The world’s most expensive home on offer – 33 Nassim Road, Singapore 258418 – may fail to sell after all [Map].
The highly-prized property, a Good Class Bungalow (GCB) which sits on 84,839 square feet of freehold land, is up for sale by tender. The tender closes today (16 May).
Sole marketing agent Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) is hoping to receive offers in the region of $250-300 million or $2,947-3,536 per square foot (psf).
33 Nassim Road has been informally on the market since last year with an asking price of at least $3,000 psf. It is being formally marketed now after the owner received unsolicited offers.
At $300 million, the price is 79% higher than the USD135 million listing for the Crespi-Hicks Estate in Dallas, Texas. The home on the 25-acre site, owned by former Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks, is touted as the most expensive property for sale in the US, according to a report by Time Magazine on 31 January 2013.
The owner of 33 Nassim Road is Winright Investment Pte. Winright, a company set up in March 1995 for “holding of property for long-term investment purposes” according to company records, is in turn owned by Cheng Wai Keung and his wife, Helen Chow.
Mr Cheng, 62, is the chairman and managing director of Wing Tai Holdings, a listed Singapore property developer and retailer of brands including Adidas, G2000 and Uniqlo.
Mr Cheng acquired the property in the mid-1980’s, a remarkable feat for a young man in his 30’s considering the size and value of the property even then.
Mr and Mrs Cheng used to live on the property, but they now list their address at another Nassim Road home.
33 Nassim Road has an old bungalow with an in-ground swimming pool and a full-sized tennis court. Its tenant – a lawyer who happens to be the Honorary Consul to Singapore for Barbados – vacated it on 10 April 2013.
A sloping driveway leads to the two-storey house built on elevated ground. The bungalow sits in the centre of the plot with a large grassy field occupying about a third of the site. But seriously, the value of the property lies in the fact that it is a huge plot nestling in posh Nassim Road, where the British High Commissioner lives and the Embassies of Japan, Russia and Saudi Arabia are located.
33 Nassim Road actually straddles two plots of land – 31,647 sq ft and 53,192 sq ft. Marketing agent JLL say that the seller is prepared to receive offers for the entire 84,839 sq ft plot, or for either of the two smaller parcels. Since GCBs typically occupy at least 15,000 sq ft, the buyer of the former parcel might divide the land into 2 GCB plots, while the latter parcel can be divided into 3 GCB plots.
According to experts, the deal will stand or fall on whether the value of the land matches its astronomical price tag. Douglas Newby, who is marketing the Crespi-Hicks Estate mentioned earlier, said of the Nassim Road deal, “The primary value of a property is based on the land value. For the Singapore property, if the land is worth $150 million to $200 million, then this might be a legitimate buy.”
Nassim Road is favourably located near the Singapore Botanic Gardens which is bidding to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It abuts uppity Tanglin and is on the cusp of shopping heaven Orchard Road.
On the downside however, it is a stone’s throw away from Orchard Towers – the famous or, rather, infamous “Four Floors of Whores” – where prostitutes from the Philippines and Thailand, and local ladyboys meet their mostly ang moh clients. These ladies of the night, however, have never been known to stray onto the hallowed turf of Nassim Road to solicit.
Karamjit Singh, JLL’s head of investments and residential in Singapore says:
A site like this comes on the market maybe once in 10, 15 or even 20 years. The potential buyers of this league would be able to recognize the opportunity.
This is a large site on elevated ground, with a rectangular shape that lends itself to easy subdivision. It should appeal to a large family looking to consolidate their residences at one location – along Singapore’s most desired GCB road name – as well as to newly-minted Singaporean billionaires who have yet to find their dream home. It may also interest a group of friends wishing to team up to buy the plot, subdivide it and live next to one another.
Instead of “newly-minted Singaporean billionaires”, it may be more realistic to speak of “new Singapore billionaire residents” such as investor New Zealander Richard Chandler (54 years, $2.85B), Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin (31 years, $2.2B), and businessman Bhupendra Kumar Modi, 64, who became a Singapore citizen in January this year with a not-too-shabby $755M.
Alan Cheong, senior director of research and consultancy at Savills (Singapore) gushes:
This is beyond economics, it’s mind boggling and probably one of the highest in the world.
It’s no small change even for the ultra high net worth. It could be an Indian tycoon or a Russian oligarch that might bid for it.
Meanswhile, the majority of Singaporeans who can barely afford a 99-year leasehold HDB flat will be salivating, but that is all they can do – salivate. The fact remains that the Swiss standard of living promised to us by former PM Goh Chok Tong remains a distant dream and we slog like mad to pay our utilities bills.
TR Emeritus
*Article first appeared on www.TREmeritus.com