Singapore Properties Near Lee Kuan Yew’s Residence Up For Sale As Housing Sales Jump

Two residential sites near the former home of the late Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew have been put up for sale, adding to the growing list of older properties being sold for redevelopment amid booming demand for luxury homes in the Lion City.

One of the properties, a historic mansion that sits on rare freehold land on 5 Oxley Rise, overlooking the Lee residence and strategically located within the exclusive residential enclaves around the Orchard Road shopping belt. “Given its prime location, we are expecting this trophy asset to attract offers in excess of S$300 million ($220 million),” Michael Tay, head of Singapore capital markets at CBRE, said in a statement on Tuesday.

The two-story bungalow, which sits on two hilltop plots of land with a combined area of 151,205 square feet (14,047 square meters), is currently owned by the family of the late real estate tycoon Cheong Eak Chong, founder of listed developer Hong Fok Corp. and Tian Teck Group. It was first developed in 1847 by Thomas Oxley, a surgeon who acquired what used to be 173 acres of jungle land and turned it into a nutmeg plantation. While Oxley sold off parcels of the land before returning to England in 1857, the colonial era bungalow was said to have been built by Jewish businessman Manasseh Meyer in the 1920s.

The property can be redeveloped as a single large mansion, a strata or mixed-use landed development or multiple good class bungalows (GCBs), subject to regulatory approvals, CBRE said. “For owner-occupiers, it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire sprawling land to build multiple GCBs to house multiple generations,” Tay said. “This esteemed asset class has also proven to be resilient through various market cycles due to its tight ownership.”

The proposed sale of 5 Oxley Rise has inspired the enbloc sale of Oxley Garden, a medium rise residential development next door. The price tag for condominium, which sits on a 5,407-square-meter land, is S$200 million, marketing agent JLL said.

“A developer who buys both sites—5 Oxley Rise and Oxley Garden—may reconfigure and explore a comprehensive redevelopment for better site efficiency in design and layout, as well as better visibility in access,” Tan Hong Boon, executive director for capital markets at JLL Singapore, said in statement. “This is certainly a mutually beneficial and value enhancing proposition for both the sites.”

The prime properties comes are being put up for sale as housing demand in Singapore continued to soar despite the cooling measures introduced by the government in December. Developers sold 654 private residential units in March, up 21% from the previous month, data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

The resilient demand for housing has sparked collective sales of older properties for redevelopment across the city-state. Last month, the owners of the Chuan Park condominium in the north eastern district of Serangoon, relaunched the sale of their property at S$938 million. This week, the Lakepoint condominium in Jurong in western Singapore was again put up for sale at a reserve price of S$640 million.