Billionaire Wee Cho Yaw’s UOL Buys Singapore Suburban Redevelopment Property For $295 Million

A joint venture between UOL Group and Singapore Land—both controlled by billionaire Wee Cho Yaw—is buying the Meyer Park condominium in the eastern Singapore suburb of Katong for S$392.2 million ($295 million) as the real estate developer continues to replenish its landbank to tap into resilient housing demand in the city-state.

The partners plan to redevelop the property—which sits on a freehold land of 96,672 square feet (8,981 square meters) —into a high-rise residential tower with up to 250 apartment units. The project, which is close to the upcoming Katong Park MRT station and about a 20-minute drive from the Raffles Place central business district, will offer residents unblocked sea views along East Coast Park.

“Leveraging our experience in developing a luxury collection and the strong attributes of the site, we expect to see keen interest from both homebuyers and investors looking for a prime newly built high-rise residential development with freehold tenure, which is increasingly rare,” Liam Wee Sin, CEO of UOL Group, said in a statement. The project is also close to popular schools Tao Nan Primary School, Dunman High School and Victoria Junior College.

The acquisition of Meyer Park gives UOL Group an opportunity to replenish its landbank in the Katong district after the company sold all 56 units of its Meyer House project, consisting of three and four-bedroom apartments. The company was among the most active developers in Singapore last year, selling nearly all 372 units at AMO Residence in Ang Mo Kio in central Singapore during the project’s weekend launch in July.

Robust sales at UOL projects add to signs of pent-up demand for private housing in Singapore, with buyers undeterred by rising interest rates and mounting inflationary pressures that could tilt the global economy into another recession. Singapore’s home prices climbed 8.6% in 2022 after rising 10.6% the previous year, government data showed.

One of Singapore’s biggest property developers, UOL is controlled by veteran banker Wee Cho Yaw, 94, chairman emeritus of United Overseas Bank, the nation’s third-largest bank by assets. The lender was founded by his father Wee Khiang Cheng in 1935 as United Chinese Bank. With a net worth of $6.8 billion, Wee ranked No. 9 on the list of Singapore’s 50 Richest that was published in September last year.