Asian property developer Salcon has swooped on ragtrader Roger David's former headquarters in Melbourne in response to a slowing property market in Malaysia. 
Salcon Development paid $37.88 million for the site in Claremont street, South Yarra, which is earmarked for development, in a deal negotiated by CBRE and Colliers International.
The group said in a statement to the Malaysian exchange that it was targeting Australia because of the "general slowing down in the Malaysian property market".
The two-storey Roger David office is in the centre of a development storm that has transformed a former industrial precinct into a thriving high-rise residential hub.
Salcon is a water management conglomerate which has interests in palm oil, plantations and engineering, and a market capitalisation of about $227 million on the Malaysian stock exchange.
The firm is a relative newcomer to property development in Malaysia and Australia having started its first real estate venture just three years ago in the fast-growing town of Selangor, about 10 kilometres outside Kuala Lumpur.
The Roger David family built the retail chain around menswear stores that have been run from the South Yarra office since 1980.
Last year, the firm won approval to replace the office with a 31-level, 399 unit apartment building which will tower over Melbourne High School nearby.
The eastern coast capitals, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, will see an extra 44,784 units built this year, up on last year's 36,486.