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An expensive piece of abandoned land in Singapore – which inspired a fictional setting in 2018 romcom _Crazy Rich Asians_ – may be given a new life as a multibillion dollar luxury residence
According to Bloomberg, the vacant land is located in the heart of Singapore, not far away from UNESCO World Heritage site Botanic Gardens.
The 210,875sqm land — approximately 40 football fields in size — currently has a dilapidated palace, named Istana Woodneuk, sitting on it.
The palace is said to have burnt down in 1925, rebuilt in 1935, before being abandoned in 1990.
Since last year, discussions about the potential to develop and turn the run-down estate into a multibillion-dollar luxury residence have been ongoing.
30 times larger than the White House, the estate is owned by the Crown Prince of Johor, Tunku Ismail Idris Sultan Ibrahim
The business news agency reported, based on people with knowledge of the plans, that both Tunku Ismail — popularly known as TMJ — and the authorities are in talks to reach an agreement, one that will need the area to be recategorised before development can begin.
The land is currently reserved for "special use of green space". Meaning, the land is not meant for residential or commercial use.
If TMJ's party manages to convince the authorities to recategorise the land, Savills estimates that the project could become one of Singapore's priciest private developments for decades to come.
The global real estate services provider estimates that the development may cost as much as SGD4.5 billion (about RM13.9 billion).
Bloomberg reported that representatives of both TMJ and the authorities declined to comment further on the said discussions.
The current price of the land could be worth between SGD2.66 billion and SGD4.5 billion (about RM8.23 billion and RM13.93 billion)
If the land can be redeveloped, people who live there will just need to take a short ride to arrive at the famous Orchard Road shopping district.
Bloomberg noted that this will likely draw interest from the region's ultra-wealthy who have long bought second homes in Singapore, a trend that has accelerated during the pandemic.
It reported that the island nation's red-hot residential market underwent a record-breaking SGD32.9 billion (RM101 billion) of home sales in the first half of this year.
It is the biggest frenzy in more than a decade, a trend that is double the level recorded in Manhattan over the same period.
It is not reported whether TMJ is looking to sell the billion-dollar estate or to keep it for himself should it be redeveloped. Bungalows close to the land are worth SGD20 million to SGD30 million (about RM61.9 million to RM92.8 million).
In the hit movie and book Crazy Rich Asians, author Kevin Kwan sets TMJ's land as the Young family's ancestral home. However, the actual building of the house seen in the movie is Carcosa Seri Negara, located in Kuala Lumpur.
Image via Singapore Tales
