City of Elmina: The Jewel of Shah Alam

Shah Alam, the capital of Selangor, is renowned for its blend of sophistication and natural beauty. Nestled within this city is the City of Elmina, a township epitomising modern living. It is more than just a residential enclave; it is a masterfully planned urban township by Sime Darby Property.

From high-rise condominiums to landed properties, Shah Alam provides a variety of housing options to cater to different lifestyle needs. The diverse selection comes from developments such as Setia Alam, Bukit Jelutong, Alam Impian, and the City of Elmina.

As the property market in Shah Alam continues to evolve, the enhancements such as the RM7 million linear park along Federal Highway, RM2 billion project across several plots in Section 14, Damansara-Shah Alam Elevated Expressway (DASH), and more, have played a role in the value of properties there.

Based on iProperty.com.my transactions, the median price for properties in Shah Alam is RM601,000, while the median price per sq ft is RM393. It shows an increase year-on-year (YoY) of around 20% and 8%, respectively, from April 2023 to March 2024.

The five projects or townships with the highest transactions in Shah Alam are Alam Impian, Elmina West, Seksyen 30, Kota Kemuning and Taman Sri Muda.

Property Spotlight: City of Elmina in Shah Alam

Nestled within Shah Alam sits City of Elmina, a 6,500-acre integrated township along the Guthrie Corridor. The township has won numerous awards, including World Gold in the Masterplan category of the internationally acclaimed FIABCI World Prix d’Excellence Awards 2023.

The RM30 billion development of City of Elmina began in the year 2000, and it has a 40-year development plan. Developed by Sime Darby Property, the City of Elmina aims to be a holistic wellness-oriented development based on 8 pillars of wellness – community, environmental, intellectual, family, occupational, physical, emotional, and mental wellness.

The township, and it features a 300-acre central park and a total of 480 acres of pocket parks, a 90km cycling and jogging track, a central commercial district with shopping malls and offices, an education hub, a healthcare and wellness centre, and two proposed public transport lines.

Upon full completion, the City of Elmina will have approximately 36,000 homes with an estimated population of 150,000. Currently, the City of Elmina has approximately 45,000 residents.

A Tapestry of Developments

The City of Elmina isn’t just a collection of houses; it’s designed to foster a healthy and convenient lifestyle. If you’re looking to invest or live in such a township, here are the different areas in the City of Elmina.

Areas	Median Price	Median Price Per Sq Ft
Bukit Subang Bukit Subang 1: 250 acres Bukit Subang 2: 1,000 acres Bukit Subang 3: 700 acres	RM620,000	RM415
Denai Alam 1,000 acres	RM920,000	RM442
Elmina East 1,088 acres	RM1,102,500	RM466
Elmina West 2,662 acres	RM1,409,888	RM541
Elmina Business Park 1,500 acres	RM18,399,888 (based on Elmina East Industrial)	RM214 (based on Elmina East Industrial)

Note: The median prices are based on transaction prices on iProperty.com.my, and most areas saw a lift in median prices year-on-year (YoY).

Recent Residential Launches

The latest residential launch in the City of Elmina is Elmina Ridge 1 (Phase 1), which was launched in April 2024. On 28 May 2024, it was reported that all 122 units launched during Phase 1 had been fully taken up.

Elmina Ridge is a low-density, nature-friendly and family-centric precinct. The homes are priced from RM1.2mil for superlink (4 bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms and a built-up area ranging from 2,265 to 2,697 sq ft), from RM1.5mil for cluster (4+1 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, with a built-up area of 2,732 sq ft), and from RM2mil for semi-Ds (4+1 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms and a family area on the first floor, with a built-up area of 3,237 sq ft).

Each home is fitted with solar panels and battery, EV charger isolator point, roof insulation using glass mineral wool materials, digital locksets for the main door, and skylight roof panel for more natural lighting and indoor planting.

Elmina Ridge is the final precinct to be established by the 2,700-acre Bukit Cherakah Forest Reserve. It is also accessible to the upcoming Elmina Lakeside Mall, Elmina Central Park, Guthrie Corridor Expressway and Damansara-Shah Alam Elevated Expressway (DASH).

Phase 2 of Elmina Ridge, will comprise 58 units of superlink homes and 48 units of semi-detached homes, and it is currently open for priority registration.

