Nanshan family in S$40m GCB purchase

Singapore

THE Song family behind Nanshan Group Singapore is understood to be in the early stage of buying a freehold bungalow in the Camden Park Good Class Bungalow Area for S$40 million.

The price works out to S$1,373 per square foot on the land area of 29,143 sq ft.

On the elevated site is a 10-year old bungalow spanning two levels and a basement. It is understood to have seven ensuite bedrooms, an entertainment room and a large swimming pool.

The District 11 property is less than 1 km from the Singapore Botanic Gardens

Market watchers expect the Song family to redevelop the property into their new home.

Song Jianbo, eldest son of China-based Nanshan Group founder Song Zuowen, and his wife Sui Yongqing are Singapore citizens. They are understood to be residing in Singapore with their children at a bungalow in Holland Park which they bought in late 2014 from the then Frasers Centrepoint for S$30 million. That property has a land area of about 15,070 sq ft.

Knight Frank Singapore head of prime residential sales, Linda Chern, is acting for the seller in the Camden Park transaction. She declined to comment when contacted by BT, as did Davin Samuel of Huttons Asia, who acted for the buyer.

He is also representing the seller in the sale of a bungalow along Kingsmead Road in the Victoria Park GCB Area for S$15 million or S$1,580 psf reported recently by BT.

That property - the former residence of the late pioneer artist Chen Wen Hsi - is also in the early stage of being sold.

The Camden Park deal takes the tally to 12 transactions in GCB Areas totalling S$260 million in the third quarter of this year - higher than the eight transactions adding up to S$169.1 million in Q2 this year as well as the seven deals which amounted to S$123.1 million in Q3 2017.

Bungalows in GCB Areas are the most prestigious form of landed housing in Singapore, with strict planning conditions stipulated to safeguard their exclusivity and low-rise character. There are only about 2,500 bungalows in 39 GCB Areas.