Monday, February 1, 2010

Bukit Kiara Properties makes foray into Ampang



KUALA LUMPUR: Bukit Kiara Properties Sdn Bhd (BKP) is moving beyond its home turf of Mont’Kiara to develop The Ambangan in the vicinity of Embassy Row in the U-Thant area of Ampang.

The exclusive freehold five-storey condominium project will have only 19 units and will be sited on slightly less than an acre in Persiaran Madge, according to BKP group managing director N. K. Tong.

Each unit will have a built-up area of about 3,000 sq ft. The area is home to several small boutique developments which have sprung up in the last 10 years.

Malaysian, South Korean and Singaporean developers had in the early part of the millennium converged on the U-Thant/Madge area because it was seen as offering an alternative to the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) site.

Divided by Jalan Tun Razak, the U-Thant area’s land prices were trailing that of the KLCC area, and because the authorities had a height restriction for the U-Thant area, the financial outlay was also reduced without compromising on exclusivity.

Rental yields in the KLCC area have of late come under pressure, while those in the highly populated Mont’Kiara have dropped since the fall of Lehman Brothers in September 2008.

N. K. Tong is the son of “Condo King” Datuk Alan Tong of the Sunrise-Mont’Kiara fame.

It was Alan Tong who saw the potential of what was then known as Segambut and renamed it Mont’Kiara. That location turned out to be a hit. When Alan Tong subsequently left Sunrise, his son set up BKP in 2000 but remained on what was then his father’s home turf. BKP has three projects, all at Mont’Kiara.

It is currently selling Verve Suites, a four-tower development, of which two towers have been fully sold, while 85% of the third tower has been sold. The fourth tower will be launched in the second half of the year.

N.K. Tong’s foray into Ampang is significant in more ways than one. Sunrise Bhd, one of the first developers in Mont’Kiara, is also beginning to go beyond the area into the city centre and Bukit Jelutong, with a new strategy to offer multiple products in multiple locations.

leecheng@thestar.com.my

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