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A piece of local history: Mr Tan
and his Cairnhill bungalow. He had bought the 36,568 sq ft freehold site in
the 1930
Former OCBC chairman Tan Chin Tuan is
developing a 20-storey block of apartments behind his bungalow in Cairnhill
Road. And he plans to occupy the 8,435 sq ft penthouse when work is
completed in about 18 months.
Mr Tan, 95, now lives with his family in
Grange Court. He bought the eight-unit apartment block in Grange Road in
2001 because he wanted to move out from his Cairnhill bungalow to escape
construction activity nearby.
Property Enterprises Development's
Cairnhill Crest condo, which is almost completed, is next door to Mr Tan's
bungalow.
A property analyst estimated yesterday
that it will cost Mr Tan $20-odd million to conserve his Cairnhill bungalow
and develop the adjacent apartment block. Work is slated to finish around
March 2006.
Construction of the apartments began six
months ago.
Besides the double-storey penthouse,
there will be 15 apartments in the block averaging about 4,590 sq ft each.
The plan is to have one unit per floor.
There will be a sky terrace garden on the
12th floor, a lap pool on the ground floor, a gym and a steam-bath/sauna.
BT understands that that neither the
16-unit apartment block nor the bungalow are for sale, as the land has been
with the family for decades.
Mr Tan bought the 36,568 sq ft freehold
site on elevated ground in Cairnhill Road in the 1930s. 'Interestingly, the
broker who handled the transaction was David Marshall's father,' said a
source. The late David Marshall was Singapore's first chief minister.
The current plan is for Mr Tan's family
to occupy some of the units and lease out the rest.
But not just anyone will be able to rent
an apartment from Mr Tan, who also used to be chairman of bluechip retailer
Robinson.
'The building is special to the family
and they would like to find like-minded people who appreciate the history
and sentiment behind the land and enjoy the neighbourliness of living with
an extended family,' said the source. The two-storey bungalow, with a strata
area of 7,371 sq ft, will be used for entertaining and special functions.
'It will be suitably refurbished to
retain its history and the charm of a bygone era,' the source added.
The family has no immediate plans for its
present home, Grange Court.
It will depend on market
conditions, investment and familial considerations, the source said.
- By Rashwana Kalpana SINGAPORE
BUSINESS TIMES 9 Sept 2004
Developer believes Cairnhill
Crest units will fetch better prices next year
Talk about confidence. Property
Enterprises Development (PED), Li Ka-shing's Singapore unit, has rejected a
$40 million offer for eight penthouses at Cairnhill Crest - because it
thinks the units will fetch a better rate by early next year.
  Objects
of desire: The
$40 million offer for eight of Cairnhill Crest's 10 remaining duplex
penthouses came from a China-based firm
The Cheung Kong subsidiary's faith is
also driven by plans to hold roadshows in China, Canada and Australia
starting next month for the 248-unit freehold condominium.
'Usually, the prices will go up after
roadshows, so we will hold out and wait,' said Cheung Kong executive
director Justin Chiu. 'Right now, we are not going to hardsell and are
promoting the development through word of mouth.'
PED general manager Annie Loke said the
$40 million offer for eight of Cairnhill Crest's 10 remaining duplex
penthouses came from a China-based firm. The penthouses range from 2,422
square feet to 3,057 sq ft, and the offer works out to be about $1,825 per
square foot.
'The property market is just bottoming
out and we are pretty confident that by the end of the year, we can get 10
to 20 per cent more,' she said.
Property analysts say that prices in
Singapore have bottomed out after recent dips but may take a while to pick
up because of uncertainty over the economy.
Cairnhill Crest is selling at about
$1,888 psf, and Ms Loke expects that by January, it could fetch about $2,000
psf.
Ten units have been sold so far for
between $1,200 and $1,700 psf, or for $2.7-5.8 million.
Other freehold developments in the area
such as The Edge On Cairnhill by SembCorp Properties' Pyramid Hill
Properties, is going at $1,200-1,500 psf, and Wing Tai Holdings' The Light
at Cairnhill is selling at about $1,400 psf.
Far East Organization's Vida is
going at $1,200-1,600 psf. -
by Jean Chua SINGAPORE
BUSINESS TIMES 23 Sept 2004
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