Kayana Heights @ Ayuria Place
Two 39-storey apartment blocks beside TAR UMT and about two kilometres from UMS, with just two layouts — 650 and 900 sq ft — a 1.2-acre central park, and a launch figure from RM290,000 reported in the press. An entry-level home, and a student-housing play, in one building.
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Kayana Heights at a glance
Kayana Heights @ Ayuria Place is a 99-year leasehold apartment development of 866 units in two 39-storey blocks at Alamesra, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, by KTI Development Sdn Bhd. It is the apartment component of Ayuria Place, a 20-acre masterplan next to the Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology (TAR UMT) campus and roughly two kilometres from Universiti Malaysia Sabah. The first phase is Blocks A1 and A2, with 433 units each, on a six-storey podium car park, according to the developer fact sheet and brochure. There are only two layouts: a 650 sq ft two-room intermediate unit and a 900 sq ft three-room corner unit, both with two bathrooms — eight of the first and four of the second on a typical floor. The press reported a starting figure of RM290,000 at the April 2024 launch, when about 30% of the units launched were taken up, largely by civil servants from UMS, the hospitals and the police. The building is being sold two ways at once: as a starter home — it won the StarProperty Starter Home Award in 2025 — and as co-living rooms for students, with KTI signing an agreement with UMS in 2026. The developer brochure prints its Sabah developer licence 03-2028/06767 and sale permit 03-2028/05098, both issued on 18 March 2024. What is not settled in public: a firm completion date (2027 in the newest press, 2028 on the fact sheet), whether the permit you are shown covers your block, and how the co-living operation will be run and paid.
- Development
- Kayana HeightsApartments in Ayuria Place · also listed as Kayana Heights Apartment
- Developer
- KTI Development Sdn Bhd285970-K · subsidiary of KTI Landmark Berhad
- Tenure
- Leasehold 99 years1 Jan 2000 to 31 Dec 2098, per the fact sheet
- Building
- 2 × 39 storeysBlocks A1 and A2, on a 6-storey podium car park
- Units
- 866433 per block, per the developer fact sheet
- Sizes
- 650 & 900 sq ftTwo layouts, two bathrooms each
- Land
- 8.244 hectaresAbout 20.4 acres, whole Ayuria Place, per the fact sheet
- Status
- Under constructionTarget 2027 (press) to 2028 (fact sheet)
Explore related topics
Curated hubs, each with its own guide — not auto-generated tag archives.
Six things worth knowing before you book
Three are the reasons people buy here. Three are the questions I would want answered in writing first.
A university address with a real demand story
The site sits beside TAR UMT and about two kilometres from UMS's main campus. KTI's own executive has said student numbers grow by 500 to 1,000 a year while new accommodation has not grown by even 100 units a year — and in 2026 KTI signed an agreement with UMS to house students at Ayuria Place.
An entry price few KK high-rises match
The press reported Kayana Heights from RM290,000 at launch in April 2024, and even the smaller layout is a 650 sq ft two-room unit with two bathrooms. The project won the Starter Home Award at the StarProperty Awards 2025. For a first home in Kota Kinabalu, that is a low entry point for new stock.
The park and the clubhouse are part of the plan
A 1.2-acre central park, a shared clubhouse with a pool, gym, function hall and café, and twelve lifestyle shops within about 100 metres of the blocks. Note that the blocks themselves have no pool, and the developer's FAQ describes the clubhouse as a paid service — ask what it costs. The developer's line is ‘first, we built the community, then Kayana Heights’ — the landed Araya Gardens and the shops were started first.
Two completion dates in circulation
The developer fact sheet gives 48 months from the sale and purchase agreement, estimated as 2028. A broker's IPO note put Phase 1 at January 2024 to September 2027, and 2026 press says Blocks A1 and A2 are aimed for 2027. The date in your agreement is the one that binds.
Co-living terms not published
KTI markets the units as a ‘multi-income’ co-living investment, furnished and professionally managed. No operator agreement, rental split or guaranteed return has been published, and I will not describe one until it is in writing. The developer's own FAQ says units are handed over bare, without furniture. Ask for the terms before you buy on that basis.
