Tiah Joo Kim’s TA Global bets big on Kuala Lumpur and Vancouver skylines

Tiah Joo Kim runs his businesses across two very different worlds. One is in Vancouver, Canada. The city ranks among the world’s top 10 most liveable cities in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2026 Global Liveability Index. It is where he lives with his family and runs the Canada-based real estate developer Holborn Group.

The other is in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he is CEO of TA Global, a diversified real estate and hospitality group. TA Global is also the parent company of Holborn Group. “I fly between Vancouver and Malaysia whenever required,” he says.

City of skyscrapers

According to the Council on Vertical Urbanism, Kuala Lumpur is ranked sixth among metropolitan areas around the world with completed skyscrapers taller than 150m. The Petronas Twin Towers, completed in 1998, were the tallest buildings in the world until 2004, when they were overtaken by Taiwan’s Taipei 101.

Read also: CloutHaus Residences: The ultimate address of luxury framing KL’s most iconic view

The tallest tower in Kuala Lumpur is now the 678.9m Merdeka 118 (completed in 2022), the second-tallest building in the world after the 828m Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The Exchange 106 at Tun Razak Exchange (TRX), at 453.6m, is now the second-tallest tower in Malaysia.

At 451.9m, the Petronas Twin Towers may now be third-tallest, but they remain Malaysia’s most famous towers. They even served as the backdrop for the 1999 heist thriller Entrapment, starring Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

TA Global is adding two new skyscrapers to the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) skyline: the 276m CloutHaus Residences, a 66-storey tower with 615 luxury serviced residences, and the neighbouring 58-storey Paradox Hotel, with 548 keys and 242 branded residences.

CloutHaus and KLCC skyline

The RM3 billion ($945 million) luxury integrated development comprising the two towers sits on a 2.26ha freehold site in the prime Jalan P Ramlee nightlife strip.

Before the site broke ground in 2025, it operated as an open-air car park for nearly three decades. TA Global acquired the site in 1999 and land-banked it.

“Opportunities to develop a site of this scale and prominence in the heart of KLCC are exceptionally rare,” says Tiah. “It is also not simply a residential proposition: the two-tower development brings together luxury residences, hotel-serviced living by Paradox Hotel, and a collection of elevated lifestyle experiences.”

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Launched in Malaysia in late 2024, CloutHaus Residences is 40% sold to date. Purchasers have hailed from more than 20 different nationalities, “which reflects the project’s strong international appeal”, according to TA Global.

An investor preview will be held in Singapore on July 25. Units range from 549 sq ft to 1,216 sq ft, with prices from $469,000 to $1.5 million.

“We want CloutHaus Residences to represent the very best of Kuala Lumpur,” says Tiah. “If we achieve that, the pricing will naturally reflect it.”

According to Knight Frank’s Wealth Report 2026, released in April, Kuala Lumpur was ranked No. 62 in the Prime International Residential Index 100, with annual price growth of 1.1% in 2025. By comparison, Tokyo, which topped the index, saw 58.5% price growth last year, while Singapore was placed 13th at 7.9%.

“Our focus is not on chasing a price point, but on creating a development that delivers lasting quality, relevance and value,” says Tiah.

Sons and fathers

This year marks Tiah’s 10th year as CEO of TA Global — he assumed the role in 2016 at the age of 36. He believes the most important lessons came from “decisions that didn’t work out”. “You will never know whether a decision was the best, even if it turns out well,” he says.

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Tiah is the son of Malaysian tycoon Tony Tiah — a well-known stockbroker in the 1990s and now executive chairman of TA Global. The elder Tiah co-founded TA Group of Companies with his wife, Alicia Tan, in 1989, with the company bearing the initials of their first names. Tan is a non-independent executive director of TA Global.

Becoming a father has also made him a better leader, Tiah adds. “I am more patient, understanding and nurturing than I was 10 years ago,” he concedes. “It’s easy to be tough and demanding and, dare I say it, unreasonable, when you’re the one calling the shots.”

However, he believes the hallmark of a good leader is the ability to nurture and bring out the best in their staff. “This requires guidance, encouragement and the ability to inspire,” notes Tiah. “It is how you build a loyal and capable team over time, and I believe we have certainly achieved this in our company. I have learnt that nothing speaks more than your actions and leadership by example.”

RM10 billion Damansara Avenue mega development

In addition to CloutHaus Residences, TA Global’s other mega development in Kuala Lumpur is the RM10 billion Damansara Avenue, a master-planned, mixed-use project on a 48-acre (19.4ha) plot in Bandar Sri Damansara, Selangor.

The latest phase launched at Damansara Avenue is Ativo Annexe, a RM3 billion, 15-acre mixed-use development where TA Global is developing the 420,000 sq ft DA Central Mall, Amaya Residences, and a Grade A strata office project, The Arden.

Amaya Residences is a 1,268-unit development across two 68-storey towers. Tower A launched in November 2024, followed by Tower B in March 2026. The Arden office tower launched in 1Q2026.

“The wider masterplan also includes hospitality, wellness, and lifestyle components, with direct connectivity to the Sri Damansara Sentral MRT Station,” says Tiah. “In that sense, we are already working across several asset classes and looking at how they can complement one another within a larger ecosystem.”

Growing in hospitality

Besides large-scale mixed-use developments, TA Global intends to expand its international hospitality arm, Paradox Hotels & Resorts, which operates six hotels around the world.

“At our core, we enjoy design,” says Tiah. “Hence, residential and hospitality projects tend to excite us more.” The most famous hotel in the portfolio is its flagship, Paradox Vancouver, which at 188m is the second-tallest tower in Vancouver after the 201m Living Shangri-La.

