Indonesian tycoon’s family pays S$153 million for serviced apartment block in Orchard area

OAKWOOD Studios Singapore, a freehold serviced apartment block on Mount Elizabeth, has changed hands for S$152.76 million.

The price works out to S$1.59 million per apartment unit. The property comprises 96 units of studio, one and two-bedroom apartments, information on The Ascott booking website showed.

Oakwood is a brand under The Ascott, the wholly owned lodging business of CapitaLand Investment.

The buyer is a Singapore-incorporated company, Grand Prestige Land Pte Ltd, believed to be linked to the family of an Indonesian tycoon.(see *Amendment note)

Oakwood Studios Singapore was sold by Newfort Realty.

The company’s shareholders are: Vincent Toe Teow Heng, a director of ICH Capital and the former chief executive officer of Yangzijiang Financial; Cheng Kwee Kiang; Tan Jing Lun and his brother Tan Jingwen; Yap Kian Peng, a director of Huationg Global.

Oakwood Studios is a conversion of the former Chateau Eliza, which Newfort Realty clinched in 2012 for S$92.2 million through a collective sale.

The original intention was to redevelop the property into a boutique residential project for sale.

However, the lacklustre residential market prompted Newfort Realty to change its plans. It obtained the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s approval to convert the use of the property to that of serviced apartments, The Business Times reported in 2015.

Newfort Realty no longer qualified for the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) remission because it did not follow through on its intention to develop the property as a residential project for sale. Hence, it incurred S$10 million for ABSD plus two years of interest.

It had also paid a development charge of S$3.9 million to add more balcony space, indicated the 2015 report.

The report also stated that Newfort Realty was expecting to spend another S$25 million to S$30 million to refurbish and refit Chateau Eliza into a serviced residence, which was to be branded and managed under Oakwood.

Oakwood Studios Singapore is on a 17,937 square foot site at 18 Mount Elizabeth. Amenities include a rooftop swimming pool, fitness area, residents’ lounge and co-working space.

The property had been marketed in 2022 by Edmund Tie via an expression of interest exercise with a guide price of S$170 million.

Additional reporting by Elisa Valenta

*Amendment note: This story has been updated to reflect a clarification from the Agung Sedayu Group, that neither the group nor its founder Sugianto Kusuma is linked to the transaction.