Anderson Sec founding principal’s Binjai Park GCB for sale at $38.8 mil

In the Good Class Bungalow (GCB) enclave of Binjai Park, many old bungalows have been razed to the ground and redeveloped into new super-sized mansions. One of the few GCBs still in its original state is the property at 41 Binjai Park. It has an elevated, freehold plot of 21,246 sq ft, a crescent-shaped driveway and two entrances. The property has a single-storey main house and several outhouses built in the 1950s. The owner was Heng Cher Siang, the founding principal of Anderson Secondary School from 1965 to 1973. Heng passed away recently at the age of 96, and her estate has put the property up for sale. Read also: Convicted oil tycoon OK Lim to sell his third GCB for $43 mil Advertisement Advertisement A property title search shows that the freehold plot was approved for purchase on June 1, 1956. Her nephew, Robin Heng, the appointed administrator of the estate, says his aunt purchased the land in the 1950s. Seventy years ago, Heng’s aunt paid “less than $11,000” for the property. She was a dog lover and had the name of one of her dogs, Apollo, painted on one of the outhouses. He reckons the new owner will tear down the existing property to rebuild a new contemporary bungalow.

Redevelopment potential

Jeffrey Sim, advisory group division director at ERA Realty Network, is the sole marketing agent for the property. The site’s biggest merit is its regularity: “It’s squarish and east-facing,” he says. For a GCB, URA’s guideline is that the built-up area can only occupy a site footprint of 40%. The site area of the plot at 41 Binjai Park translates to a footprint of about 8,500 sq ft. According to Sim, the owner can construct a two-storey bungalow with an attic and a basement, with a gross floor area (GFA) ranging from 17,000 to 25,000 sq ft. As the site is 2m above street level, Sim reckons the cost of building a basement carpark will not be exorbitant. He estimates a new basement could accommodate an entertainment room and a garage for up to 20 cars. Read also: Jervois Hill GCB plot on the market again for $46 mil, down from $53 mil Advertisement Advertisement Construction costs have also risen post-Covid, and Sim estimates the cost of building a new home to be between $700 and $1,000 psf. Based on the estimated GFA, that would mean anywhere between $12 million and $25 million. “If you notice the houses around here, many have been torn down and redeveloped,” says Sim. “Very few buyers have kept the original structure.”

Prominent neighbours

The neighbourhood also boasts prominent residents, including Jet Li, Chinese-turned-Singaporean martial artist and actor; Peter Seah, non-executive chairman of DBS, Singapore’s biggest bank; Singapore’s Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon; and Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and Environment. One street away on Swiss Club Road is the private home of Singapore’s ninth President, Tharman Shanmugaratnam. Binjai Park’s residents include several prominent businessmen, such as Desmond Ong, founder and CEO of Galmon, a company that provides mobile elevating work platforms like boom lifts; and Zhong Sheng Jian, founder of Singapore-listed Chinese real estate developer Yanlord Land Group. ERA’s Sim indicates a price tag of $38.8 million ($1,826 psf) for the GCB at 41 Binjai Park, which is available for sale by private treaty. The psf price aligns with a GCB on a 15,515 sq ft freehold site that changed hands in March 2023 for $28.3 million ($1,824 psf). Hence, Sim says the asking price of $1,826 psf is “very reasonable”. “At the rate that GCB prices are rising, by next year, the land rate in Binjai Park will hit $2,000 psf,” he predicts. Read also: Chancery Lane GCB for sale from $43 mil Advertisement Advertisement