2/3 of 17 Leedon Park being sold for about S$43m

The sale is subject to approval being granted for the subdivision of the Good Class Bungalow site

May 18, 2017

KALPANA RASHIWALA


TWO-THIRD of a sprawling 46,879 sq ft freehold site in the Leedon Park Good Class Bungalow (GCB) Area which was put on the market last September, is being sold.

BT understands that the owner of 17 Leedon Park has made an application to the authorities for the site to be subdivided into two plots - the larger of which will be 31,211 sq ft and for which an option to purchase was granted earlier this year. The price is around S$43 million, which works out to S$1,380 per square foot on land area. The sale is subject to the subdivision approval being granted.

JLL is understood to be brokering the sale through private treaty but declined to comment. It has also just put on the market the balance land of 15,668 sq ft, which has an asking price of S$25 million or S$1,596 psf.

JLL handled the tender for 17 Leedon Park, which closed in October. That exercise garnered some offers but they did not meet the asking price of S$70 million-S$75 million, equivalent to S$1,493-S$1,599 psf.

The property consulting group then began marketing, by private treaty, the District 10 property - which could potentially be subdivided into as many as three plots based on the minimum plot size of 1,400 square metres (or 15,069.46 sq ft) stipulated for any newly-created bungalows within Singapore's 39 Good Class Bungalow Areas.

No 17 Leedon Park - which is owned by former Singatronics chairman Eddie Foo Chik Kin and his wife Kwan Chang Choo - has a 25-year-old, two-storey bungalow on site with three bedrooms, living and dining areas, an entertainment room and a courtyard.

There is also a 21-metre-long swimming pool in addition to lavish gardens.

The couple lives in the bungalow, which is on the bigger of the two proposed subdivided plots and which is being transacted. The swimming pool and part of the gardens are on the second plot.

Newsman Realty managing director KH Tan said the S$1,380 psf fetched for the bigger plot reflects "very fair market value for GCB land in Leedon Park".

The site has wide frontage, is on flat land and situated in a quiet locale, he noted. "A brand new bungalow in Leedon Park would fetch more than S$2,000 psf on land area."

In the Ewart Park GCB Area, a property has been sold for nearly S$15.93 million or S$1,030 psf on the freehold land area of 15,464.50 sq ft. The house has about 9,300 sq ft built-up area - spanning two levels and a basement. It was built in the late 1960s and refurbished about 16 years ago.

It has six bedrooms, a study and a maid's room as well and a large swimming pool.

The buyer, a Chinese citizen turned Singaporean, is involved in engineering, construction, property and other businesses.

So far this year there have been at least 12 transactions in GCB Areas totalling about S$287 million. For the whole of last year, the tally was 37 deals amounting to S$788.5 million.

Bungalows in GCB Areas are considered the creme de la creme of landed homes in Singapore.

URA has stipulated stringent planning conditions to safeguard the exclusive, low-rise character of bungalows in GCB Areas. There are only about 2,500 bungalows in the 39 GCB Areas.