Many identical units, more to come
866 units in two layouts in Phase 1, and three more 39-storey blocks planned for the masterplan. If you are buying to let, you are competing with hundreds of the same unit. A typical floor has four Type B corners to eight Type C, so ask how many corners are left.
The whole development, decoded
Ayuria Place is being built in pieces, and Kayana Heights is the biggest piece. The developer names four parts: Kayana Heights (apartments), Araya Gardens (42 gated two-storey superlink homes), twelve lifestyle shops for rent, and a clubhouse shared by both residential parts. The first apartment phase is Blocks A1 and A2 on one podium — 866 units. A broker's note at KTI Landmark's 2024 listing described a second phase of three more 39-storey blocks, and a 2024 press report counted 1,269 apartments in three blocks. The developer brochure confirms the arithmetic: Podium A (Blocks A1 and A2, 866 units) and Podium B (Blocks B1, B2 and B3, 1,269 units) make 2,135 apartments in five 39-storey blocks, and with the 42 houses that is the 2,177 households quoted on the developer's shops page. Everything sits on 8.244 hectares held under four master titles.
Two layouts, and what comes after
Type C · 650 sq ft
Type C: 650 sq ft, two rooms and two bathrooms, in the intermediate positions of the floor plate. The developer fact sheet allocates one car park bay. The press reported a starting figure of RM290,000 in April 2024 without naming the type; as the smaller layout, this is where the lowest figures sit. It is also the one most likely to be run as two co-living rooms — on the plan the master bedroom has an attached bathroom and the second bathroom opens off the corridor. A typical floor has eight Type C units. The brochure plan measures about 8.2 × 8.0 m overall, with estimated rooms of 2.80 × 3.97 m (master), 2.40 × 2.77 m (second room) and a 3.00 × 2.77 m living area, and ceramic tiles throughout.
Type B · 900 sq ft
Type B: 900 sq ft, three rooms and two bathrooms, in the corner positions — so windows on two sides. The fact sheet allocates two car park bays, which matters in a suburb where most households drive. A typical floor has four Type B units, one at each corner, facing either the sunset side or the Crocker Range (Kokol Hill) side on the developer's block plan. The brochure plan measures about 9.3 × 9.6 m overall, with estimated rooms of 3.10 × 3.20 m (master), 2.90 × 3.10 m and 3.20 × 2.80 m, and SPC flooring in the bedrooms. Ask how many Type B units remain on the floors you want.
Phase 2 · three more blocks
A broker's note at the June 2024 listing scheduled a second phase of three 39-storey blocks from December 2025 to September 2028, and The Sun reported 1,269 apartments of 650 to 1,000 sq ft in three blocks. The developer brochure names them Blocks B1, B2 and B3 on Podium B, over an eight-storey podium car park, and mentions a Type A of 1,000 sq ft with two car park bays — but no floor plan or room count for it has been published, and 2026 press says later phases will start once sales reach set thresholds. If you buy in Phase 1, expect construction next door for some years.
What the developer lists, and where it comes from
The first two columns combine the developer's website with the developer brochure and its FAQ; the third is the brochure's specification table. Two cautions from the developer's own FAQ: the apartment blocks have no swimming pool of their own — the pool is in the shared clubhouse, which is described as a paid service — and units are handed over bare, without furniture. A portal page also lists a minimart, which I have not seen confirmed by the developer.
