http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real...sold-for-s276m

GCB in Jalan Kampong Chantek sold for S$27.6m

Price works out to S$1,003 psf on freehold land area; buyer is Super Group co-founder Ronald Te

Saturday, February 18, 2017

by Kalpana Rashiwala
[email protected]
@KalpanaBT


Perched on an upward-sloping site is an old vacant house with around 11,000 sq ft built-up area; it is expected to be redeveloped.

IN what could be the first transaction in a Good Class Bungalow (GCB) Area this year, a bungalow along Jalan Kampong Chantek off Dunearn Road is changing hands for S$27.59 million.

This works out to about S$1,003 per square foot (psf) based on the freehold land area of 27,504 sq ft.

Perched on an upward-sloping site is an old vacant house with around 11,000 sq ft built-up area spanning two storeys and an attic level. It has a seven bedrooms and a swimming pool.

The property, which is currently vacant, is in the Swiss Club Road GCB Area.

The buyer is understood to be Ronald Te, co-founder of Super Group, the company behind the ubiquitous 3-in-1 Super Coffee sachets.

Mr Te was among the major shareholders of the homegrown coffee-maker who late last year agreed to sell their shares in the company to Dutch tea and coffee group Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE), which has launched a takeover offer for the group.

Interestingly, earlier last year, Mr Te's fellow Super Group co-founder David Teo picked up a GCB along Fifth Avenue off Bukit Timah Road for S$24.5 million or S$1,626 psf. The two-storey house is next to the bungalow where Mr Teo and his family reside, BT reported at the time.

The Jalan Kampong Chantek property that Mr Te is buying is ripe for redevelopment. Market watchers describe the slightly over S$1,000 psf pricing as being within expectations - as it reflects purely the land value.

Moreover, while the site is large, it cannot be subdivided given the minimum 15,070 sq ft plot size stipulated by the authorities for any newly created bungalows within a GCB Area. "This reduces the pool of buyers because it may be beyond some of their budgets," said an observer.

As well, the buyer would have taken into account that the upward-sloping site also eats into the usable land .

Realstar Premier is understood to have brokered the sale.

Based on data from CBRE, 2016 saw 37 transactions in GCB Areas totalling S$788.5 million, the highest in four years.

Newsman Realty managing director KH Tan predicts a drop in transactions this year, citing fewer listings of choice GCB properties. However, he added that buying interest has piqued lately after a family firm of banking tycoon Wee Cho Yaw recently mopped up the remaining 45 units at The Nassim condo. "Some potential GCB buyers who have been waiting on the sidelines would think it may be time for them to seriously house hunt as well," said Mr Tan.

He expects GCB prices to soften further in the first half of this year due to the slow economy but predicts that there is a good chance that prices will begin to firm by year-end. "Some buyers may become impatient and be motivated to offer owners slightly better prices."