Other Launches of Freehold Properties at the City of Elmina

Each development offers unique architectural styles and amenities tailored to diverse lifestyle preferences.

Property	Launched	Land Size	Built-up	Bedrooms
Elmina Green Seven	June 2023	24′ x 80′ Double storey link homes	From 2,363 sq ft	Up to 4 + 1 bedrooms, up to 5 bathrooms
The Eighth, Elmina Green	April 2023	40′ x 80′ Semi-D	From 3,043 sq ft	Up to 4 + 1 bedrooms, up to 5 bathrooms
Ilham Residence 3	March 2023	20′ x 70′ Double storey link homes	From 1,944 sq ft	Up to 4 bedrooms, up to 4 bathrooms
Elmina Green Six	June 2022	20′ x 80′ Double storey link homes	From 2,279 sq ft	Up to 4 + 1 bedrooms, up to 5 bathrooms
Ilham Residence 2	April 2022	24′ x 65′ Stratified link homes	From 2,468 sq ft	Up to 4 bedrooms, up to 4 bathrooms
Hevea Elmina Gardens	April 2021 (Phase 2)	40′ x 90′ Semi-D & Bungalows	Up to 4,235 sq ft	Up to 5 + 1 bedrooms, up to 6 bathrooms

Key Developments at the City of Elmina

City of Elmina is developed in line with specifications set out by Mercer’s Quality of Living Survey, an internationally recognised standard that measures livability in terms of healthcare, education, hygiene, culture, safety, environment, recreation, political and economic stability, and public transport. Thus, the City of Elmina features several key components:

1. Elmina Central Park

This park spans 300 acres, and it features jogging tracks, cycling paths, and serene lakes. When completed, the park will be divided into five sub-themed parks — Community Park, Urban Park, Cultural Park, Forest Park, and Sports Park. Each comes with its own unique design and facilities ranging from boulevards, picnic areas, community halls, sports fields and even a velodrome.

It also has nice photo-taking spots — a colourful rainbow walkway and the Elmina Iconic Bridge.

2. Elmina Lakeside Mall

The mall is over 200,000 sq ft, and it will offer a mix of retail space with various dining and lifestyle options. The developer designed Elmina Lakeside Mall with an al fresco retail concept infused with biophilic elements, embodied in the lakeside dining outlets, landscaped boulevards, water features and natural surroundings.

Another notable feature is the mall’s lakeside promenade, fronting the 35-acre Urban Park complete with an open plaza, fields, water trails, and multiple play features. Elmina Lakeside Mall is set to open in July 2024.

3. Elmina Education Hub

This hub plans to accommodate an array of educational options including national, vernacular and international schools. SJK(C) Regent Elmina is expected to be completed by 2025 and ready for enrolment in the following year.

There is also SK Denai Alam National Primary School and SMK Denai Alam National Secondary School in the plan. International schools are also expected to be a part of the Elmina Education Hub.

4. Elmina Business Park

The 1,500-acre business park is the largest freehold business park in the Klang Valley and the first wellness-oriented industrial master plan in Malaysia.

It features a complete industrial ecosystem offering industrial developments that are equipped with facilities and amenities such as recreational parks, sports avenues and a proposed business support centre with a co-working space.

With a master development plan of 20 years, Elmina Business Park will comprise 1,300 industrial units and 183 commercial units, with employment projections of 35,000.

5. Elmina City Centre

This 300-acre development will be gradually developed from 2024 to 2036, and it’s expected to be the catalyst for the area’s economic growth, creating employment opportunities and better standard of living.

The Elmina City Centre will house serviced apartments, mixed-use commercial buildings, a transit hub with direct access to future LRT and MRT extensions, offices, a wellness and hospitality hub, and an integrated education corridor.

A Focus on Green Living

The City of Elmina is a wellness-centric and environmental township, as Sime Darby Property believes that the key to developing a thriving township is sustainability and livability.

For example, they plan to incorporate cost-saving features into the township, such as a rainwater harvesting system, LED street lights and well-ventilated products that reduce the need for air conditioning.

Additionally, there’s the pride of the City of Elmina, Central Park — an urban rainforest replanted with native forest trees including ERT (Endangered Rare & Threatened) species. It comprises six themed parks, namely the Community, Urban, Arts and Cultural, Forest, Wildlife and Sports.

