Mah Sing buys 14.38 acres freehold and leasehold land in Ampang for RM186.17mil for new M Araya Project

Mah Sing Group Bhd, through its wholly owned subsidiary Capitol Avenue Development Sdn Bhd, has signed conditional sale and purchase agreements for three adjoining land parcels in Ampang totalling 14.38 acres, for a combined RM186.17 million. The site sits opposite AEON BiG Ampang, in Hulu Langat district, Selangor, and will become M Araya, a serviced apartment project with an estimated GDV of RM1.92 billion.

Three parcels, two sellers, and a clean read on what leasehold status actually costs

Mah Sing's own Bursa Malaysia filing breaks the acquisition into three separate tracts, and the numbers are precise enough to do something most land-deal announcements don't let you do: see, in a single transaction, what the market actually charges for leasehold-pending-conversion status versus freehold, on land that is otherwise identical.

| Parcel | Seller | Size | Price | Tenure | Price psf | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1 | Chin & Tan Holdings Sdn Bhd | 30,447 sqm (7.53 acres) | RM109.90 mil | Freehold | ~RM335 | | 2 | Chin & Tan Holdings Sdn Bhd | 8,024 sqm (1.98 acres) | RM12.72 mil | Leasehold* | ~RM147 | | 3 | Destar Nurani (M) Sdn Bhd | 19,681 sqm (4.86 acres) | RM63.55 mil | Freehold | ~RM300 |

*Mah Sing intends to apply to convert this parcel to freehold, subject to authority approval.

The two freehold parcels transacted at roughly RM300–335 psf. The leasehold parcel — same location, same buyer, same deal, signed on the same day — went for about RM147 psf, less than half. That's not a rounding difference; it's the market pricing in the cost, delay and uncertainty of a leasehold-to-freehold conversion that hasn't happened yet. If you're valuing a leasehold parcel anywhere in the Klang Valley against comparable freehold land nearby, this transaction is about as clean a benchmark as you'll get for the size of that discount.

Blended across all three parcels, the land cost works out to roughly RM297 psf — and against a RM1.92 billion GDV, that's a land cost of about 9.7% of GDV, a ratio developers commonly use as a first check on whether a site pencils.

The project

M Araya will offer built-ups from 700 to 1,000 sq ft, with indicative pricing starting at RM399,000. Registration of interest is expected to open in the first quarter of 2027, with launch targeted for later that year, subject to approvals. The land acquisitions themselves are expected to complete in the second half of 2027.

This is Mah Sing's third project in Ampang, following M Suites and M City, both of which the company says are fully sold. Founder and group managing director Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum framed the deal as landbank replenishment in a market Mah Sing already knows well: "Ampang remains one of the Klang Valley's most established residential markets, supported by strong connectivity, comprehensive amenities and a sizeable population catchment."

Datuk Yeoh Chee Beng, CEO of Mah Sing's property subsidiaries, said M Araya is aimed at "young professionals, first-time homeowners, growing families, and existing homeowners seeking to upgrade within an established neighbourhood" — the same repeat-buyer logic behind returning to a location a developer has already sold out twice.

Connectivity and what's nearby

The site has direct access to Jalan Taman Putra and connects to the SUKE (Sungai Besi–Ulu Kelang Elevated Expressway) and AKLEH expressways, with the Ampang LRT station about 3km away. The under-construction East Klang Valley Expressway (EKVE) Section 1 will add further connectivity once complete. Nearby amenities include AEON BiG Ampang, Ampang Point, Lotus's Ampang, Ampang Hospital, Pantai Hospital Ampang and KPJ Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital.