Queen Astrid Park GCB fetches $44.5 million

Singapore - A charming single-storey bungalow on a sprawling site in Queen Astrid Park has changed hands for S$44.5 million. The buyer is understood to be a family member of Goh Hup Jin, son of billionaire paint tycoon Goh Cheng Liang. The transaction was an estate sale.

The price works out to S$1,271 per square foot based on the freehold land area of 35,011 square feet. Located at the corner of Queen Astrid Park and Coronation Road West, the site has potential for subdivision into two smaller Good Class Bungalow (GCB) plots. The bungalow is tenanted.

The bungalow is situated off Holland Road and is less than one kilometre from Holland Village MRT Station. It is in the Queen Astrid Park GCB Area.

Colliers International marketed the property through a tender exercise that closed in November last year. It was recently sold through a private treaty deal that Colliers co-brokered with boutique agency CREV Consultancy.

The transacted price is below the S$49-51 million indicative range that Colliers gave last September when it launched the property for sale.

Newsman Realty managing director KH Tan described the S$1,271 psf price as "fair market value". "No doubt this is an elevated plot but Coronation Road West is a busy road especially in the mornings and evenings."

According to Forbes' 2016 ranking, Mr Goh Cheng Liang is Singapore's second wealthiest person; his net worth is estimated at US$5 billion.

In January last year, Bloomberg Billionaires Index listed him as Singapore's richest person with an US$8.2 billion fortune.

He is the founder of Nippon Paint South East Asia Group or Nipsea, which is jointly owned by Mr Goh's Singapore-based investment company Wuthelam Holdings and Osaka-based Nippon Paint Holdings Co.

According to CBRE's analysis of URA and SISV caveats information as at July 28, the tally of transactions in GCB Areas so far this year stood at 17 deals worth S$369 million. Last year, there were 33 deals worth S$715 million, up from 2014's 28 deals worth S$626 million.

GCBs are the most prestigious form of landed housing in Singapore with stringent planning requirements laid out by the Urban Redevelopment Authority, which has designated 39 GCB Areas in Singapore.

This article was first published on July 30, 2016.
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