheras during a Perbadanan PR1MA Malaysia (PR1MA) Open Day in Ara Damansara, Selangor, they immediately registered and booked a unit.
“We did not know about PR1MA until my colleague told me about the project. After some research, we found out about the Open Day, but didn’t stay long as it was too crowded.
“Later, we were invited to another Open Day event and this time, we took the opportunity to check on our eligibility to own a PR1MA unit since the banks were there too,” explained Shatish.
The two-block, eight-tower apartment offers 2,074 units with four varying built-ups ranging between 662sq ft and 1,048sq ft. Prices start from RM243,000.
Sitting on a 6ha-land, the development offers facilities such as a community hall, gymnasium, futsal courts, elderly recreational equipment and jogging track.
There is also a landscaped centre courtyard with a water feature as well as a sky garden at every fifth level and a rooftop garden on the 19th floor.
These facilities are aimed at promoting not only comfortable living, but also a healthy and balanced lifestyle for its residents.
They bought a 1,048sq ft apartment on the ninth floor that comes with three bedrooms and two parking bays. The family will be moving in this June.
Currently, the unit is being renovated, but generally, Shatish said they were more than happy with the layout, quality and design, and felt the bathrooms were beautifully done.
Having bought the unit for RM400,000, the general manager of a training company said what attracted them was the price, which remains the same, no matter the unit level.
“Usually, the price increases when an apartment is on higher floors but this arrangement makes it very affordable,” he said.
In terms of safety, the best part about PR1MA @ Alam Damai development is the private road specifically for residents.
Additionally, the project adopts a “gated and guarded” concept, and is equipped with security features such as CCTVs at the lift lobbies and carpark areas, which all goes towards ensuring the residents’ peace of mind.
The playground is located on Level 5 and Shatish feels it is safer for children since it is within the development.
“The enclosed playground allows us to keep track of Ansheetha without having to worry about her running out of the compound.”
A primary and a secondary school are located opposite the development, and nearby amenities include a police station, shopping malls, a medical centre and the Alam Damai Recreational Park.
His older daughters, Aishwarya and Deepasha, can just walk across the road to their school opposite the apartment.
Anushia, a human resources manager, added that they plan to send Ansheetha to the nursery, and later, the kindergarten, both of which are on Level 5.
“We are both working so this makes it much easier as the children won’t have to wait for us to pick them up. Since the schools are opposite, they can head home on their own,” she said.
For the couple, PR1MA @ Alam Damai is just a 30-minute drive to their office in Balakong, Selangor.
In addition to nearby public transportation hubs such as the MRT Cheras Sentral Station, Taman Suntex Station and Aman Cuepacs Station as well as the Bandar Tasik Selatan KTM Komuter station, the development is also easily accessible via major highways like the Cheras-Kajang Highway, Middle
Ring Road 2 and Silk Highway.
PR1MA was established under the 2012 PR1MA Act to roll out a thorough and extensive programme in building quality houses for the middle-income group (M40) with a household income between RM2,500 and RM15,000 a month, and owns no more than one property, living in urban and suburban areas.
“PR1MA has always been beyond brick and mortar developments. It was established with community building in mind too.
“We realise that having a home one can proudly call one’s own is a critical component in the ‘people’s happiness level’ and goes towards building the communities we envision.
“By helping the middle-income segment get on the path to home ownership, we are giving them a sense of belonging to the community,” said PR1MA chief executive officer Datuk Abdul Mutalib bin Alias.
To date, there are 45 projects currently open for sale nationwide. Some 140,000 units of PR1MA homes are under various stages of construction while 15,000 units have already been completed throughout Malaysia.
PR1MA also offers the Skim Pembiayaan Fleksibel (SPEF), a financing package exclusively for PR1MA homebuyers that provides a significant reduction in monthly home loan instalments at affordable levels.
For details, visit www.pr1ma.my