Sweeping view of Marina Bay from a penthouse at The Sail @ Marina Bay (Pictures by Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
With the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix 2019 around the corner on Sept 20-22, views of Marina Bay, where the night race will take place, will once again be in the global limelight. Last year, the F1 television and digital audience totalled more than 490 million.
Owners of apartments and penthouses with picture-postcard views of Marina Bay will have bragging rights. “You can invite people to your home to watch the Singapore Grand Prix from your living room,” says Bruce Lye, managing partner of SRI.
While there are many luxury condos in the Marina Bay area, only one can truly boast of direct bay frontage – The Sail @ Marina Bay, says Lye. Completed in 2008, The Sail contains 1,111 apartments, which makes it the largest residential development at Marina Bay.
The Sail @ Marina Bay is a 1,111-unit luxury condo in Marina Bay
The twin towers were designed by architect Peter Pran of New York-based architectural firm NBBJ. The 70-storey Marina Bay Tower (Tower 1) was once the tallest residential skyscraper in Singapore and 10th tallest in the world. Tower 2 is called Central Park Tower and is 63 storeys tall.
Designed to resemble sails, the towers are tapered at the top. There are, therefore, just five penthouses at The Sail. The Marina Bay Tower has a 5,597 sq ft, four-bedroom duplex on the 69th floor; and three penthouses on the 68th floor, sized from 3,391 to 6,297 sq ft.
“The attraction of these penthouses is their 180-degree view of Marina Bay and direct view of The Float @ Marina Bay,” says SRI’s Lye. “They have the best view of fireworks during Chinese New Year and on National Day.”
The duplex penthouse on the 69th floor of The Sail has been remodelled into a three-bedroom loft so that every room offers a full view of Marina Bay
The government recently announced that it intends to make The Float @ Marina Bay a permanent structure and increase its seating capacity from the current 27,000 to 30,000-35,000. The annual National Day Parade will subsequently be held there.
“This will draw even more global and local attention to the Marina Bay area,” says Leong Boon Hoe, COO of List Sotheby’s International Realty.
The fifth penthouse at The Sail is the sole penthouse at Central Park Tower. The 5,834 sq ft unit was purchased by Bhupendra Kumar Modi, the Singapore-based chairman of Smart Group, whose businesses include telecoms, healthcare and electric vehicles. Modi paid $15.5 million ($2,650 psf) for the penthouse in 2008, which makes it the most expensive penthouse transacted at The Sail to date in terms of absolute price.
The open kitchen of the penthouse on the 69th floor of The Sail
Modi had purchased it on the secondary market from an owner who bought it for $8.8 million ($1,508 psf) just three years earlier in November 2005, according to the caveat lodged then.
However, when it comes to the highest psf price for a penthouse at The Sail, the record is held by the 3,391 sq ft penthouse on the 68th floor of the Marina Bay Tower, which fetched $9.3 million ($2,750 psf) in a resale in 2010. It is owned by Bobby Hiranandani, co-chairman of Royal Group of Companies, owner of the new Raffles Sentosa Resort & Spa as well as the flagship Sofitel So Singapore on Robinson Road and Sofitel Singapore Sentosa.
One of the other penthouses is owned by a relative of the Kwek family of property giant City Developments Ltd (CDL), the developer of the project jointly with AIG Real Estate. Another penthouse is owned by a family member of billionaire Sam Goi, a substantial stakeholder of Singapore-listed real estate companies GSH Corp and KOP Ltd as well as privately held food manufacturer Tee Yih Jia.
The living and dining area of the 6,297 sq ft penthouse on the 68th floor of The Sail
The last penthouse transacted at The Sail was the 6,297 sq ft duplex on the 68th floor of Marina Bay Tower: the Singaporean owner paid $12.5 million ($1,985 psf) for the four-bedroom duplex in 2013. The penthouse is currently tenanted. However, the owner has decided to put it on the market at $17 million ($2,700 psf) with SRI’s Lye as the exclusive marketing agent.
“It’s the biggest of the three units on the 68th level with direct views of Marina Bay,” says Lye.
Other luxury condos such as the 428-unit Marina Bay Residences has just one stack of penthouses from the 48th to 55th floor with Marina Bay views, but from a different angle, notes Lye.
The super penthouse at Marina Bay Residences, an 11,012 sq ft triplex that spans the top three floors of the 55-storey tower, was sold for $26.9 million ($2,446 psf) in December 2006. It was one of six penthouses within Marina Bay Residences that were purchased by the family of Stanley Ho, Macau’s casino mogul, when the project was launched.
