http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real...q-ft-land-area

White House Park GCB sells for S$25.5m or S$1,686 psf based on 15,125 sq ft land area

Separately, an option to buy an Ewart Park GCB for S$19.35m is granted

Dec 3, 2016


TWO freehold Good Class Bungalow (GCB) transactions in District 10 are in motion - one on White House Park near the Botanic Gardens and the other tucked away on Ewart Park off Holland Road.

The bungalow on White House Park is being sold at S$25.5 million, which translates to S$1,686 per square foot based on the land area of 15,125 square feet. The bungalow has five bedrooms, a pool and enough parking area for five cars. The living room is cantilevered above the driveway and the house has a U-shaped layout, separating the entertainment area from the personal space of its residents. It was completed in 1999.

The property is part of The Glencaird Residences collection, which was developed by a unit of Wharf Holdings of Hong Kong on the sprawling 194,000 sq ft former Australian High Commissioner's residence at the corner of White House Park and Dalvey Road.

Wharf bought the land for S$98 million or S$505 psf in October 1994.

The recent bungalow sale in White House Park is 2.2 per cent lower than the last caveated transaction at The Glencaird Residences which was a year ago, when a bungalow along Dalvey Road fetched S$26 million or S$1,724 psf.

Samuel Eyo, managing director of Singapore Christie's International Real Estate (Residential), who brokered last year's transaction, commented: "The latest sale shows that prices could be nearing stabilisation, for prime GCBs at least."

The buyer of the White House Park property is a Singaporean who is understood to be involved in the engineering and building construction businesses.

The sellers are Rodney Tan Boon Kian and Poh Ban Leng. Mr Tan and his family have a stake in Treasure Resort Pte Ltd, which owns the Le Meridien Singapore, Sentosa. The 191-room hotel, next to the Merlion Tower on Sentosa, is in the process of being sold. It is on a site with a balance lease term of about 59 years.

The Tans used to own the former Cairnhill Hotel, which they sold in 1996 to a Wing Tai-led consortium that redeveloped the site into a condo, The Light at Cairnhill.

The sale of the White House Park GCB is understood to have been brokered by Realstar Premier Group, which declined to comment when contacted.

Over at Ewart Park, an option has been granted for the purchase of a GCB at S$19.35 million or S$1,284 psf based on the land area of 15,069 sq ft. The house is said to have seven bedrooms and a pool. It is on an elevated site overlooking greenery. The prospective buyer is understood to be Singaporean Sandra Elnitiarta Kurniawan.

GCBs are the most prestigious type of landed housing in Singapore because of the planning constraints imposed. They have a minimum land area of 1,400 square metres (15,069 sq ft) and cannot be built more than two storeys high (plus an attic and a basement).