By The Edge Malaysia

THE sale of the freehold prime land on which the famous Hakka Restaurant sits in Jalan Raja Chulan in Kuala Lumpur is in its final stages, several sources tell The Edge.

The restaurant, touted as the oldest family-owned Hakka eatery in the city, is located on two plots of land with a combined size of 155,150 sq ft, or 3.56 acres. Lot 381 measures 74,948 sq ft while Lot 382 is 80,202 sq ft. Sources say the buyer, ­Ipoh-based luxury developer Armani Group, offered about RM5,000 psf, which works out to RM775.75 million, to the land owner Loke Wan Yat Realty Sdn Bhd.

Asked by The Edge to confirm the deal, its deputy CEO Chris Yong says: “The group continuously evaluates potential opportunities within the Klang Valley. However, as at the date of this response, the group has not entered into any agreement in relation to the Hakka Restaurant site.”

A company search on Loke Wan Yat Realty shows its shareholders are the estate of Leong Mai Leng (65.83%), Prof Loke Yung Wai (25.61%) and Ruby Loke Yuen Kin (8.56%). One of its directors is Amanda Louise Loke Kwai Lin, the great-granddaughter of Chinese tycoon Loke Yew (1846-1917).

Armani Group is developing Armani Hallson KLCC on the former site of SJKC Lai Meng in Jalan Ampang. The 2.61-acre land, which is just 300m from Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC), was sold to Magna Prima Bhd ­(KL:MAGNA) in 2010 for about RM148 million. The school was relocated to Bukit Jalil in 2013.

In January 2024, Magna Prima announced a collaboration with a subsidiary of Armani Group, Golden Rainbow View Sdn Bhd, to jointly develop the site. (Golden Rainbow View has since been renamed Armani Hallson KLCC Sdn Bhd.) Magna Prima is the land owner while the Armani Group has the full development rights. A company search of Armani Hallson KLCC shows the shareholders are Datuk Seri Wong Sze Chien, Datuk Seri Azlan Azmi and Maybank Trustees Bhd.

AskEdge data shows Wong and Datuk Seah Ley Hong, via Hallson Holdings Sdn Bhd, currently own 54.96% of Magna Prima. Last September, Wong and Seah, who is also Magna Prima’s managing director, triggered a mandatory take­over offer of the listed company via Hallson Holdings at 73 sen per share after buying a 5.66% stake from Prisma Pelangi Sdn Bhd, which brought their interest in Magna Prima to 35.73%.

The takeover offer was made to comply with the rules, given Wong and Seah’s intention to maintain Magna Prima’s listing on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia. By early November, they had closed the mandatory takeover offer with a 54.96% stake in the company.

Wong is the group executive chairman and  major shareholder of ­Armani Group. The group is said to also own shares in several listed companies, such as Tafi Industries Bhd (KL:TAFI) and Scanwolf Corp Bhd (KL:SCNWOLF). Wong is also group CEO of Tafi while Seah is CEO of Scanwolf.

Commenting on the deal, Zerin Properties founder and group CEO Previn Singhe says the reported price of around RM5,000 psf reflects both the rarity of such parcels in Kuala Lumpur’s prime city centre and the location’s strategic attributes.

“The site sits on a prominent corner between the KLCC precinct and Pavilion/TRX precinct, and is surrounded by five-star hotels, established retail destinations and has excellent public transport connectivity. Opportunities of this nature, with the land being freehold, well-located and highly visible, are extremely limited in the city,” he notes.

“In that context, the transaction signals the continued maturation of Kuala Lumpur’s prime real estate market. Pricing increasingly reflects the intrinsic value of strategic urban sites rather than purely historical benchmarks.

“From a market perspective, the price appears fair to both parties. The seller is able to realise the value of a unique asset, while the purchaser secures a landmark site in one of the most established and internationally recognisable districts in the city.”

The Edge’s property pullout City & Country reported in 2025 that Armani Hallson KLCC will comprise three towers. Blocks A and B will have 78 storeys each while Block C will have 68 storeys. Units will range from 406 sq ft to 1,440 sq ft, with prices starting at RM1,600 psf. The project was officially launched last August and had achieved a take-up rate of over 70% as at late last year. The company is also developing Armani Prestige, a 59-storey tower with 350 units in Jalan Mayang, KL, which was launched last August.

More recently, in March this year, Armani Group announced its expansion in the highlands hospitality segment with the opening of the 383-key serviced residences Oakwood Cameron Highlands. The development, which is adjacent to a golf course, is managed by The Ascott Ltd.

In 2022, The Edge reported that Tan Sri Desmond Lim Siew Choon was eyeing the Hakka Restaurant land, which is located just across from Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, at a price above RM4,000 psf, or at least RM620.6 million. However, sources said the deal fell through for several reasons, including Loke Wan Yat Realty not agreeing to the offer price and being in no hurry to sell.

Nevertheless, those linked to Loke Wan Yat Realty appear to have put up assets for sale lately. Last October, The Edge reported that three plots of adjacent land in Jalan Changkat Kia Peng in KLCC had been put up for sale by tender. Several industry experts estimate that the commercial-titled freehold plots totalling 3.55 acres could be valued at around RM3,000 psf. A land title search shows that the three lots — with the numbers 235, 236 and 244 — are registered in the name of Loke Wan Yat Realty director Amanda Louise Loke. There is an existing bungalow on the land.

The executors of the estate of Leong Mai Leng — one of the shareholders of Loke Wan Yat Realty — have previously disposed of several pieces of prime land, including the properties collectively known as the Asian Heritage Row. In 2013, in a benchmark deal, the family sold 135,356 sq ft of land in Jalan Ampang, which once housed six bungalows, including Nasi Kandar Pelita and Chef Choi restaurant, for RM446.67 million or RM3,300 psf to Singapore-based Oxley Holdings Ltd via its Malaysian subsidiary Oxley Rising Sdn Bhd.