Marina Bay Residences is a 55-storey residential tower that is part of the mixed-use Marina Bay Financial Centre
The last time a penthouse at Marina Bay Residences changed hands was in 2013, when a 4,489 sq ft, five-bedroom unit was sold for $13.88 million ($3,092 psf). The previous owner had purchased it for $16.16 million ($3,600 psf) in a sub-sale at the peak of the market in 2007.
The other luxury residential tower is the 221-unit Marina Bay Suites. “Some units at Marina Bay Suites have pocket views towards Marina Bay,” says Leong of List Sotheby’s. Completed in 2013, the biggest penthouse of 8,514 sq ft, located on the 65th floor of the 66-storey tower, was sold for $19.52 million ($2,293 psf) in May 2015.
“Marina Bay Tower at The Sail offers sweeping views of the bay,” says Leong.
List Sotheby’s has been appointed the exclusive marketing agent for the 5,597 sq ft, duplex penthouse on the 69th level of Marina Bay Tower at The Sail. The penthouse originally had a four-bedroom configuration but was remodelled as a three-bedroom loft so that all the rooms will have “a full view of Marina Bay”, says Leong.
The price tag of the penthouse on the 69th level of The Sail is $20 million or $3,573 psf. “It will set a new benchmark for the Marina Bay area,” Leong adds.
List Sotheby’s has been appointed the exclusive marketing agent for the 5,597 sq ft, duplex penthouse on the 69th level of Marina Bay Tower at The Sail.
After all, the smaller of the two penthouses at Marina Bay Suites, a 5,694 sq ft unit on the 64th floor, fetched $19.3 million ($3,389 psf) in October 2012, based on caveats lodged. Leong points out that the penthouse does not have a direct view of the bay.
The penthouse on the 69th floor of the Marina Bay Tower at The Sail is currently tenanted to a young expatriate couple. “But the apartment is versatile enough to be used as a family abode in the city, or as a place to entertain business associates and clients,” says Leong.
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There has been a fixation on penthouses ever since Singapore’s biggest penthouse at 21,108 sq ft – in Wallich Residence, Singapore’s tallest tower at Tanjong Pagar Centre – was sold. The buyer was none other than the UK’s richest man, Sir James Dyson.
With Tanjong Pagar poised to be the gateway to the Greater Southern Waterfront, attention has swung to that area of the CBD too. For instance, a Chinese buyer who had been looking at a penthouse at The Sail bought a unit at Wallich Residence instead. “In terms of quantum, he paid about the same price as the penthouse at The Sail, but he had to compromise on the unit size,” says SRI’s Lye.
Wallich Residence sits on top of Guoco Tower in Tanjong Pagar Centre
At Wallich Residence, a 3,509 sq ft penthouse on the 58th floor of the 64-storey tower fetched $16 million ($4,560 psf), according to a caveat lodged in June 2018. The 181-unit Wallich Residence is part of the Tanjong Pagar Centre integrated development completed by GuocoLand Singapore in 2017.
“While the Greater Southern Waterfront adds a new dimension of waterfront living in the city, it will take time [to develop],” adds List Sotheby’s Leong. “Marina Bay is a completed product with global attention.”
For price trends, recent transactions, other project info, check out these projects' research page: The Sail @ Marina Bay, Marina Bay Residences, South Beach Residences, Marina Bay Suites, Wallich Residence
Another luxury residential development which is riding on its downtown location and views of the sea and city area is South Beach Residences on Beach Road. The 190-unit luxury residential block sits on top of the JW Marriott hotel at the South Beach integrated development.
Previewed in September 2018 when the F1 Singapore Grand Prix took place, the project is about 40% sold with average price achieved at $3,401 psf. The 6,728 sq ft super penthouse at South Beach Residences was sold a year ago for $26 million ($3,865 psf).
South Beach Residences is jointly developed by City Developments (CDL) and IOI Group
According to SRI’s Lye, another four units at South Beach Residences were recently sold by his agents, although the caveats have yet to be lodged. The buyers are said to be Chinese nationals. The developer of South Beach Residences is a joint venture between CDL and IOI Group.
Word on the street is that CDL is leveraging this year’s F1 to renew interest in South Beach Residences. Prospective buyers have been invited to enjoy the race from the luxurious apartments in the development.
In the meantime, two of the four penthouses at The Sail’s Marina Bay Tower are on the market. Both offer a 180-degree view of Marina Bay. “You will enjoy the full benefits of bayfront living – the beautiful skyline, proximity to local festivals and international events such as the Singapore Grand Prix,” says List Sotheby’s Leong.
Check the latest listings near The Sail @ Marina Bay, Marina Bay Residences, South Beach Residences, Marina Bay Suites, Wallich Residence, MRT Stations and Schools