Coronade Twins Johor Bahru Review: From RM 450,000

Quick answer: who is Coronade Twins for?

Coronade Twins is for the buyer who wants the RTS station about 370 m away in a straight line, at the lowest entry price of any project that close. JB Sentral is about 380 m away, also in a straight line, and the entry unit is RM 450,000. It also has a family layout its one close rival lacks: a 1,230 sq ft home with 3+1 bedrooms and four bathrooms, where Aethera's four-bathroom homes start at 2,358 sq ft. It is a weaker fit for a foreign buyer of a small unit, and for anyone who wants to know the car park and the final fee before choosing. For the latest price list and available units, WhatsApp +60 17-279 8932.

My view

In one line: The lowest entry price among the projects close to the RTS station in central Johor Bahru, with a real family layout on top; the costs are a high estimated fee and two open questions, car parks and the sinking fund.

Living there: Home is inside Coronation Square. The developer's plan puts a mall, Menara Bank Rakyat and a wellness centre that is still to open within roughly 100 m of T7. Komtar JBCC is about 180 m in a straight line, Marks & Spencer about 220 m and KPJ Medical Suites about 90 m, so daily errands are a short walk. Parking takes the podium floors, Level 3A up to Level 12. Twenty homes share each floor, served by five lifts plus one; across all 539 homes that works out at about 108 per main lift, a little easier than GEN RISE's 122.

Who it suits, who it doesn't: It suits a Malaysian who works in Singapore and plans to ride the RTS to work without a car once the tower is ready, and a family that wants four bathrooms near the station. It does not suit a foreign buyer shopping at the 280 or 511 sq ft end: on that budget the Johor levy floor of RM 50,000 takes about 11% of the price. Go for the 1,230 sq ft Type D instead, which clears RM 1,000,000.

How long to hold: Completion is in 2030, about three years after the RTS Link is expected to start. I would treat Type C and Type D as homes to live in and hold. The small units will compete for tenants with a large stock: NAPIC's figure for the first half of 2026 is 9,946 finished serviced apartments still unsold in Johor, the highest in the country. If you do let a small unit, the tenant to picture is a single person who crosses to Singapore for work and wants the station close; price the rent against the many studios that tenant can choose from. For a first home near the station, Type C at 705 sq ft is the layout I would look at first: 2+1 bedrooms and two bathrooms.

Check for yourself at the viewing: how many car parks your unit gets, in writing; whether RM 0.60 per sq ft includes the sinking fund; the TEDUH project and permit T7 is sold under, and that your agreement shows the same; whether both covered bridges will be open by your handover date; and the walk from Coronation Square to Bukit Chagar.

• Suits: RTS commuters who want both Bukit Chagar and JB Sentral within about 400 m; Malaysian buyers who want the lowest entry price near the station; families who want 3+1 bedrooms and four bathrooms; foreign buyers choosing the 1,230 sq ft Type D.
• Think twice if: you are a foreigner buying a 280 or 511 sq ft unit, you need the car park confirmed before choosing, or a maintenance fee above RM 0.50 per sq ft would strain the monthly budget.

Project facts (checked, updated October 2026)

Who is the developer?

Coronade Properties Sdn Bhd is the company behind Coronation Square, the mixed development on Jalan Ibrahim that the twins belong to. The developer positions the whole square as part of the Ibrahim International Business District and describes it as a "city within a city". T7 is the North Tower of the pair.

As at 30 October 2026, KPKT's public TEDUH register lists one project for Coronade Properties, numbered 20258-1 and named Coronation Square Menara 3, whose advertising and sales permit runs to 31 May 2027; a search for Coronade Twins or T7 returns nothing. So before any money changes hands, get the developer to name the TEDUH project and permit that T7 is sold under, and make sure your agreement carries the same numbers.

What is near Coronade Twins?

Distances are straight-line distances from the project site; the actual walk or drive is longer.

The developer says covered footbridges link Coronation Square with JB Sentral and with Bukit Chagar; ask whether both will be open by your handover date. Its own list also names Maria Hospital and the Beverly Wilshire Medical Centre nearby, R&F Mall and KSL City Mall further out, and Senai and Changi airports.

How I read the location. Of the Johor Bahru projects we track, only Coronade has both Bukit Chagar and JB Sentral within 400 m in a straight line, with the old town's shops around it as well. Woodlands North is about 4 km and five minutes away by train, and immigration happens only once, before you board. The latest official word, from Malaysia's transport ministry and Singapore's LTA on 2 October 2026, is that trains should start carrying passengers in February 2027 once the safety certificate and final approvals are in; no fare has been announced. What you give up is green space: the nearest large park, Taman Istana Besar, is about 770 m away.

Which Coronade Twins layout suits you?

What I would pick. Type C is the sweet spot. At 705 sq ft it has 2+1 bedrooms and two bathrooms, enough for a couple who both cross the border, and its fee at the estimated rate is about RM 423 a month. Type D is the one that sets Coronade apart: within about 400 m of Bukit Chagar, the only other four-bathroom option is Aethera's 2,358 sq ft Type F, almost twice the size. Type A1 is the cheapest door in, but at 280 sq ft it works best for one person who is out most of the day.

