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On his iPhone, George Lim has pictures of the gigantic crab he caught while fishing in Gold Coast, Australia on the eve of his return to Singapore recently. Back in the city-state, Lim’s fishing prowess is mainly land-based, with his biggest haul being a super-sized Good Class Bungalow in Leedon Park.
Lim purchased the GCB, which sits on a prime freehold site of 41,850 sq ft, for a jaw-dropping S$61.4 million, or S$1,467 psf, at end-December. “I bought it because it’s a nice piece of land, and there are few such large land parcels available, and GCB prices kept moving up,” he explains. He has yet to decide whether to carve the site into two smaller parcels of about 20,000 sq ft each or into a larger site of 25,000 sq ft and a smaller one of 16,850 sq ft. “It depends on whether I intend to stay there,” he says.
Lim has been so successful in selling all his bungalows that he now lives in a rented bungalow whenever he is in Singapore. He has been spending a lot of time in his new home in Gold Coast, which he designed and developed himself.
Having built a reputation as a niche developer who builds homes designed for the end-user, he has sold seven GCBs in the neighbourhoods of Belmont Road, Leedon Road and Leedon Park totalling S$140.78 million in just five years.
Prior to his acquisition of the site in Leedon Park, Lim had scooped up three GCB sites from 4Q2009 to 2Q2010. The first was a 20,000 sq ft freehold site also in Leedon Park for about S$20 million, followed by another 20,000 sq ft site in Binjai Park for S$15.85 million (S$792 psf) in November 2009. Then, in April 2010, he bought a site measuring just under 20,000 sq ft in Second Avenue for S$20 million (S$1,001 psf). The crown jewel in his portfolio is the giant site in Leedon Park, which if included, would mean that Lim has amassed land sites totalling S$117 million.
Environmentally friendly homes
In this fourth series of bungalows he is developing, Lim is building “eco-friendly homes”. Construction is already under way at the 20,000 sq ft GCBs in Leedon Park and Binjai Park.
At the Leedon Park GCB, Lim spent S$200,000 on solar panels and will also install a rainwater tank — to store recycled water for irrigating the plants in the garden and for the koi pond and swimming pool. He is also installing double-glazed, low-emissivity glass for all windows and sliding doors and using LED lighting for the house and the swimming pool area. For construction, he is using recycled concrete and timber from a renewable source, and when he has to move a tree that is in the way, he replants it elsewhere in the garden of one of his properties. The plants and trees he chose for the landscaping are hardy plants that require less watering.
Lim will also install ceiling fans, shades and louvres so the house will be comfortable without the constant use of air-conditioning. With these green features, Lim reckons the new owner will reduce his energy consumption by at least S$1,000 a month. Lim is applying for a BCA (Building and Construction Authority) Green Mark Gold-Plus rating on the house in Leedon Park, and a Green Mark Platinum rating — the highest for a sustainable property — for the one in Binjai Park.
Being “green” does not mean, however, that the houses will be lacking in luxury. The house in Leedon Park has a built-up area of about 10,000 sq ft and six spacious bedrooms with attached bathrooms: five bedrooms — including the master bedroom — are on the second level and the guest bedroom is on the first. The first level will have a spacious living and dining area, a kitchen fully equipped with Gaggenau appliances — from oven, stove and hob to refrigerator and dishwasher — and a spacious family room, with a patio looking out onto the garden and swimming pool. The basement will house a gym, a home entertainment area and a games room. The façade of the house will have a marble and granite cladding.
“I put in so much effort into the houses I build,” says Lim. “So, the most important thing is to have a prime piece of land right from the start.” The house in Leedon Park is expected to be completed in June, when he will put it on the market for sale. “This house will definitely sell above S$2,000 psf,” he says.
Going beyond S$2,000 psf
“The GCB market is a different niche altogether,” continues Lim. “Despite the government measures and even the global financial crisis, if your property is in a prestigious location, prices tend to hold. It’s demand that’s driving up the prices.” He is also confident that there would be increased demand, with the global uncertainties, the Japan crisis and Middle East turmoil, as the rich seek a safe haven in Singapore.
K H Tan, managing director of Newsman Realty and who is marketing Lim’s 20,000 sq ft Leedon Park property, says an Indonesian permanent resident (PR) has already expressed interest in the property at the S$2,000 psf level.
“Activity in the GCB market seems to have picked up again,” says Tan. Just recently, Newsman brokered the sale of a GCB at Maryland Drive with a land area of 19,000 sq ft for S$29 million (S$1,526 psf).
“This month, there has been at least three GCB transactions,” says William Wong, managing director of RealStar Premier. “And prices don’t seem to have come down at all.” His firm had just sold a GCB at Cornwall Gardens for S$25 million (S$1,600 psf).
