BN) Singapore Downtown Mansion for Sale at Record S$300 Million
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Singapore Downtown Mansion for Sale at Record S$300 Million (1)
2013-04-10 01:02:16.359 GMT
(Updates with Wing Tai’s shares in 13th paragraph.)
By Pooja Thakur
April 10 (Bloomberg) -- Wing Tai Holdings Ltd. Chairman
Cheng Wai Keung is seeking a record S$300 million ($242 million)
for a home near Singapore’s Orchard Road shopping belt, betting
that developers may profit from dividing the site.
The 85,000-square-foot site on an elevated lot at 33 Nassim
Road, near the city’s Botanic Gardens, includes a two-story
home, swimming pool and tennis court, according to Jones Lang
LaSalle Inc., the sole marketing agent.
"These kinds of assets come onto the market once in 10, 15
or even 20 years," Karamjit Singh, head of investments and
residential at Jones Lang LaSalle in Singapore, said in a phone
interview yesterday. "The potential buyers of this league would
be able to recognize the opportunity."
Singh estimated the property, located in an area that
includes the residence of the British high commissioner and
embassies of Japan and Russia, could fetch between S$250 million
to S$300 million. The site may be divided into three lots, with
another parcel that can be split into two, he said. The seller
is prepared to get bids for smaller plots, he said.
He declined to comment on the owner of the property, except
to say it’s being marketed after receiving unsolicited offers.
"This is beyond economics, it’s mind boggling and probably
one of the highest in the world," said Alan Cheong, senior
director of research and consultancy at broker Savills
(Singapore) Pte. "It’s no small change even for the ultra high
net worth. It could be an Indian tycoon or a Russian oligarch
that might bid for it."
Legitimate Buy
The price is 79 percent higher than the $135 million
listing for the Crespi-Hicks Estate in Dallas, according to
broker Douglas Newby, which is marketing the property. The home
on the 25-acre site, owned by former Texas Rangers owner Tom
Hicks, is touted as the most expensive property for sale in the
U.S., according to a report by Time Magazine on Jan. 31.
"The primary value of a property is based on the land
value," Newby said in a phone interview yesterday. For the
Singapore property, "if the land is worth $150 million to $200
million, then this might be a legitimate buy."
Residential prices in Singapore climbed to a record in the
first quarter as an increase in the number of millionaires drove
up demand. Singapore is Asia’s most-expensive housing market
after Hong Kong, according to a Knight Frank LLP and Citi
Private Bank report released last year that compared 63
locations globally.
More Millionaires
Increasing wealth in the island-state has contributed to
rising property prices. Singapore’s millionaire households rose
14 percent in 2011, according to a Boston Consulting study. The
proportion of millionaire homes in the city of 5.3 million
people was 17 percent, the highest in the world, followed by
Qatar and Kuwait.
The tenant staying in the Nassim Road home is moving out
this week, Singh said, declining to comment on past residents.
The highest price for a residential property in Singapore was a
S$87.5 million site on Swettenham Road, according to Jones Lang
LaSalle. The site is also close to the Botanic Gardens, a 154-
year-old downtown park.
The Nassim Road site is owned by Winright Investment Pte,
according to property records obtained by Bloomberg News. Cheng,
and his wife, Helen Chow, who list their address at another
Nassim Road home, are the shareholders of Winright, a company
set up in March 1995 for "holding of property for long-term
investment purposes," according to company records obtained by
Bloomberg News.
Cheng, 62, is also managing director of Wing Tai, a
Singapore property developer and retailer of brands including
Adidas AG, G2000 and Fast Retailing Co.’s Uniqlo. Wing Tai
climbed 0.3 percent to S$1.97 as of 9 a.m. in Singapore trading.
Lee Hwee Hong, a spokeswoman at Wing Tai, declined to
comment.
The tender for the property closes on May 16, Jones Lang
LaSalle said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.
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