What does it cost to hold each month?

Take the 280 sq ft unit at the RM 450,000 starting price. Borrow 90%, which is RM 405,000, over 35 years at 4%: the instalment is about RM 1,793 a month. Add the estimated fee of about RM 168 and the monthly bill is about RM 1,961, before utilities, insurance and the twice-yearly assessment.

The fee is the number to push on. RM 0.60 per sq ft is above the towers around it: Causewayz Square is at RM 0.36 and Aethera at RM 0.45, and both of those already cover the sinking fund. On Type C, the gap to RM 0.45 is about RM 106 a month. If the RM 0.60 estimate turns out to exclude the sinking fund, the real figure is higher still, which is why that question comes first. Stamp duty on the loan agreement is 0.5% of your loan. Our guide to maintenance fees and sinking funds explains the two parts.

Price per square foot against its neighbours

Price per sq ft here = starting price ÷ smallest unit size.

All of these are freehold.

How I read it. Coronade has the lowest ringgit entry in the table and the highest rate per square foot, because its entry unit is only 280 sq ft. Compare like with like: put Type C at 705 sq ft against the two-bedroom units on the other price lists, not the starting prices. On distance to Bukit Chagar, only Aethera matches it, and Aethera starts more than half a million ringgit higher.

If you are a Malaysian first-time buyer

The RM 450,000 entry unit sits below the RM 500,000 value limit of the first-home stamp duty exemption, open to agreements signed by 31 December 2027. It clears both the transfer duty, RM 8,000 on this unit, and the duty on your loan. The snag: the statutory declaration LHDN asks you to sign excludes serviced apartments, but the Finance Act 2025 treats them as residential. The Malaysian Bar raised exactly this with LHDN in a circular dated 16 April 2026 (No. 128/2026). My advice: keep the RM 8,000 in your budget, and treat the exemption as a bonus if LHDN accepts your declaration.

What the sale agreement protects

Your contract will be the government's standard Schedule H form for strata homes. You put down 10% when you sign; the rest is called up stage by stage as the tower rises. Hand over late and the developer owes you compensation worth 10% of the price for every year of delay, worked out by the day: about RM 123 for each day on a RM 450,000 unit. Anything defective that you flag in the first 24 months after getting your keys has to be fixed within 30 days of your written notice. Check the handover date in your own contract against the stated build time of 48 months plus 6. Schedule H itself sets 36 months from the agreement date, and TEDUH shows approved extensions for GEN RISE, Aethera and Causewayz Square, so ask the developer if the longer period for T7 has been approved, and to show you the approval.

Facilities

On the facility list: a pool with a children's pool and water play, a gym, yoga deck and playground, a childcare centre, reading spaces, a residents' lounge, two halls, a surau, changing rooms and a shared garden. A childcare centre inside the building is the item worth noticing for a young family that commutes: Aethera, the other project this close to Bukit Chagar, does not list one, and neither do GEN RISE or the three Causewayz towers.

Buying as a foreigner or from overseas

Johor's minimum price for a foreign buyer is RM 1,000,000 per unit, and every purchase needs State Authority approval. The state then takes a levy of 3%, never less than RM 30,000, plus RM 2,000 per title when you apply. Under RM 1,000,000 there is one way in: buy straight from the developer, the unit has to be a commercial-titled serviced apartment (or a SOHO), the state has to say yes, and the levy starts at RM 50,000. Coronade's commercial title keeps that door open, but only while units are still sold by the developer. MM2H holders face two floors at once, the programme's own and Johor's RM 1,000,000, and must meet whichever is higher.

Here is what that means by layout. To reach RM 1,000,000, Type A1 would need about RM 3,571 per sq ft and Type B about RM 1,957, far above the RM 1,607 entry rate, so both sit below the line. Type C needs about RM 1,418, so it can fall either side. Type D needs only about RM 813, half the entry rate, so it is on the normal route.

Living in Singapore? Expect three of its rules to follow you here. A Johor flat does not add to your ABSD property count, by IRAS's own rule. Your CPF Ordinary Account cannot pay for it, since that money is reserved for Singapore homes, so plan on cash or a loan. If you still own an HDB flat within its minimum occupation period, overseas private property is off limits too. Johor's land office says in its charter that applications of RM 10 million or less get an answer within 2 to 3 weeks; allow 1 to 3 months when JPPH needs to do a valuation.

Think about the exit too. Buy a small unit this way and the next foreign owner would need to pay at least RM 1,000,000 for it, so in practice your buyer will be a Malaysian. Our guide to Johor's foreign-buyer rules and costs works through the levy and stamp duty in full, and the RTS Link status guide tracks the opening date.

Pros and cons (my view)

How to view Coronade Twins

WhatsApp Shyan Yee (REN 46305, IQI Realty) at +60 17-279 8932 for the T7 price list and a viewing. The layouts and photos are on the Coronade Twins project page.