Lumina Kiara

Lumina Kiara is a mixed residential development located in the heart of the Mont Kiara enclave, covering some 2.35 acres of prime real estate. A gated and guarded residential area, it is just right next to Solaris Mont Kiara, and right between La Grande Kiara and Mont Kiara Meridin further down the road. Its proximity to Solaris Mont Kiara remains a strong selling point.

Lumina Kiara is made up of 12 semi-detached houses and a condominium tower that houses 104 units.

At first glance, Lumina Kiara seems different from the other cookie cutter condominiums which can be found in central Mont Kiara, but then again it was not developed by Sunrise which means that it does not fall into the standard ‘template’ that Sunrise seemed to use to build its condominiums. To many, this is a strong selling point. 😉

When we randomly surveyed our panel of agents and a loyal band of PropertyReviews.my readers, and Lumina Kiara consistently comes up in the top five of all Mont Kiara properties. Its “Not Sunrise” equity seems to appeal to a lot of people, and it’s really no surprise because we do seem that there’s somewhat a burnout when it comes to Sunrise-templated condominiums in this area. We’ll take a closer look and see what’s in store behind that handsome Lumina Kiara facade on Jalan Kiara…

Lumina Kiara’s Configuration

Developed by ECH, Lumina consists of twelve units of semi-detached houses and 104 units of luxury condominium units. The latter are identified by the monikers “Avantgarde” (1,448 sq ft; 52 units), “Maisonette” (2,552 sq ft; 31 units), “Premier” (3,152 sq ft; 14 units) and Penthouses (3,152 sq ft; 7 units). The semi-detached houses boast of private lifts, while the condominiums are served by three lifts each (including the fire lift).

Sidenote: We have tried to dig out as much as possible about the developer but couldn’t find out much, unfortunately, except that it’s the owner of a couple of clubs (!) in KL. It does seem that the developer came out from nowhere, built Lumina, and then stopped. Kinda weird… since Lumina seems to be pretty solid. If you’ve got more information about this developer, let us know. 🙂

Right at the heart of the Mont Kiara enclave is Lumina Kiara, a luxury development sprawled on 2.35 acres of prime land.

Lumina Kiara sets itself apart from the other Mont Kiara developments with innovative design which is aesthetically pleasing.

High quality furnishings are used including premium marble, ceramic tiles, timber and aluminum frames are used for the doors and windows. Its moniker is suggestive of the overall design philosophy – of incorporating sunlight as an aesthetic feature. It’s quite unique.

The two towers that comprise the condominium component of Lumina Kiara only house six units per floor, which means that the density is low. These two 23-storey and 29-storey condominium buildings house the following:-

• 7 units of penthouses
• 14 units of Premier
• 31 units of Maisonette
• 52 units of Avantgarde

The penthouses and Premier units come with three car park bays while the rest comes with two. These may not be enough in this day and age (who are we fooling?) but there could be spare bays to be purchased for a nice sum of moolah (not sure how much – check with the management office).

Besides the quality furnishings, each unit at Lumina Kiara is equipped with intercom and CCTV systems, which are selling points for the property.

There’s also a strong emphasis on security. Each of the condominium units are wired up with intercom and CCTV systems which can be viewed from individual TV monitors. Also, there’s access control card which are required to enter the private areas as well as the lift lobby.

Facilities-wise, Lumina Kiara comes with the standard gymnasium, a heated swimming pool, sauna, a nicely landscaped garden as well as a nice BBQ area. There are separate guardhouses for both the condominium and the semi-detached houses for an added layer of security.

Lumina Kiara is seen somewhat “different” from the other Sunrise condos, and this is a good thing

Location, Location, Location…

Lumina Kiara is located just 15 minutes away from the city centre.

Its location in the busy area of Mont Kiara is both a boon and a bane to the tenants of this development. It is near a high density of clusters of condominiums which also shares the main Mont Kiara artery of Jalan Kiara – which means that there is a problem of overcrowding and heavy traffic during peak hours.

Lumina Kiara has superb connectivity to the rest of Kuala Lumpur – it is about 15 minutes to the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC). It is close to Jalan Bukit Kiara and Jalan Duta as well as the major arteries of Kuala Lumpur, namely NKVE, Penchala Link (which links it to Damansara) and the DUKE Highway.

Among the leading negative comments that we get from agents and prospective buyers is its proximity to the North-South highway (and specifically the Jalan Duta Toll Plaza). While it’s still not that bad especially when compared to Mont Kiara Meridin’s situation (we have covered that here), it could still be a point of concern for some. We would therefore recommend prospective buyers to go onsite and check this out before making any major purchase decisions… 😉

Lumina Kiara Prices (Asking & Transacted)

The launch price was at about RM450 per sq ft for its condominiums (circa 2010), and around RM2.6 million for its semi-detached houses. The asking price has soared up to RM600+ per sq ft at the time of writing. Interestingly, the neighbouring La Grande is older, but commanding prices at similar levels of the Lumina.

We usually recommend that we look at the actual transacted prices (and not just the asking prices which could be arbitrarily set by agents) – a simple method on how to value a property (Lumina Kiara or elsewhere) can be found here (free to download courtesy of GoodPlace.my).

Below is a chart depicting the trend of the asking prices for Lumina Kiara for the past few months courtesy of our kickass PropertyReviews.my Sexy Research Department:-

Data is sourced from publicly available sources, collected and updated on a monthly basis.

All In All…

Lumina Kiara comes highly recommended, but watch out for its proximity to the highway.

If you’re into fine living in the Mont Kiara area then Lumina Kiara should be one of your top choices. We like the Lumina because of its central location and its closeness to the Solaris Mont Kiara area.

We also note that Lumina is at the stretch of Jalan Kiara which is not as densely developed yet (say, compared to the main condominium areas on Jalan Kiara 1 and Jalan Kiara 3, or the stretch where Kiaraville and Seni Mont Kiara is).

We somewhat preferred the semi-detached units to the condominiums, and with the dearth of good landed property in central Mont Kiara these will be highly sought after in the time to come. The condominium units are also holding their own, and its designs and configurations are refreshingly different from the standard Mont Kiara condominium which is always a good thing.

We do have to caution prospective buyers about the highway situation, and while this does not bother many people it could well be a deal breaker for some. As always, go check it out first before plonking down your hard-earned cash. 😉

Pricing-wise, Lumina Kiara is rather competitive (by Mont Kiara standards – not KLCC) at RM750 PSF, although we suspect that the actual transacted prices are possibly 10-20% lower than this which would make it a bargain.