KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 6): In City & Country's Sept 7 cover story, AmFIRST REIT (KL:AMFIRST) chairman Azlan Baqee Abdullah, CEO Chong Hong Chuon and deputy CEO and head of investment Zuhairy Md Isa discuss the REIT's challenging period and how it plans to turn around the trust. After years of being under the radar amid an office glut and muted acquisition activity, AmFIRST has been quietly repositioning its portfolio, divesting non-core assets, growing a new income stream and improving occupancy across its assets to strengthen the trust's fundamentals.

In June, it announced plans to sell Menara AmBank for RM331 million to AMMB Holdings Bhd (KL:AMBANK), a move set to improve gearing and free up headroom for its first acquisition in over a decade as it looks to diversify beyond office assets into defensive, higher-yielding asset classes.

Other stories include a MySpace segment by GreenRE Sdn Bhd executive director Ashwin Thurairajah, where he highlights the significance of certification in moving Malaysia's sustainability agenda from commitment to verified performance, reflecting the built environment sector's broader shift from pledges to proof; and a Streetscapes segment spotlighting the lively street of Jalan PJS 11/9 in Sunway City Kuala Lumpur, which has continued to enjoy strong demand and good capital appreciation.

We also have a report on the performance of the living sector in Malaysia. According to the Knight Frank Asia-Pacific Horizon report “From Niche to Core: Why Asia-Pacific Living Sectors are Entering the Mainstream”, the purpose-built workers’ accommodation is now becoming a viable asset class driven by regulatory tightening, structural foreign labour dependency and growing institutional appetite. 

In The Edge Malaysia | Savills Klang Valley Residential Property Monitor 2Q2026, Savills Malaysia director of research and consultancy Fong Kean Hwa observed that the quarter was characterised by resilient underlying demand, more selective buying patterns and continued developer discipline, with product design, price point and location proving critical to a new launch's success. 

From our Singapore counterpart, The Edge Singapore reports that more boutique hotels are expected to open at the Upper Circular Road and Beach Road in Singapore as the government announced new planning guidelines in July that allow greater flexibility for hospitality developments in the area. 

Read more in the Sept 7 issue of The Edge Malaysia weekly.

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