Clubhouse, shared with Araya Gardens
- Swimming pool, about 9,000 sq ft
- Gymnasium
- Multipurpose function hall
- Café
- Playground and open theatre
- Open lawn
- Management office
Blocks, podium and grounds
- 1.2-acre central park (5,130 sq m)
- Jogging track and outdoor gym
- Playground and indoor playroom
- Meeting, discussion and tuition rooms
- Parcel room and food delivery stations
- Covered podium car park: 1,260 resident bays for A1 and A2; 216 visitor bays planned
- 3 passenger lifts and 1 service lift per block
- Linked pedestrian walkways
- 12 lifestyle shops within about 100 m
- Furnished co-living option with Wi-Fi, per 2026 press
Specification
- Reinforced concrete frame; RC and/or brick walls
- Ceiling height 3 m (9.8 ft) floor to slab; ceiling board in bathrooms only
- Aluminium-framed windows; timber doors; aluminium sliding door to the balcony
- Living and dining: ceramic tiles
- Bedrooms: SPC flooring in Type B, ceramic tiles in Type C
- Bathrooms, kitchen, balcony and yard: non-slip ceramic tiles
- Wall tiles to 1.5 m in bathrooms and kitchen
- 2 WCs, 2 basins, 2 shower points, 1 kitchen sink
- Water tank for each unit; refuse room on the ground floor
- Handed over bare: no furniture, no water heater
How the project got here
Both Kayana Heights layouts
The developer publishes only two layouts, and the plans below are from the developer's brochure, each with its overall dimensions and a key plan showing where the type sits on the floor; the typical floor layout of Blocks A1 and A2 is in the gallery further down. Room and bathroom counts and the corner/intermediate positions are from the developer's site, the brochure and the launch press; the car park allocation is from the developer fact sheet. A typical floor of 12 units has four Type B corners and eight Type C, per the brochure, so roughly one unit in three is a corner; the exact total of each type is not printed. A 1,000 sq ft Type A is named for the later blocks, with no plan published.
Type C — 650 sq ft, 2 rooms
Get this floor plan
Type B — 900 sq ft, 3 rooms
Get this floor planInside Kayana Heights and Ayuria Place
Where Kayana Heights sits
In Alamesra, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, on the northern side of the city, beside the TAR UMT campus and about two kilometres from Universiti Malaysia Sabah, with 1Borneo Hypermall and the Sulaman coastal highway corridor nearby. The developer brochure gives the address as Jalan Alamesra, off the Sulaman Coastal Highway, on flat land beside a mangrove riparian reserve and reached from the six-lane Jalan UMS. The Ayuria Place sales gallery is on site, beside TAR UMT. The developer's office is separately in Taman Nelly, Kolombong — some portals wrongly list that as the project address.
The map is set to Ayuria Place, Alamesra. The land is held under four master titles — CL 015719874, CL 015719892, CL 015719909 and CL 015719918 — which the developer brochure says are to be amalgamated; your own parcel will be described in your sale and purchase agreement.
- TAR UMT campusAbout 200 mper the developer
- Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS)About 2.4 kmper the developer's map; about 2 km in 2026 press
- 1Borneo HypermallAbout 1.5 kmper the developer; a portal says 0.7 km
- Hospital Universiti Malaysia SabahAbout 7.6 kmper the developer
- Kota Kinabalu city centreAbout 13 km13.4 km in the developer brochure; a broker's note says about 8 km
- Kota Kinabalu International AirportAbout 19–21 kmper the developer (two figures on its site; 19 km in the brochure)
- Sulaman coastal highwayNo figure publishedclose by, but not measured by the developer
Why there is no federal register table on this page
Peninsular project pages on this website carry a table read from teduh.kpkt.gov.my, the federal housing register — permit number, licensed developer, unit count, permitted price band, certified construction percentage.
Sabah is outside that register by design. Housing development in Sabah is licensed under Sabah’s own Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Enactment 1978 and supervised by the state, so a Sabah project will not appear on the federal register however you search.
What to ask for instead
The developer brochure prints a Sabah Housing Developer’s Licence, No. 03-2028/06767, and an Advertisement and Sale Permit, No. 03-2028/05098, both issued on 18 March 2024 and valid to 17 March 2028. Ask to see both and check them with the Sabah state housing authority. As printed, they cover the 42 Araya Gardens houses and 433 apartments in Block A1; if you are buying in Block A2, ask for the permit that covers it. The permit also expires in the year the fact sheet expects completion, so ask about its renewal. The fact sheet says the land is still under master titles, so also ask when strata titles are expected after completion.