The 69-storey Paradox Vancouver opened in 2017 as Trump International Hotel & Tower, after it closed in 2020 amid the pandemic. It reopened in April 2022 as the Paradox Vancouver following extensive refurbishment and rebranding.

TA Global also owns and operates the Summit Lodge and Aava Whistler boutique hotels in Whistler, Canada.

In Asia Pacific, Paradox owns and operates hotels in Bangkok, Kunshan, Phuket, Singapore and Sydney.

Paradox Phuket launched in January 2022. The 22-acre beachfront hotel previously operated as Movenpick Resort & Spa Karon Beach Phuket. Paradox Singapore opened in March 2022 — it was previously the Swissôtel Merchant Court Hotel, which TA Global acquired in 2009 for $250 million.

In Australia, Paradox Sydney, which officially opened in July 2025, is a repositioning of the former Radisson Blu Plaza, a 362-room hotel within a heritage-listed building in the Sydney CBD that TA Global acquired in 1997.

TA Global also owns the Westin Melbourne, a 262-room luxury hotel on Collins Street in Melbourne’s CBD, acquired in December 2008 for A$160 million (RM389.1 million then).

The Paradox brand will also have a flag in Malaysia, next to CloutHaus Residences. “This will also allow CloutHaus residents to enjoy the convenience and five-star service standards associated with the Paradox hospitality experience,” says Tiah.

Exploring US and Japanese markets

“We will continue to look for opportunities in the countries and cities where we already have a presence — Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and Canada,” says Tiah. “We are looking at other markets like the US and Japan too.”

According to Tiah, the group is evaluating several hospitality opportunities across different countries.

In July 2026, Tiah’s Holborn Group acquired an office tower in Vancouver for $74 million from Toronto-based Allied Properties Reit. The building, constructed in 1984, has 165,855 sq ft of lettable area and was acquired at “a significant discount”, notes Tiah.

The acquisition means Holborn now owns the entire block of West Georgia Street between Bute and Thurlow streets in downtown Vancouver, according to Western Investor. The building’s neighbouring towers are the 60-storey Paradox Vancouver and the 24-storey FortisBC Centre office tower, home to Holborn’s headquarters.

Holborn has also proposed transforming two downtown blocks into 1,546 new homes, a 920-room hotel and more than 70,000 sq ft of conference space with three large ballrooms, across three towers — two with 68 storeys and one with 79 storeys. When completed, the tower will rise 1,034 ft (314.9m), making it the tallest building in western Canada.

The proposal also calls for Holborn to turn its property at 388 Abbott Street in the Downtown Eastside — currently a parking lot — into 276 social housing homes, a 37-space childcare facility, and a 5,150 sq ft Indigenous art gallery.

The Abbott Street project would be handed to the city as a community amenity contribution and is expected to include three artist-in-residence spaces for local Indigeneous artists. The estimated cost of the entire project is C$2.8 billion ($2.57 billion).

Kuala Lumpur as a global residential address

Tiah believes it’s a good time to launch CloutHaus Residences to an international audience.

“The global real estate market may not be particularly strong right now, save for certain pockets in the US,” he observes. “But CloutHaus’ location is irreplaceable and will continue to be the centre and heart of Kuala Lumpur for many years to come.”

In the World’s Best Cities 2026 ranking by Resonance Consultancy, Kuala Lumpur placed right in the middle, at 50th. It ranked fifth for labour force participation and 20th for standard of living.

“Kuala Lumpur is already a global city,” says Tiah. “We have a rich culture and a buzzing city.” It also consistently ranks among the most affordable global cities for expatriates in terms of cost of living and quality of life, he notes.

However, to become a global “residential” city, Kuala Lumpur needs to attract more foreigners and expatriates to live there. “I think for this to happen, there must first be strong economic activity capable of attracting international talent, whether through government initiatives or foreign investment,” says Tiah. “More jobs and business opportunities will naturally draw more talent to the city.”

Foreign investment surges

According to the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida), Malaysia attracted RM92.8 billion in approved investments in 1Q2026, of which RM36.6 billion (39%) was domestic and RM56.2 billion (61%) foreign.

The 1,249 approved projects spanning multiple sectors, including real estate, are expected to generate 50,226 new jobs, a 46.7% increase y-o-y, “demonstrating stronger labour market outcomes and sustained investor confidence”, according to Mida.

Japan was the largest foreign investor in 1Q2026, with RM21.5 billion — more than 13 times higher than the same period last year. China, the US, Singapore and Thailand rounded out the top five.

Mida said 93.6% of approved Japanese investments in 1Q2026 went into digital transformation activities, reflecting Malaysia’s growing role in regional high-tech and digital supply chains.

Selangor led the other states with RM33.5 billion in approved investments — almost triple the RM11.8 billion in 1Q2025 — followed by Johor and Kuala Lumpur with RM16.9 billion each. Penang attracted RM6.2 billion, followed by Sarawak with RM4 billion.

“Sustaining this momentum, and ensuring these are high-quality employment and business opportunities, will help attract international companies and the talent they bring,” says Tiah.

While economic opportunity remains a key factor, Tiah believes a company like TA Global can also do its part — building international schools and public amenities to further improve quality of life. “That is also how we think about development,” he says.

At Damansara Avenue, for instance, residences form part of a wider environment that includes workplaces, retail, hospitality, public connectivity and lifestyle amenities. “A city becomes attractive as a place to live when these elements come together, rather than when housing is developed in isolation,” says Tiah.