The S$39.2 million Tanglin Hill mansion owned by OK Lim sells

The S$39.2 million Tanglin Hill mansion owned by OK Lim sells

Price comes out to S$2,507 psf on land; purchasers are Mapletree Investments CEO offspring.

July 23, 2024

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Good Class Bungalow (GCB) in Tanglin Hill for Sale by Tender is announced by international property consultant Knight Frank Singapore. With a land area of about 15,636 square feet (sf) and a built-up area of almost 8,110 sf, the subject property is a freehold, two-storey detached home. Sold with vacant possession, it has five plus one bedrooms as well as roomy living and dining spaces. On the property are also a swimming pool, a manicured garden and a sizable car porch.

Sold for S$39.2 million, or S$2,507 per square foot (psf), the Tanglin Hill home built by convicted Hin Leong founder Lim Oon Kuin, better known as OK Lim, on the freehold land size of 15,636 square feet (sq ft).

The purchasers are said to be the offspring of Mapletree Investments group chief executive officer Hiew Yoon Khong.

Finished in the 1990s, the two-story detached home in the Ridley Park Good Class Bungalow (GCB) Area has a 8,110 square foot built-up area. It has five bedrooms, a living and dining space, a swimming pool, a manicured garden and a vehicle porch in addition to a room for assistants.

Following a tender procedure run by Knight Frank Singapore, the property was sold; it closed on Jul 19, a few days before word of the record S$6,197 psf on land area acquired for a freehold house under development on the same street leaked.

Comprising over S$93.9 million, the contract is for a two-storey home with a spacious basement and high-ceiling attic. Six bedrooms and a swimming pool will be features of it. With the basement containing the party spaces, wine cellar, and parking for more than a dozen vehicles, the property's built-up size is about 30,000 square feet.

The Soh family, behind lifestyle firm Meir Homes, is building the residence. The home will be supplied ready-to--move-in condition, completely equipped. March saw the issuance of buying rights for the land.

Though another option would be to perform a substantial repair, Realstar Premier managing director Julian Yip said the Tanglin Hill home sold by OK Lim is ready for redevelopment.

"For the buyer, the S$2,504 psf is reasonable. Redevelopment GCB land price in the Tanglin region is between S$2,800-S$3,000 psf, he said.

One modest negative of the property, observed by onlookers, is its limited road frontage.

The founder of the eponymous property firm, Steve Tay, said that activity in the GCB market has risen up in recent weeks. "The Fed's clearer direction of the interest rate policy has rekindled the confidence of possible GCB buyers," he added.

Good. Lim stayed in the Tanglin Hill house with his daughter Lim Huey Ching.

Based on land area, another of OK Lim's assets—a GCB in Third Avenue—sold in November 2023 for S$26.39 million, or S$1,810 psf.

For S$33.39 million, or S$1,671 psf, his GCB in Second Avenue transacted in October 2021.

Following the fall of Hin Leong and its later wound up in 2021, the three GCBs are a part of a court-ordered asset freeze on the Lim family's assets.

OK Lim was found guilty on three criminal counts in May; his punishment is scheduled in October. Found convicted on two counts for defrauding HSBC and one for appointing a Hin Leong contracts officer to create a paper, the former oil mogul The bills came to US$111.7 million overall.

With rigorous planning rules to maintain their low-rise nature and exclusivity, bungalows in the 39 gazetted GCB Areas are the most premium kind of landed accommodation in Singapore. These sections have only over 2,700 bungalows.