Read the delivery clause, not the brochure. The fact sheet says 48 months from your sale and purchase agreement; press reports say 2027. The period in your agreement, and the late-delivery compensation under Sabah’s rules, are what bind.
Foreign buyers
Sabah sets its own minimum price for non-citizens and runs its own consent process, and the figures quoted for it conflict — RM1,000,000 in the Bar Council’s state table, with a lower strata figure also in circulation. At the prices reported for Kayana Heights, a non-citizen purchase is unlikely to clear any threshold I have seen quoted. If you are not Malaysian, get written confirmation through a Sabah conveyancing solicitor before you pay anything, and budget for the flat 8% stamp duty on residential purchases by non-citizens since 1 January 2026.
About KTI Development Sdn Bhd and KTI Landmark
The developer is KTI Development Sdn Bhd (285970-K), named on the official Ayuria Place website, a subsidiary of KTI Landmark Berhad, which listed on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia on 19 June 2024 and raised RM48 million. The group traces its roots to 1984, when it was started by Datuk Dr Gordon Loke and Datin Chin Mee Leen; Datuk Dr Gordon Loke is group managing director and chief executive, and the next generation — Wilson and Stella Loke — run executive and sales roles.
KTI began as a builder of police quarters and affordable housing, and it still builds much of what it sells: its listing documents describe a Sabah Grade 7 contractor licence and in-house industrialised building system (IBS) precast lines in Tuaran and Kinarut. Its best-known completed homes include Taman Nelly in Kolombong, Taman La Gloxinia and Taman Seri Lemawang in Tuaran — 811 double-storey homes built with the state housing board, of which 559 had been handed over by September 2024, when the project received a CIDB QLASSIC special award.
The high-rise record is newer and worth weighing. KTI's first large mixed-use scheme, The Logg in Luyang, was reported in May 2024 as due by December 2025 and in January 2025 as due in the first quarter of 2026 — a short slip, not a crisis, but a reminder that the dates for Kayana Heights are targets. Ayuria Place itself was first planned as about 1,600 student-housing units before being redesigned for a broader market, according to a broker's note at the listing.
Figures for the masterplan vary between sources: the developer's site says 20 acres, the developer fact sheet 8.244 hectares (20.37 acres), a broker's note 20.4 acres, and 2024 IPO press 26.3 acres with a gross development value of about RM873 million. The brochure names Arkitek OMA Sdn Bhd as the architect, with plans approved by Kota Kinabalu City Hall. I searched for litigation, abandonment and Housing Tribunal claims against KTI Development and KTI Landmark and found none reported — which is no adverse record found, not a clean bill of health.
Frequently asked questions
Where is Kayana Heights located?
Kayana Heights is in Ayuria Place at Alamesra, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, beside the TAR UMT campus and about two kilometres from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS).
The developer brochure gives the address as Jalan Alamesra, off the Sulaman Coastal Highway, about 13.4 km from the city centre and 19 km from the airport. 1Borneo Hypermall is about 1.5 km away, per the developer.
Who is the developer of Kayana Heights, and is it freehold or leasehold?
The developer is KTI Development Sdn Bhd (285970-K), a subsidiary of Bursa-listed KTI Landmark Berhad. Kayana Heights is 99-year leasehold, expiring on 31 December 2098.
The lease dates are from the developer fact sheet (it runs from 1 January 2000), so about 70 years will remain at the estimated 2028 completion. The land is under master titles for now, with strata titles to follow, and the brochure prints developer licence 03-2028/06767 and sale permit 03-2028/05098.
How many units does Kayana Heights have?
The developer fact sheet gives 866 units in the first phase: 433 in Block A1 and 433 in Block A2, both 39 storeys. Some portals list only 433, which is one block.
Ayuria Place as a whole is described in 2026 press as more than 2,100 homes, and a 2024 press report counted 1,269 apartments in a later three-block phase. The developer brochure gives the same split — 866 units on Podium A and 1,269 on Podium B, 2,135 apartments in all. That later phase has not been launched as far as I can find.
