It's All About That 'wow' Factor

THE MAN WITH THE MIDAS TOUCH, ALPINE RETURN CEO ALAN KOH IS BRINGING A CELEBRITY FEEL TO HIS LATEST STARSTUDDED PROJECT.

- Holly Johnson

Alan Koh believes that success is not just about vision, but also about the ability to see an idea through from conceptualisation to implementation. It is this philosophy that guides him in his role as CEO of one of Malaysia’s most promising property developers, Alpine Return. Established as a joint venture between well-known developers Symphony Life and United Malayan Land in 2007, Alpine Return hit the ground running, developing the 1.5-hectare, RM3 billion Star Development mixed-use site in the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC).

“I joined the development as a greenfield project, from the creation of the initial concept, to the naming, designing and planning of Star Development,” Alan recalls. “It’s a special project for me, and it has been evolving from day one in all areas of building facade, public spaces and interior design to become one of the stand-out developments in Kuala Lumpur.”

With more than 30 years’ experience in the real estate industry, Alan first got his feet wet in a Japanese real estate agency in Hawaii. Eager to learn and expand his portfolio, he soon swapped out the slow Hawaiian market and returned to Asia, where the property sector was booming. Here, he rubbed shoulders with some of the region’s largest real estate firms across commercial and residential investment, asset management, real estate funds, and property development.