Bukit Beruntung has been the butt of jokes in the property investment circles. The very meaning of Bukit Beruntung is suppose to mean “Mount Profit”. However, Bukit Beruntung fails to live up to its name. Many people who bought into Bukit Beruntung many years ago have written it off.
In the 80s, was advertised as the next Petaling Jaya, the marketing strategy then was to let people associate the robust city of Petaling Jaya with Bukit Beruntung. During that time, Petaling Jaya was where the business and population growth was and property prices there had appreciated substantially.
The developer of Bukit Beruntung then had good ties with the state government and the next Airport terminal was suppose to be build there instead of Sepang to replace the overloaded Subang Terminal.
The other development announce was transforming Bukit Beruntung into an automobile city like Detroit in United States. It was earmarked to be a center where vehicle manufacturers and part makers would set up shop and here and as a result would create job opportunities. These job opportunities would in turn translate into city growth. However, things did not go as planned and Proton, the national car manufacturer decided to set up shop in Tanjong Malim on a new development site called Proton city, a city 35km from Bukit Beruntung.
On top of that, it was also envisioned that Bukit Beruntung to be an Educity where universities would setup shop here. It would be a university town where universities would work together and become a center of academic excellence. Today, the closes university is UNISEL.
The developer Talam Corporation, had to file for bankruptcy during the Asian Financial Crisis in 1998. Along with it all its projects were abandoned and many investors were left in a lurch. The worst hit purchasers were the ones whereby the project structure has already been erected up. Banks had already paid the developer the progressive payment and hence the debt cannot be written off from the purchasers.
Today the remnants of such abandoned units can still be seen. Rows and rows of these units litter the landscape along some of the roads on Bukit Beruntung. Most of the units have been striped until 4 walls left, scavengers came and carton off the window frames, roller shutters and glass panels.
My uncle bought a corner unit 4 storey shop house facing the trunk road at Bukit Beruntung at around RM 350,000 during that time. Today’s value would probably be worth at least RM 1mil. The project was stalled at around 80%, roofs and 4 wall all erected up but did not have CF (Certificate of Fitness) (now called CCC). He is still servicing the loan to the bank until today. As my uncle was quite diversified in his property investment, he was not too badly hit by it financially but it was nonetheless a bad experience for him.
It might seem like investing in Bukit Beruntung is taboo now but people who bought Bukit Beruntung properties whether residential or commercial for the past 5 years have seen the values of their properties go up. The opening of Tesco, KFC , Pizza Hut and Dominos’s Pizza is testament that the residents here have more spending power. It is no longer a ghost town people say. Its currently a Malay dominated area with lots of foreign workers around. The foreign workers are working at nearby factories. The state government has some plans to develop the Bukit Beruntung area but so far no firm up plans yet.
We cannot expect this place to boom massively for the next 5 years even with Tesco Hypermarket and other amenities around but I believe we can expect the area around Tesco Hypermarket to lead the growth Bukit Beruntung. Surrounding properties of Bukit Sentosa 1 like Jalan Cempaka, Jalan Orkid and Jalan Bunga Kertas will be in high demand and there will be opportunity for further capital appreciation in properties here. The Bukit Sentosa 1 area will become the epicenter of Bukit Beruntung because at this area, a hospital, good food, schools and factories are just within walking distance.
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| Tesco Hypermarket Bukit Beruntung - The center of gravity |
There are quite a number of astute investors who are very aware of the potential of Bukit Beruntung. For example, the boss of Salam Sentosa cafe is building up his property portfolio in Bukit Sentosa, around this area, he is believed to be snapping up undervalued commercial lots and turning them into his 24 hours mamak restaurant.