What are the layouts and sizes at Kayana Heights?
Two: Type C, 650 sq ft with two rooms and two bathrooms (intermediate), and Type B, 900 sq ft with three rooms and two bathrooms (corner). The fact sheet allocates one car park bay to Type C and two to Type B.
A typical floor has four Type B and eight Type C units, per the developer brochure. Sizes up to 1,000 sq ft were mentioned for the later blocks in 2024 press, and the brochure names a 1,000 sq ft Type A, but no layout above 900 sq ft has been published.
What are the prices at Kayana Heights?
At the April 2024 launch the press reported Kayana Heights from RM290,000. A property portal currently shows figures of roughly RM300,000 to RM338,000 (portal figure, not the developer's).
Prices differ by type, floor and facing, and I take the live price list directly from the developer. Ask me for the current price list for the type and floor you want.
When will Kayana Heights be completed?
It is not settled in public. The developer fact sheet says 48 months from the sale and purchase agreement, estimated as 2028. A broker's note at the 2024 listing scheduled Phase 1 for September 2027, and 2026 press says Blocks A1 and A2 are aimed for 2027.
Plan around the delivery period written into your agreement, not a marketing year.
Is it a good buy for letting to students?
The demand case is real: UMS and TAR UMT are within a few kilometres, and KTI signed an agreement with UMS in 2026 to provide student accommodation at Ayuria Place. The developer markets the units as furnished co-living with professional management.
The terms are not. No operator agreement, rental split or management fee for co-living has been published. Also remember that Phase 1 alone has 866 units in two layouts, so you will be letting against many identical units. The developer's own FAQ says units are handed over bare, without furniture, so furnishing is a separate cost. Ask for the co-living terms in writing.
What is the maintenance fee at Kayana Heights?
The developer fact sheet gives a combined service charge and sinking fund of RM0.30 per sq ft for the first two years, after which the management corporation sets it. On a 650 sq ft unit that is about RM195 a month, and about RM270 on 900 sq ft.
The developer brochure splits it as RM0.27 service charge plus RM0.03 sinking fund and says ‘first year’ rather than two, and the developer's FAQ describes the shared clubhouse as a paid service. Confirm the rate, the period and any clubhouse charge in your agreement.
Can a foreigner buy at Kayana Heights?
Probably not at these prices. Sabah sets its own minimum price for non-citizens, quoted as RM1,000,000 in the Bar Council's state table, with a lower strata figure also circulating — the reported Kayana Heights prices sit well below either.
The only reliable answer is written confirmation from the Sabah Lands and Surveys Department through a Sabah conveyancing solicitor. Non-citizens also pay a flat 8% stamp duty on residential purchases since 1 January 2026.
What has not been published?
A firm completion date; the exact number of units of each type; whether the sale permit you are shown covers Block A2; the co-living operator and terms; what the clubhouse costs to use; the main contractor for the blocks; and the floor plans and timing of the later three-block phase.
Every one of these can be answered in writing. Ask for them before you pay a booking fee.
A first home, or two rooms to let near UMS?
Tell me which layout, which floor range and whether you plan to live in it or let it, and I will send you what is actually left, the fact-sheet maintenance figure, and the co-living terms as soon as the developer puts them in writing. I take availability directly from the developer.
No agent fee payable by the buyer on new developer launches
Louis Koh
11 years in Malaysian property · Johor Bahru & Kuala Lumpur new launches · English & 中文
I work with cross-border buyers from Singapore and with local investors. I'll tell you when a project isn't right for you — that's usually worth more than the brochure.
Published 2026-10-05 · Last verified 2026-10-05 against the official Ayuria Place website, the developer brochure and fact sheet, KTI Landmark listing documents and press reports (Daily Express, Borneo Post, Sin Chew, The Sun, The Edge). Unit availability, pricing and charges are set by the developer and are subject to change. This page is marketing information, not an offer or a contract.
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Developer: KTI Landmark (3 developments on this site)
Where it is: Kota Kinabalu, Sabah