A PRIVATELY-HELD vehicle controlled by logistics and real estate tycoon Tan Yeow Khoon has been tipped as the likely buyer of 35 Ridout Road. Market talk is that he is expected to walk away with the 73,277 sq ft freehold site for slightly over S$90 million.
At S$90 million, the price works out to S$1,228 psf on land. The property - which is located within the cul-de-sac of Ridout Road, Swettenham Road and Peel Road - is nestled in a tranquil environment among lush greenery.
On an absolute quantum price basis, this is believed to be the biggest transaction in a Good Class Bungalow (GCB) Area.
The price is slightly higher than the previous record of S$87.5 million set in 2001 involving a 291,000 sq ft parcel in Swettenham Road in an asset swop deal between Singapore Press Holdings and Lum Chang.
Mr Tan, who is chairman of listed Cogent Holdings, is said to be making the purchase with a view to building a house for his family; they currently reside in Sentosa Cove.
However, market watchers suggest it may be possible that the family could carve out part of the Ridout Road site for sale - beyond what they require to build their own house.
The sprawling land is large enough to be potentially subdivided into as many as four smaller plots of at least 1,400 sq m (15,069.46 sq ft).
This is the minimum land area stipulated by the Urban Redevelopment Authority for GCBs - the most prestigious type of landed housing in Singapore.
On the site currently are an original two-storey bungalow with two single-storey outhouses and a large open green field on an elevated level.
The trustee sale came on the market in March due to a court order arising from the resolution of a dispute in the family of the late property tycoon Chow Cho Poon.
Among the properties he developed was the former Chow House along Robinson Road, which in 2010 was sold as part of a group of nine properties for a total of more than S$175 million.
URA has designated 39 locations on mainland Singapore as GCB Areas.
Since a rule change introduced some time in the second half of 2012, only Singaporeans are allowed to buy landed homes in GCB Areas.
Previously foreigners who are Singapore permanent residents could buy such homes if the land area did not exceed 15,000 sq ft - subject to the nod of the Land Dealings (Approval) Unit.
In terms of the per square foot of land area pricing, the most expensive deal in a GCB Area to date is S$2,190 psf; this record was set just last week, for a luxuriously built and furnished bungalow in Bishopsgate.
Weekend BT reported that the absolute price is S$33 million for the two-storey freehold property, which has a basement and is on land area of 15,069.46 sq ft.
The bungalow is three years old.
This article was first published on May 23, 2015.
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
The Business Times
Source: AsiaOne