KUALA LUMPUR: Ireka Corp is buying about one-acre of prime land on Jalan Kia Peng, where the Top Hat Restaurant once sat, from members of the Kuok family for RM87 million, or about RM2,000 psf.

Vendors of the land are Kuok Chiu Hoon Selina, Kim Kuok Strickland (formerly known as Kuok King Hoon Kim) and Farah Azman, all related to Tan Sri Robert Kuok, Malaysia’s richest man.

Although Ireka Corp, through wholly-owned subsidiary World Trade Frontier Sdn Bhd, is the buyer of the land, it will be jointly owned and developed with Aseana Properties Ltd (APL). Paving the way for this was the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Ireka Corp and the Asean Properties today (Dec 11), the same day the land deal was inked.

With the signing of the land sales and purchase agreement today, the vendors, represented by Zerin Properties, will not trigger the 5% fixed real property gains tax (RPGT) effective Jan 1, 2010.

The Lai Siew Wah family controlled Ireka Corp together with the Lai family own about 40% of Asean Properties, a property development company listed on the London Stock Exchange since April 2007.  The company was established to take advantage of the upmarket segment of property development opportunities in Vietnam and Malaysia.

Subject to approvals, Ireka and Aseana would put up on the land, which has a commercial title, small to medium-sized up market serviced residences that will appeal to the growing cosmopolitan lifestyle of urban Malaysians and foreigners who desire to live near the famed KLCC Park and Petronas Twin Towers. The planned one-tower project has an estimated gross development value of RM272 million.

This latest land deal in the KLCC area comes on the heels of the acquisition last month of the Bok House site, just a stone’s throw away from the Petronas Twin Towers, by Dijaya Corp Bhd for about RM2,200 psf.

In May last year, Sunrise Bhd acquired the 24-storey Wisma Angkasa Raya, which separates the Bok House land on Jalan Ampang and the Petronas Twin Towers, for RM2,588 psf.

A month before that in April 2008, the YTL Group acquired a one-acre tract on Jalan Stonor, also in the KLCC area but further away from the Twin Towers, for RM2,000 psf.
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