A residential redevelopment site at 132 Sophia Road, located next to the upcoming St Margaret's Primary School, has just been sold for $33.588 million. According to a property title search, The Trustee of the Presbyterian Church in Singapore holds the freehold land tenure to the site situated in prime District 9.

The property has a 13,783 sq ft site and is zoned 'Residential' with a gross plot ratio of 2.1 under the Master Plan 2019. It has been sold on a 103-year lease tenure, according to Knight Frank Singapore, the exclusive marketing agent.

The buyer, Sin Thai Hin Holdings, is a boutique developer and investment company. According to the company's website, the conglomerate was founded in 1958 as an automobile financing company, with loan volume exceeding $2 billion today. Its property development and investment arm, Sin Thai Hin Development, was established in 1973 and has developed and invested in healthcare, hospitality, residential and commercial office properties.

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"This is a rare redevelopment site located in the prestigious Dhoby Ghaut precinct next to the Istana, where land has been tightly held," commented Robin Ng, Sin Thai Hin Holdings chairman. "We plan to redevelop the site into a new-concept boutique residence that will be the crown jewel atop Mount Sophia alongside the popular Orchard shopping belt and, at the same time, set apart from the teeming crowd."

The tender for the site at 132 Sophia Road was launched on November 2 and closed on November 29. "This is the first residential non-landed redevelopment site in prime District 9 that has been sold since early 2021 when 10A and 10B Institution Hill were transacted," according to Chia Mein Mein, Knight Frank Singapore head of capital markets (land & collective sale).

10A and 10B Institution Hill were two 999-year leasehold properties sold en bloc to a Macly Group, Roxy-Pacific Holdings and LWH Holdings consortium for $33.6 million in February 2021.

Knight Frank's Chia said interest in the site at 132 Sophia Road was keen. It had attracted "parties looking for a boutique residential redevelopment site near Orchard Road, targeting homebuyers seeking city living with a prime address, or families with children attending the nearby educational institutions."

Besides St Margaret's Primary School, which is under construction and expected to be completed by the end of 2024, the property at 132 Sophia Road is also within 1km of Anglo-Chinese School (Junior). Tertiary education institutions in the vicinity include the School of the Arts (SOTA), LaSalle College of the Arts, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts city campus and Singapore Management University.