Late pioneer architect Alfred Wong’s bungalow in Bin Tong Park fetches S$45 million

[SINGAPORE] Late pioneer architect Alfred Wong’s bungalow in the Bin Tong Park Good Class Bungalow (GCB) Area is being sold, with an option to purchase exercised recently.

The Business Times understands that the price is S$45 million, which works out to S$2,283 per square foot (psf) on the freehold land area of 19,713 sq ft.

On site is a two-storey bungalow with four bedrooms, complete with a courtyard and verandahs on two sides of the house; it was designed by Wong himself in the late 1960s. In April 2024, Wong obtained the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s written permission to install a new lift in the bungalow. He lived in the house till he died in September 2024 at the age of 94.

The incoming buyer is expected to redevelop the property. The rectangular plot is at a high point, offering views of the nearby Coronation landed-housing estate. Realstar Premier is said to have brokered the deal.

Wong, born in Hong Kong in 1930, came to Singapore with his parents when he was six months old. He graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture, with honours, from Melbourne University in 1953, and founded Alfred Wong Partnership in 1957. Wong was among the first overseas-trained architects to return to Singapore during the last years of British colonial rule. He contributed to architectural education in the Republic. He was one of the founding members of the Singapore Institute of Architects and became its youngest president at the age of 32.

Another sale in the works

Near the Singapore Botanic Gardens, an old house on a corner plot in White House Park is in the early stages of a sale. Word on the street is that an option to purchase has been granted at about S$40 million. Assuming the price is exactly S$40 million, this would work out to S$2,636 psf on the freehold land area of 15,176 sq ft.

Market watchers generally consider this to be on the low side given the property’s prime location. “We expect redevelopment land value for White House Park GCB Area to be about S$3,000 psf and above. And this is a pretty nice site, with a regular shape and dual frontage,” said a seasoned GCB agent. The prospective buyer, if it is a developer, stands to make a handsome gain, he added.

The property is owned by Po Suwandi and Janti Susanto, who have held the bungalow since 1982.

A person with the name Po Suwandi, as director of mining company Anugrah Mitra Graha, was last year convicted in a corruption case in Indonesia relating to iron sand mining in East Lombok.

A panel of judges at the appellate level upheld the verdict of the Corruption Court at the Mataram District Court against Po.

According to Internet searches and media reports, Po has 14 companies besides Anugrah Mitra Graha, which is affiliated with the Alas Kusuma Group.

Bungalows in Singapore’s 39 gazetted GCB Areas are the most prestigious form of landed housing in Singapore, with strict planning conditions to preserve their exclusivity and low-rise character. Among other things, a minimum plot size of 1,400 square metres or 15,070 sq ft is stipulated as the planning norm for newly created bungalows in GCB Areas. There are only around 2,700 bungalows in these areas. One generally has to be a Singapore citizen to be allowed to buy a landed property in a GCB Area.