http://business.asiaone.com/Business...13-339518.html
Friday, Apr 13, 2012
The Business Times
Two freehold GCBs sold - one for $60.6m, the other for $31m
Two Good Class Bungalows (GCBs) have been transacted recently - one at Ridout Road, which is said to have fetched about $60.6 million, or $1,490 per square foot (psf), on a land area of 40,679 sq ft, and another at Binjai Park, which has sold for $31 million, or $1,550 psf. Both bungalows are freehold.
In absolute price quantum, the $60.6 million for the Ridout property, which is near Holland Road, is the highest fetched for a GCB since December 2010, when 3 Leedon Park changed hands at $61.4 million.
The two-storey bungalow at Ridout Road is said to be more than 20 years old. It has five bedrooms, a tennis court and swimming pool. Its seller is former Goldman Sachs banker Thomas Chan, who last year gained control of the property following the conclusion of a long-running legal battle between the former owner Agus Anwar and another party to whom Mr Anwar had earlier granted an option.
Mr Chan picked up the property for $37 million based on an option granted to him in 2009.
In the latest transaction Mr Chan is understood to have sold the property to Tecity Group, which is controlled by the family of the late OCBC chairman Tan Chin Tuan. The site can potentially be subdivided to accommodate redevelopment into two GCBs.
The Binjai Park bungalow, which sits on 20,001 sq ft of land, received its Temporary Occupation Permit in June last year. It was sold by GCB investor George Lim, who developed the property. The bungalow has attained the Building and Construction Authority's highest eco-friendly award, the Greenmark Platinum Award. The house features 214 solar panels on the roof, uses recycled rain water and LED lighting.
All glass windows and doors have double glazing, which cuts down the heat and noise. It also utilises chlorine-free pool sanitising equipment. The bungalow was designed by Lim Hong Kian of Designshop Architects.
It has six bedrooms, a gym, home theatre, steam room, lift, and dehumidifiers in all rooms. The bungalow has a gross floor area of about 14,300 sq ft spread across two storeys and a basement. Mr Lim has also developed another GCB, at 16A Leedon Park, which received its TOP in July last year. That property, which obtained BCA's Greenmark Gold Plus award, is on 15,635 sq ft of land. It, too, has six bedrooms, with two storeys and a basement. The built-up area is about 10,800 sq ft.
Mr Lim indicated that he may keep 16A Leedon Park either for his family's use or for long-term investment rather than sell it in the near future, because of the difficulty of buying more GCB sites for development given the 10 per cent additional buyer's stamp duty he would have to pay on the land.
Newsman Realty is understood to have brokered both the Binjai Park and Ridout Road GCB deals.
Outside the GCB areas, a detached house at Duchess Road was recently sold for $16.41 million or about $1,600 psf on its 999-year-leasehold site's land area of 10,254 sq ft. It is near the future Tan Kah Kee MRT Station. The 21/2-storey bungalow, which has a swimming pool, is about 25 years old and said to be in good condition. The deal was brokered by Coldwell Banker Realtors.
The site is zoned for residential use with a 1.4 plot ratio (ratio of maximum gross floor area to land area), which means it can be potentially redeveloped into a five-storey apartment block.
However, the new owner is likely to keep it as a bungalow given its nice, quiet location off a cul de sac, say market watchers.
A look around bungalows at Binjai Park and Ridout Road
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