The transaction that saw GCB prices transcend the S$2,000 psf level occurred earlier this month, when a GCB on Cluny Road was sold for S$33 million (S$2,038 psf). Since then, some owners have followed suit and adjusted their prices to that level. Wong says a property at Ladyhill Road is close to being sold at the S$2,000 psf level and the owners of GCBs at Tanglin Hill are now asking for more than S$2,000 psf.
Niche developer Elevation Developments has a GCB on Gallop Road and spent the last six months upgrading the interiors. The GCB was completed a year ago and sits on a land area of 14,940 sq ft. It will be relaunched for sale soon at S$35 million, or more than S$2,200 psf. Newsman’s Tan is marketing the property.
When S$60 million is not enough
While the giant GCB site in Leedon Park may — at S$61.4 million — be the largest transaction so far in terms of absolute amount, it could be surpassed this year if some sellers whose GCBs are priced above S$60 million find buyers.
On the market is a GCB on Victoria Park Road, which is located in the prime Bukit Timah neighbourhood. It has two houses sitting on the 32,077 sq ft freehold site. One is the original 1950s two-storey house with three bedrooms and an outhouse. The other is a new double-storey four-bedroom house. There is also a swimming pool in the yard and a covered garage for several cars.
The property is ideal for an extended family, as it has two homes, says Samuel Eyo, associate director of Savills Singapore’s Prestige Homes, who is marketing the property. Alternatively, the new owner could live in one of the houses and sell the other, as the site can be subdivided into two smaller plots.
The owner is asking for S$60 million (S$1,870 psf) for the Victoria Park Road property because it is on elevated grounds and has a regular shape. “Such large sites with a wide frontage and potential for subdivision are also very rare these days,” says Eyo.
In fact, even sellers themselves are finding it difficult to find a replacement property once they have sold such a large GCB site, 
says Steven Ming, executive director of investment sales and Prestige Homes at Savills Singapore. Scarcity, coupled with the fact that there is a new group of nouveau riche entering the market now who are willing to buy at these levels, has effectively driven up prices of GCBs in the last two years, he adds.
As such, says Eyo, the owner of the GCB on Victoria Park Road is now thinking of revising the asking price to S$63 million (S$1,964 psf).
Another owner of a GCB sitting on a large site is probably facing the same dilemma. The GCB on Leedon Road has been put on and off the market several times over the last few years. The property is an original 1950s bungalow on a land area of 43,928 sq ft. The seller has been said to have received a firm offer of S$60 million, and another buyer is looking to bid S$62 million for the property. But the owner is said to be holding out for S$66 million (S$1,502 psf).
Starter GCBs at S$20 million
In the Holland Road neighbourhood, the bungalow area of Bukit Sedap, Holland Green, Ewart Park and Greenleaf Road are sought after. Prices of smaller GCBs have also risen in tandem with the major league ones.
A bungalow on Bukit Sedap Road, off Holland Road, is on the market for both rent and sale. The double-storey bungalow with a swimming pool sits on a freehold land area of 15,600 sq ft. The asking price is S$22 million (S$1,410 psf) and the owner is also willing to rent it out at S$28,000 a month.
According to Savills’ Eyo, who is marketing the property, behind the house is the site of the former railway track. Thus, the new owner can apply to the government to buy the site behind it to amalgamate with the existing house, and therefore achieve a larger plot.
At the end of Holland Green, next to a quiet cul-de-sac and overlooking a park, is a 99-year-leasehold bungalow that is on the market. It has a land area of 4,450 sq ft and built-up area of 5,000 sq ft, thus it is not a GCB, which typically has a site area of at least 15,070 sq ft. The owner has renovated the original four-bedroom house to suit his lifestyle: creating a large master suite on the top level and turning a bedroom into a study and another into a games room with a billiard table. The house is going for S$6.3 million (S$1,416 psf). Eyo is also the marketing agent for the property.
Properties of such size are popular with foreigners who are PRs, as they are able to get approval from Land Dealings (Approval) Unit, says Savills’ Ming.
Even prices of bungalows in the Caldecott Hill Estate have risen 2½ to three times, in line with the rest of the GCB market. On the market is a GCB at 28A Olive Road with a freehold land area of 15,050 sq ft. The owner has kept the original house but spent S$600,000 on a face-lift, adding a new extension two years ago. Thus, the built-up area is now a bigger 6,800 sq ft. The price tag on the house is S$18.5 million (S$1,229 psf) and RealStar is the exclusive marketing agent for the property. With prices of GCBs in Caldecott Estate off Thomson Road well above S$1,000 psf today, it is no wonder that owners of prime GCBs, such as Lim, believe their new bungalows are worth at least S$2,000 psf.
Cecilia Chow is section editor of The Edge Singapore
This article appeared in City & Country, the property pullout of The Edge Malaysia, Issue 853, Apr 11-17, 2011
