The United States government has paid RM420 million for the lease on a parcel of land in Ampang Hilir, Kuala Lumpur, sold by the Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT) through a tender, and intends to build a new embassy on it, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin told the Dewan Rakyat on 26 October 2026.
"There was indeed a tender. Several companies submitted bids, and the Americans succeeded," Khaled said, according to FMT, as he wound up the Budget 2027 debate for his ministry. The sale followed LTAT's policies, procedures and governance requirements and was part of rebalancing the pension fund's assets, he said, The Edge reported. Only the lease changed hands: the land itself remains with the Federal Lands Commissioner.
The minister did not give the size of the land. The figures on the record come from Batu Pahat MP Onn Abu Bakar, who had asked about its status. Onn said a land search identified the parcel as Lot 11972 on Jalan U Thant, measuring 50,450 sq m, with its use restricted to residential, The Edge reported.
If those figures are right, the arithmetic is straightforward. 50,450 sq m is about 543,000 sq ft, or 12.5 acres. RM420 million over 543,000 sq ft is roughly RM773 per sq ft of land, or about RM33.7 million an acre. That is a price for a lease, not freehold, and the remaining term of the lease has not been disclosed, which matters: the same rate on a short remaining lease and on a long one would not be the same deal.
There is no official benchmark to set it against. Neither Khaled nor LTAT gave a valuation, the number of bids or the bid amounts, or who approved the sale, and the minister did not say when the sale was completed. Onn had also asked why the land was caveated by the US government, through the US embassy, on 2 December 2025, and questioned the sale given LTAT's role in looking after the welfare of armed forces personnel, including their housing. The reports of the minister's reply did not address the caveat date or the residential restriction Onn cited, or whether an embassy would need the land's permitted use changed.
The US embassy currently operates from Jalan Tun Razak. Neither the minister nor the US government has said when building in Ampang Hilir would start.
Sources: The Edge Malaysia, FMT.
