Lim Bee Huat’s daughter is purchasing the 10,529 sq ft freehold property along Lornie Road for $26.9 million. Lee Bee Huat is the founder of the Kopitiam Group. Source: Google Maps
A fairly new bungalow at Lornie Road is being acquired by the daughter of Lim Bee Huat of Kopitiam King fame for $26.8 million, reported The Business Times (BT).
This works out to $2,545 per sq ft (psf), which is considered to be on the high side for the 10,529 sq ft freehold site within the Caldecott Hill Estate Good Class Bungalow (GCB) Area.
“This is even after adjusting for the fact that the house is quite new. Moreover, the property is quite near the road/highway,” a property investor told BT.
“Working backwards, the land price would be about S$1,600 psf.”
In comparison, Ian Ang acquired a bungalow in Olive Road in the same GCB area, for $1,537 psf or $36 million in June. The Secretlab co-founder reportedly intends to tear down the existing bungalow and redevelop the 23,424 sq ft site into a new home.
Relataed article: Who Are Buying Good Class Bungalows (GCBs) in Singapore? (2021)
Putting things in perspective, however, the investor pointed that the Lornie Road bungalow is a completed property that is nicely decked out.
The bungalow, which is nestled on a slightly elevated site, is a reconstruction that kept a small part of an existing structure.
BT noted that a pair of siblings is selling the property.
Realstar Premier, which acted for them, revealed that the bungalow “received a Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP) in 2017 with a further TOP issued in 2019 following the completion of additional works”, said BT.
The two-storey bungalow also has a basement and two attics, one of which was part of the former property and the other newly built.
The basement has a wine cellar, powder room and a theatre room. All four bedrooms on the second floor are en suite, and have walk-in wardrobes.
With a built-in area of around 16,500 sq ft, the bungalow also has an entertainment room, two dining areas, dry and wet kitchens as well as a water feature. The property does not come with a swimming pool.
“The high psf also reflects the ‘bite-sized’ absolute price,” said the investor as quoted by BT.
Lim Bee Huat, the father of the buyer, worked as a part-time coffee boy when he was only nine years old before eventually building the Kopitiam empire.
NTUC Enterprise announced in 2018 that it is acquiring all of Kopitiam Investment and its subsidiaries, which include 80 outlets consisting of 56 food courts, three hawker centres, 21 coffee shops and two central kitchens. These also included the Lau Pa Sat Festival Market within the Central Business District that Kopitiam acquired in 1995.
A search on the Handshakes portal showed that Kopitiam Investment is currently owned by Fairprice Group Food Services, said BT.
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Cheryl Chiew, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this story, email: cheryl@propertyguru.com.sg.
