Perennial puts Caldecott Hill site up for sale, asking over S$350 million

[SINGAPORE] Perennial Holdings has put up for sale the massive Caldecott Hill site it bought from Mediacorp in 2020, and is asking for offers in excess of S$350 million.

The site was acquired by an entity jointly owned by Perennial Real Estate Holdings and its director, Kuok Khoon Hong, which bought the 752,014-square-foot (sq ft) 99-year leasehold site for S$280.9 million five years ago.

“We had originally planned to redevelop the site to build large Good Class Bungalows (GCBs),” a spokesman for Perennial Holdings said on Wednesday (Nov 12). “With our pivot towards a healthcare-centric (complemented by healthcare real estate) strategy, we are availing the site for sale so that resources can be recalibrated to focus on our core business.”

A land betterment charge of S$250 million is payable for a change of use from “civic and community institution” to residential use, as well as to top up to a fresh 99-year lease, The Business Times understands. This would bring the effective acquisition cost for the sprawling site to S$600 million or S$798 per sq ft of land. 

Based on an outline approval previously granted to Mediacorp, the Caldecott Hill site can be redeveloped into more than 60 two-storey bungalows, each with a minimum land area of 8,611 sq ft. 

However, the buyer may explore other development options upon completion of the transaction, the marketing agents for the site at the time said.

BT reported that while the bungalow development is the base-case assumption that the buyer used in crafting its winning bid, it might potentially consider other uses, including developing a retirement village.

Perennial has extensive experience in this market segment and is one of the largest operators in China, with about 25,000 beds in the country’s medical and eldercare facilities in 15 cities. 

Perennial also recently launched Singapore’s first private assisted-living development in Parry Avenue in August, built on a state land site it acquired in 2023.  

SEE ALSO

Mediacorp sells Caldecott Hill site for S$280.9m

The Caldecott Hill plot is currently vacant as the former broadcasting facilities have been demolished. It has a balance lease term of around 68 years left. 

Delasa and Savills Singapore have been appointed as joint marketing agents for the expression of interest (EOI) exercise. 

Jeremy Lake, Savills’ managing director of investment sales and capital markets, said: “Few sites offer such a blank canvas to create an entirely new and distinctive landed development. Developers would benefit from the considerable groundwork carried out so far, including the demolition of all the structures on site, engagement and master planning.” 

In the first 10 months of the year, detached home transactions in Districts 9, 10 and 11 reached S$1.11 billion, surpassing the S$1.105 billion recorded in 2024 and S$1.02 billion in 2023. 

Karamjit Singh, CEO of Delasa, said: “Singapore’s sustained growth in the economy, wealth and population continues to favour the bungalow segment, where supply has remained virtually unchanged.”

Three decades ago, Singapore had 2.8 million citizens and 130,000 private homes, including about 10,000 detached houses. Today, the citizen population has grown to 3.7 million and the private housing stock to 461,000 units, yet the number of detached houses has held at around 10,000, he added. 

“This persistent scarcity, coupled with rising household wealth and the arrival of new ultra-high-net-worth residents, continues to support robust demand and pricing in the bungalow market,” Singh said. 

Beyond traditional developers, ultra-affluent Singaporeans, including extended families, can band together to acquire the site, he said. 

“They can curate a super-luxury enclave to their own design, live as immediate neighbours, and crucially deploy materially less equity by capitalising on the leasehold discount relative to mainstream freehold bungalows.” 

Located in the Caldecott Hill Good Class Bungalow area, the site is close to the MacRitchie Reservoir Park and a short walk away from the Caldecott MRT station. 

The EOI exercise for the site will close on Jan 15, 2026.