Sale of OK Lim's GCB at Tanglin Hill brings total raised from assets seized to $99.09 mil

By EdgeProp Singapore

/ EdgeProp Singapore |

August 26, 2024 8:05 PM SGT

OK Lim's GCB at 1K Tanglin Hill was sold for $39.2 million ($2,507 psf), based on a caveat lodged on Aug 16 (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

Convicted oil tycoon Lim Oon Kuin aka OK Lim's third Good Class Bungalow (GCB) at 1K Tanglin Hill, was sold for $39.2 million ($2,507 psf), according to a caveat lodged on August 16. A property title search shows that the buyers are Hiew Wen Ji and Hiew Wen Li, the two children of Mapletree Investments executive director and group CEO Hiew Yoon Khong.

The bungalow sits on a 15,636 sq ft freehold site at the end of a cul-de-sac in Tanglin Hill. It has a long driveway for up to six cars and a back garden with a swimming pool.

The existing house has a built-up area of 8,110 sq ft, two storeys with five bedrooms, a study on the first level and a basement with a hall and a room. The master bedroom has an ensuite bathroom with his and hers wardrobes.

The GCB at 1K Tanglin Hill has a long driveway that can park up to six cars (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

At $39.2 million, the GCB sold for 8.8% below the asking price of $43 million ($2,750 psf) when it was launched for sale on June 21.

The property at Tanglin Hill is the last of the three GCBs to be sold as part of a court-ordered asset freeze of the Lim family assets following Hin Leong's collapse and subsequent winding up in 2021. It was jointly owned by Lim and his daughter, Lim Huey Ching, who used to live there with her family. Huey Ching was also a former director of Hin Leong.

The first of Lim's GCBs to be sold was at 5 Second Avenue, off Bukit Timah Road, jointly owned by his wife, Tan Sook Eng. It fetched $33.39 million ($1,671 psf) in October 2021. The second GCB at 20 Third Avenue was jointly held with his son, Evan Lim Chee Meng. It was sold for $26.5 million ($1,818 psf) in November 2023.

With the sale of the GCB at Tanglin Hill for $39.2 million, the total amount raised from the asset seizure was $99.09 million.

The GCB at 1K Tanglin Hill was built 26 years ago and has a built-up area of 8,110 sq ft (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

OK Lim purchased the GCB at 1K Tanglin Hill in 1999, when the property was newly built a year earlier. According to Mary Sai, Knight Frank's executive director of investment and capital markets, who handled the sale of all three GCBs, the new owner at Tanglin Hill could either undertake extensive additions and alterations (A&A) or redevelop the property. "It depends on whether the owner is buying for investment or owner occupation," she says.

Assuming the new owner does an extensive A&A, this could increase the built-up area to about 15,000 to 18,000 sq ft, according to Bruce Lye, co-founder and managing partner of SRI. Alternatively, if the owner were to tear down and redevelop the site into a new GCB with a built-up area of 20,000 sq ft, that would translate to a cost of about $20 million, based on the construction cost of $1,000 psf for GCBs today, he estimates.

The price of the Lim's GCB at 1K Tanglin Hill contrasts the $93.89 million fetched by a GCB just four doors away. The GCB sits on a 15,150 sq ft freehold site. The transacted price works out to an all-time high of $6,197 psf.

The GCB at Tanglin Hill a few doors away from OK Lim's property at 1K Tanglin Hill, fetched $93.89 million or $6,197 psf, based on a caveat lodged in March (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

It is a new GCB targeted for completion by the end of the year. It is sold fully completed and furnished by the developer, Meir Homes. The GCB has a built-up area of nearly 30,000 sq ft, with two storeys and an attic.

It has a basement large enough for 10 cars, an entertainment area with an 18-seater theatre, a walk-in wine chiller, a lounge and a powder room. There will also be a 25m lap pool. The first level of the house is designed for someone who enjoys entertaining at home, with a large living and dining area, a powder room, and a dry and wet kitchen. The second level has a 1,500 sq ft master suite, a family lounge and three other en suite bedrooms. The attic level has two more en suite rooms.

"It's hard to compare the GCBs even though they are along the same street," says Han Huan Mei, research director at List Sotheby's International Realty. "One has to consider the different site configurations and attributes of the houses. One property is an older house, while the other is a new-build with a vast built-up area of 30,000 sq ft and sold fully furnished."

Artist's impression of the GCB at Tanglin Hill that fetched $93.89 million sits on a freehold site of 15,150 sq ft with a built-up area of 30,000 sq ft (Credit: Kumiko House brief)

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