Sime Darby Property has also partnered with the Tropical Rainforest Conservation and Research Centre (TRCRC) to establish the Elmina Rainforest Knowledge Centre (ERKC) — a hub to promote forestry research, conservation, education, and other green activities for the community within and beyond the City of Elmina.

It aims to connect humans and nature, with engaging community programmes and a tree nursery facility that can produce up to 100,000 Endangered, Rare and Threatened (ERT) trees.  

These native ERT trees will be re-planted across the City of Elmina and other Sime Darby Property’s townships as part of the developer’s reforestation efforts. The City of Elmina aims to plant 210,000 trees upon completion of the township, 21,000 of them being ERT tree species.  

A Self-Sufficient Ecosystem

The City of Elmina strives to be a self-contained ecosystem. Residents have access to various amenities within the township itself, as detailed above. In addition to urban convenience, the City of Elmina also has the Temu Commercial Centre at Elmina East.

Temu Commercial Centre is the first lifestyle-centric commercial precinct in the area, which was officially opened to the public in November 2022. It has a wide variety of restaurants, convenience stores, and retail stores, including The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Pizza Hut, FamilyMart, Miami Chicken, Klinik RH Medic, R Pharmacy, and WLH Grocer, as well as optical shops, child enrichment centres, auto spas, eateries, and more.

Facing the main access road with high daily traffic volume, Temu is easily accessible and highly visible. It is also close to various hotspots — 3km from HELP Subang 2 campus, 5km to Kwasa Damansara, and 8km to Subang Skypark.

Apart from the Temu Commercial Centre, residents have a wide variety of amenities to choose from that are close to the township.

Shopping Malls

• Sunway Giza Mall – 12.8km
• Citta Mall – 13.3km
• 1 Utama – 15.7km
• The Curve – 16.2km
• IKEA Damansara – 18.9km
• Setia City Mall – 23.7km

Educational Institutions

• SRK Bukit Subang – 3.2km
• HELP International School & University – 3.6km
• Sekolah Seri Cahaya – 6.9km
• SEGi Univesity – 11.9km

Medical Centres

• Putra Medical Centre Bukit Rahman Putra – 8.1km
• Ramsay Sime Darby Ara Damansara Medical Centre – 11.1km
• Tropicana Medical Centre – 11.4km

Golf Clubs

• Denai Alam Recreational & Riding Club – 5.8km
• Monterez Golf & Country Club – 8km
• Kelab Rekreasi Tentera Udara – 9.8km
• Kelab Golf Seri Selangor – 12.7km
• Saujana Golf & Country Club – 12.9km

A Well-Connected Township

One of City of Elmina’s key features is its accessibility to highways such as the:

• Guthrie Corridor Expressway (GCE) – 2.4km
• Kuala Lumpur – Kuala Selangor Expressway (LATAR) – 14.5km
• North-South Expressway Central Link (ELITE) – 14.6km
• New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE) – 14.6km
• Damansara-Puchong Expressway (LDP) – 15.2km

The completion of the 21.1km Damansara-Shah Alam Elevated Expressway (DASH) has elevated the City of Elmina’s appeal, as DASH connects the township to other popular areas such as Kota Damansara, Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya and Mont Kiara.

Additionally, the City of Elmina is located close to the Subang airport, which is about 1.5km away.

As for public transport, an MRT station in Elmina City Centre will be established as an extension of the Sungai Buloh MRT station in the Sungai Buloh-Kajang MRT Line. This will connect the City of Elmina to other parts of the Klang Valley and Bukit Raja, Klang. Another line extension will be from the Shah Alam Stadium LRT station to Denai Alam and Elmina City Centre before going to the northern part of the City of Elmina.

The MRT and LRT stations will form an interchange at Elmina City Centre, and Sime Darby Property plans to build a transit-oriented development with the interchange.

An Investment Landscape

With its diverse offerings, the City of Elmina caters well for various residents and investors. The township’s strategic location and comprehensive amenities make it an attractive choice for both commercial and residential investments. Following the success of Sime Darby Property’s earlier townships, such as Taman Melawati and Subang Jaya, the City of Elmina is likely to provide opportunities for long-term capital appreciation as the freehold properties in the township continue to flourish.

With 25 active townships and developments under its belt, Sime Darby Property has assets and operations across the country, and even in the United Kingdom as part of a Malaysian consortium that developed the Battersea Power Station in Central London.