The Good Class $1,800 psf Bungalow at Olive Road was sold at $50.24 million
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The Good Class Bungalow (GCB) located on a 27,909 square foot freehold site located on Olive Road has been purchased for $50.24 million ($1,800 per square foot) according to the caveat that was filed the 14th of April. The transaction was mediated by SRI.
An property title search has revealed that the purchaser was Wee Hian Nam, one of the grandsons of the Late Wee Thiam Siew who was an entrepreneur, property hotelier and tycoon who previously owned 7th Storey Hotel at Rochor Road, 7th Storey Hotel on Rochor Road. Lion City Hotel and Hollywood Theatre at Tanjong Katong Road that have all been sold and rebuilt.
One of the few estate assets belonging to The third generation Wee family are the 25 prewar semi-detached homes on Thiam Siew Avenue, named in honor of their grandfather. The late Wee died in 1972, was a resident in a mansion located at 525 Dunman Road adjacent to the houses located on Thiam Siew Avenue. In reality, he cut out the land to construct the semi-detached homes and the road bearing his name.
Through the years the semi-detached houses were rented to the family for income from rental. The properties were managed by two different entities: Wee Thiam Siew & Co and Thiam Siew Avenue Investments. Wee Thiam Siew & Co has 20 shareholders. Thiam Siew Avenue Investments, additional five shareholders, taking all of them to. If there is the sale of assets the shareholders of all 25 will be the beneficiaries.
In September of this year the family listed 22 semi-detached houses on Thiam Siew Avenue for collective sale and Savills Singapore as the exclusive marketing agency. Together two freehold sites located on the opposite the opposite side of Thiam Siew Avenue amounted to 263,794 square feet. The properties are situated in prime District 15.
The properties were bought by long-standing joint venture partner Hoi Hup Realty, and Sunway Developments for $815 million in November. In addition to the $284 million development charges along with an approximate $39.3 million to acquire the 7% balcony space and the total cost for the developers was approximately $1.14 billion, or an average land price of $1,440 per square foot for the plot ratio. The joint-venture partners are reported to have been granted planning permission to build an 820-unit freehold condominium at the site.
Wee Hian Nam, the new owner of the GCB located at Olive Road in Caldecott Hill Estate was not only an investor in Wee Thiam Siew & Co as well as the an owner of one of 22 homes on Thiam Siew Avenue, which was part of the sale to the tune of $815million. Therefore, he did not only receive an amount of the profits from the company, but also the entire amount generated by the auction of the property located at Thiam Siew Avenue.
It is possible to call Wee’s acquisition of the GCB located at Olive Road “capital recycling”. The GCB that has his initials is a former double-storey house, thought to have been built in the 1950s and the 1960s. The building is scheduled to be demolished and transformed into a modern mansion.
He’s within a good group. On the other side of the road is the GCB bought from Ian Ang, the co-founder and chief executive officer of gaming chair manufacturer Secretlab. The 29-year-old purchased the GCB for $36 million ($1,537 per square foot) in June of last year. It was regarded as the most expensive PSF price for the GCB located on Olive Road.
It seems that that record was broken by Wee through his purchase of the GCB at $1,800 per square foot, which is currently the highest price paid in a psf-based basis on Olive Road. But, for the entire Caldecott Hill Estate, it is fourth highest on the basis of psf, and is exceeded just by 3 GCBs that lie along Lornie Road that were sold at prices ranging from $2,005 to $2,545 per sq ft between the months of January 2018 and November 2021.
As regards the total cost of $50.24 million, the purchase of Wee is definitely the most expensive for a home located at Caldecott Hill Estate to date in accordance with caveats lodged by URA Realis.